Over the past couple years we have reviewed 5 ice cream makers that each get the job done with panache. We looked at the pros and cons, and an array of makers at different price points. Here's a look back at each one of these ice cream makers.
If you are intrigued by the idea of making ice cream at home, then your first question is probably how? How do you turn a liquid ice cream base into creamy, frozen, real ice cream? There are many ways to do this, and some of these don't involve an appliance at all (see our best tips here for making ice cream without an ice cream maker
Our Ice Cream Maker Reviews
Freeze the Bowl Models
1. Cuisinart ICE-21 Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker, $59.95 from Amazon: We dubbed this ice cream maker "an excellent little machine for a great price." While you still have to freeze the bowl and chill the mix, this machine enabled us to make two batches back to back in about 15-20 minutes. Impressive!
Read the Full Review: Product Review: Cuisinart ICE-21 Ice Cream Maker
2. Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker, $49.99 from Amazon: A very basic model that requires no rock salt, no ice, no hand churning. However, you can only do one batch at a time because the bowl needs to be refrozen in between. It also produces a very soft ice cream, so you'll need to give it a few more hours in the freezer to harden. But it's small, convenient, and inexpensive!
Read the Full Review: Product Review: Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Makers
Compressor Models
3. Cuisinart ICE-50BC Supreme Ice Cream Maker, $260 at Amazon: A major step up from freezer-bowl makers, this consumer compressor model is perfect when you want to make more batches in a shorter period of time. It's bulky and a little loud, but if you're a heavy-duty ice cream or sorbet eater, this is a fabulous machine.
Read the Full Review: Product Review: Cuisinart ICE-50BC Supreme Ice Cream Maker
4. Cuisinart ICE-100 Ice Cream and Gelato Maker, $299 at Amazon: another compressor model we've had great experiences with. It took a couple tries, but our "second batch was a miracle." Rich, creamy, no ice crystals, and hard after 40 minutes. Also, it's super easy to use and easy to clean up.
Read the Full Review: The Cuisinart ICE-100 Ice Cream and Gelato Maker
5. DeLonghi GM6000 Gelato Maker with Self-Refrigerating Compressor, $248 from Amazon: We were totally swooning over this machine. It was significantly quieter than other ice cream machines and fast. Both batches we made froze in about 40 minutes.
Read the Full Review: Product Review: DeLonghi Gelato Maker
Readers, do you have an ice cream maker? What kind do you have?
More on Ice Cream Makers from The Kitchn's Archives:
• Can You Recommend a Bigger Ice Cream Machine?
• Questions for David Lebovitz: Best Ice Cream Maker?
• Ina Garten's Favorite Ice Cream: And Ice Cream Maker
• 10 Ice Cream Makers and Accessories for Your Kitchen
• Help! Why Doesn't My KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Work?
• Good Question: Should I Upgrade My Ice Cream Maker?
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I have the KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker stand mixer attachment, and I love it. Got it for my birthday not quite two years ago, and I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've bought ice cream from the store ever since.
I have the Lello Musso Lussino 4080 ice cream maker. It makes 1 1/2 quarts. It's preformed well for me, but it'a lot more expensive than the models you have listed. I've had it for years and am happy with it.
I have the Kitchenaid stand mixer ice-cream maker attachment. It works great, for me! At first I intended to buy the first Cuisinart model you show here, but after I got the stand mixer I figured that I didn't need an extra appliance taking up counter space. Anyway, I am totally in love with my ice cream maker, I use it all time!
I have the Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker...and an *extra* bowl, which I keep in my basement upright freezer. It works great for us, and there's no downtime waiting for the bowl to refreeze (well, unless I'm making a LOT of ice cream at one time...).
i'm another for the kitchenaid attachment :) if someone is reading thekitchn.com, there's a good chance they have a kitchenaid mixer (and loves the attachments too!) it's a bit smaller (i think?), and normally attachments to this mixer are ridiculously expensive, but this one is nice because it's similar in price to a stand-alone ice cream maker.
although we don't have a TON of space in our freezer, we keep the bowl in the freezer at all times (put things inside of it to conserve space), and just take it out when we want to make ice cream! it's so handy that it's DANGEROUS sometimes ;)
I wish Cuisinart would sell the ICE-21 (especially the red model) in the UK. They sell fancier models but don't seem to sell the more basic ones or coloured options. (This also seems to be the case with their food processors/choppers, which is really annoying.) The ICE-30 or ICE-40 seem to be the only non-compressor options available over here, but I'd really like a small, cheaper starter ice cream maker, and I really think the red one is so much cuter.
FYI: I just saw the second ice cream maker on sale at Costco (at least in Chicago) for like $25 or $30 last weekend!
I have the Cuisinart Pure Indulgence ICE-30BC - Ice cream maker - brushed stainless ice cream maker and I love it. I've had it for 3 years and it still works great!
Jenis Splendid Ice Cream Book is the best I've found!
http://www.amazon.com/Jenis-Splendid-Ice-Creams-Home/dp/1579654363/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337801154&sr=8-1
Thanks for the input on the kitchenAid attachment. I can't wait to get mine and really surprised thekitchn hasn't reviewed it
I found a little Donvier at a thrift shop for $6 a couple years ago and love it. Perfect for quick sorbets and super simple to use.
