How does cooking custard for homemade ice cream compare to using raw eggs?

firemoose: How does cooking custard for homemade ice cream compare to using raw eggs?
It seems that cooking custard is primarily to reduce the risk of salmonella, but does the taste or texture change? How does cooking affect the chemistry?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Daisy G
Making it a custard will make the ice cream creamier and a smoother taste. Using raw eggs will just add to the richness.

Answer by Mustang Driver
It actually protects against salmonella and gives the finished product a better texture.

Answer by divashubby
Actually making a custard (cooked egg/milk mixture) causes the proteins in the egg to “fuse” together a bit into a sort of “net” which is what causes the thickening. In the finished ice creams that “net” of proteins a) keeps the water in the finished ice cream from binding together to form large ice crystals, and b) gives the ice cream a better texture (creamier, more substance like slower melting in the mouth), both desirable in the finished ice cream. Of course it also protects against possible food born diseases. If you just want the flavor of egg, use one of the liquid pasteurized egg products (like Egg Beaters brand) that are on the market, but they won’t give you quite the same good texture in the finished product. Commercial ice creams that don’t use egg often use stabilizers (like a gum) to get that thick, creamy texture, or just incorporate a lot of air (like Breyers brand) to keep the ice creams from getting ice crystals too fast (I still think Breyers is really bad for that).