Combine the milk, sugar 1 cup of the heavy cream and salt in a medium saucepan.

Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds out of the center. Add the seeds and the bean to the mixture and place the pan over medium heat.

Cook the mixture until it is warmed through, then cover the pan, remove it from the heat, and let it steep for 30 minutes.

Pour the remaining cup of cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. While whisking, pour the vanilla bean mixture (it should still be somewhat warm at this point) into the egg yolks and whisk completely, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

Place the saucepan back over medium heat. Stir the mixture constantly with a heatproof spatula, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir. Cook until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Prepare an ice bath by putting ice and water about 1/3 full in a large bowl - just larger that the bowl that your cream is in.

Pour the mixture into the strainer and stir into the cream. Remove the vanilla bean from the strainer and add it to the custard. Stir in the vanilla extract, then place the bowl in the prepared ice bath and carefully stir until cooled, making sure to not get any of the water into the custard. Once cooled, cover and refrigerate until fully chilled, preferably overnight.

When the mixture is fully chilled, remove the vanilla bean from the custard. Freeze the ice cream according to your ice cream maker’s manufacturer instructions.

*At this point, my ice cream is the consistency of a soft serve ice cream, so I like to place it in a freezer safe container and freeze until fully set up. Your ice cream maker may freeze it further, but be prepared to let it freeze longer, if needed.