I'm waiting for my Cuisinart Ice-21 to come in the mail. Birthday present to myself this year :)
I have a giant Simac gelato self-contained refigerator, blah, blah, blah. It's a wonderful machine and makes ice creams & sorbets of amazing texture. The thing is-it's roughly the same size as my kitchen. It has to live in the basement, so it doesn't get used much (it weighs a ton, also). I finally stopped guilt tripping over it and bought a cheap little Cuisinart at Costco. No, the product is not as amazing, but you can't beat the size & convenience.
Why are all but one made by Cuisinart? Seriously, is that the standard now in ice cream makers? Or is there some corporate sponsorship that is slanting that choice.
I have the KitchenAid attachment as well, and I didn't actually like it at first. It took forever to freeze the ice cream. Now I store it in the deep freeze and cover the mixer with a thick towel while mixing and it freezes much faster. If the ice cream base was chilled overnight, I could probably make two batches. KitchenAid should really make an insulated lid for the ice cream bowl for those of us without air conditioning!
I recently ordered the Cuisinart ICE-30BC from Amazon and made my first batch of vegan ice cream today. Came out surprisingly well! My only criticism is that there was quite a bit of ice cream frozen hard to the sides that I couldn't scoop out immediately.
I love my Kitchenaid attachment, but I have to admit I didn't look at standalone models. I only have counter space for 2 appliances and that just happens to be the coffeemaker and my Kitchenaid, which I really think would be too heavy to schlepp out every time I wanted to use it. The attachments, though, get stowed wherever I have space - this one in particular just goes in the freezer. With it warming up here in CA I finally got to use it and have made some great low carb sorbets and ice creams so far! Plus, I can make small batches (8 servings or so), so it's fresher that way.
Well I love my cheap electric Rival ice cream maker that cost me about $20 many years ago that can make 6 qts at one time. Wonderful for parties or I can just make a quart if I want. I had a small Cusinart I won that made 1 1/2 quarts and just was not enough. I love using ice and rock salt and after the ice cream is done I can keep it in the rock salt ice and throw a heavy sleeping bag over it and it freezes up more for 2-3 hours and stays ready for parties! Sometimes the expensive appliances are great but this cheap brand I have liked better for the quantity and quality ice cream it makes.
I have the No. 2 Cuisinart and really like it. Compact, no-fuss, no-muss, good price.
It's true that the resulting ice cream is somewhat soft, so I freeze it some more after "churning" it, but if you like a softer ice cream, it tastes and looks great as is, without going in the freezer after preparation.
I use recipes from A Perfect Scoop (love his Vietnamese coffee style ice cream!) but am also on the hunt for some good additional egg-free recipes, for their ease and smaller cost.
buy the jeni's ice cream "cook book" if you want egg-free ice cream! it's SOOO good.... and SUPER creamy :D she uses corn starch and a tiny bit of cream cheese instead.
I have the White Mountain electric ice cream maker and love it. It makes up to 6 quarts at a time. It's the old fashioned type of ice cream maker but in my eyes it's the best. We also have an old fashioned hand crank White Mountain we use at our cabin, where there's no electricity, so we enjoy homemade ice cream whenever we want. Can't wait to try this recipe.
I have the 2nd, it works... but the ice cream is very soft. Initially I found this frustrating, I thought it was defective, but have ultimately learned to live with it (ie plan way ahead for freezer time). Next time I'll just go for the model that actually churns out ice cream in 40 mins..
I have the Cuisinart ICE-21 and love it.... and I got it on-sale at Crate & Barrel for less than the Amazon price!
Love my KitchenAid. My freezer allows me to set the temp, and I drop it to -5 if I'm going to be making ice cream later that day. With the bowl that cold, if the ingredients are chilled, I can freeze two batches, enough for a birthday party.
Any way you slice it, though, if you like ice cream, you have to try making your own with whatever maker works for you. It's a whole 'nother world of culinary fun. Our favorites include lemon gelato, triple chocolate and fresh strawberry. We want to see what we can do with yogurt, too.
What do the pros use for larger-scale commercial production of one-gallon-plus at a time?
I never even knew there is a Kitchen Aid attachment. Great suggestion!
perfect post to read and share ... i got this post when i am looking for the 'how to choose best gelato maker' in google. I have delonghi gelato maker at my home and thats awesome - http://www.delonghi.com/us_en/products/gm6000/
I have the Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker and I love it!
I have a blog devoted to homemade ice creams and sorbets where I share tips and recipes about ice creams! have a look!
Homemade non dairy ice cream
Thanks for sharing!
We had a large crowd for Memorial weekend. We ran out to BB&B and picked up a Nostalgia Electrics 4 qt. ice/salt type ice cream maker. In about a half hour we had a fantastic batch of soft serve vanilla. We put in in the freezer for a firmer ice cream then served with a selection of chocolate sauce, nuts, berries, Kahlua, Cointreau & Baileys. It was a hit. My last batch was Six Threes Ice Cream, a vintage recipe from my childhood with bananas, lemon and orange. It turned out wonderful. I don't have freezer space for a gel bowl type, but I'm lovin' this one!