How to make ice cream without a machine? I recently made a poor-man's ice cream by making an egg custard and freezing it in the freezer in a metal bowl, stiring about every half hour. I was expecting it to freeze it 2 hours, but three hours later, it was too late, still not frozen solid and I went to bed.

The resulting ice cream was edible, but had more crystals than one might want.

What other techniques are there for freezing the ice cream short of buying an ice cream machine? Or can this recipe be improved?

This was the general recipe I was using.
This is what we figured out at Serious Eats: How to Make Ice Cream without an Ice Cream Maker

In sum, use more sugar, whip the cream, freeze in icecube trays and run through a Cuisinart at the end.