The day before: prepare your ice cream bowl according to the manufacturer’s instructions by chilling it for 24 hours beforehand or however long is recommended. If you have the option to change the freezer’s temperature, it should be at least -18 C or -.4 F.

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise using a sharp knife. Scrape out the seeds from inside the bean with the back of the knife and add them, along with the pod, directly to the milk mixture.

Heat the milk over medium heat until it starts to steam. Avoid bringing it to a boil, as this can cause the milk to scald.

Once the milk is steaming, cover the saucepan and remove it from the heat. Allow the vanilla bean to steep in the milk mixture for 1 hour.

Pour the heavy cream into a large mixing bowl. Set a fine-mesh sieve over the mixing bowl.

If your milk is no longer warm, rewarm it. It just needs to be warm, not hot and steamy.

Gradually pour in all of the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks - the vanilla bean can stay in the saucepan - while whisking continuously, and then pour this mixture back into the saucepan.

Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until it coats the back of the spoon and registers about 170 °F (77 °C) on an instant-read thermometer. This will take about 3-7 minutes. Be careful not to boil the mixture. The coagulation temperature is about 180 °F (83 °C), so keep an eye on it. My mixture had some tiny eggy bits, but they were removed when straining later on.)

Strain the ice cream into the heavy cream. This will do away with any eggy bits.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

Refrigerate the mixture (including the vanilla bean) for 4 hours or overnight so that it’s thoroughly chilled.

Pour into the totally frozen ice cream bowl and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The ice cream will be like soft-serve straight from the machine.

Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for 4-8+ hours to help it firm up. I could still easily scoop it after it had been in the freezer overnight.

Can be frozen for up to 3 months.