Review by :

I bought this ice cream maker after seeing one like it on the food channel. I have one of those Rival brand ice cream makers that requires the salt and ice. What a mess! and loud!! This Cuisinart ice cream maker is wonderful! It is quiet compared to my old Rival and very easy to use. You keep the bowl in the freezer at all times, and when you make up a batch of ice cream, you just pour the cream in the frozen bowl and turn the button to ON. In 20 minutes or less, you have ice cream. I am very glad I bought this. I also purchased Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream & Dessert book and a Farberware Millennium ice cream scoop along with this maker and I would highly recommend those also!

Review by John Stevens:

So far, my wife and I have made a batch of mint chocolate chip, and cookies and cream. Both were excellent! We made these using the “simple” recipe (no eggs or cooking required). These recipes taste like Breyer’s (which is an A+ rating by our standards). Not a surprise, because if you examine a carton of Breyer’s, you’ll see the same simple ingredients (cream, milk, sugar, real vanilla or mint extract) — no “xantham gum” or what-not. I disagree with the other review here that says the ice cream doesn’t freeze well (after making) — in fact, we think the texture is better after it firms up a bit. We compared this product to a similar one by Krups, but the Cuisinart has a more powerful motor and a better warranty. We are looking forward to trying frozen daquiris, slushies, and other ice cream flavors. This is a great machine!

Review by H. Woolsey:

I purchased this after much debate about whether or not I needed a two quart ice cream maker or just go with the original Cuisinart .95 one. I am so glad i bought this one. It is so great. Easy to use, makes alot of ice cream,so sleek looking.

I have a tiny kicthen and everytime I turn around I am buying something that will clutter my counterspace, but I have to say this I don’t mind. It is square, not to bulky and the cord fits nicely up inside the machine. It doesn’t dangle or anything. It’s right next to my KitchenAid.

I have made two recipes out of the manual that comes with the machine. I usually don’t like “manual recipes” however, these are fantastic. The Mango Gelato was a huge hit with family and friends. One girl who doesn’t like ice cream, liked it. The simple ice creams that dont require making a custard, you just mix all the ingredients together and freeze, I was thinking it would be terrible. It wasn’t, so you can make ice cream in 30minutes from start to finish with those recipes.

I do keep the bowl in the freezer like others suggested with the smaller ice cream maker. It has been very useful to have it already frozen when I am ready to make ice cream.

As far as noise, it is not as quiet as I thought, but don’t let that scare you. It’s not like turning on a blender and leaving it running for 25 minutes. It’s not an annoying noise. Not like the old ice cream makers with the ice and stuff. It is fun to watch it churn too. So the noise just fades to the background.

It’s very interactive and a great thing to do with kids and company.

I really can’t say enough good. One of the best appliance investments I have mad yet.

Review by Carol Brearley:

I used this to make a custard based ice cream (recipe below) and it came out WONDERFULLY! The ice cream was done in 20 minutes and the consistency was fluffy. The recipe I made before (non custard) didn’t thicken as nice, but I believe it was because it was not made with the custard base. I have uploaded a customer image of the maker in action near the end of the cycle.

*TIP* Make sure the bowl is completely frozen and do not pull it out until you are ready to pour the ingredients in.

Custard Base Recipe:

Ingredients for base – 4 egg yolks, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup sugar.

For Ice cream – base, 1 cup fresh heavy cream, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

Directions – In a double boiler slowly bring milk to a boil. In a glass bowl mix together egg yolks and sugar until thickened. Slowly pour in the milk stirring constantly. Return to double boiler and slowly heat until thickened. (Mixture will stick to back of the spoon. DO NOT BOIL! Remove from heat and allow to cool. (I recommend putting it in the freezer for about 2 hours before using.) When the mixture is cooled mix in the heavy cream and vanilla. According to maker directions, turn on machine and slowly pour mixture in. If you want to add chips, fruit or anything else to the ice cream, do it about 5 minutes before the end of the cycle. Enjoy!

Review by Jack M. Robertson:

Just received this afternoon. Ran down to the store, bought all the ingredients, and just threw our first gallon of ice cream in the freezer. It’s so cool … and FUN! We did the quick and easy vanilla recipe that came with the recipe book, chopped up some brownies and reeses PB cups, and the motor stopped like it’s supposed to in just 30 minutes. Soft serve ice cream as good as anything from the store … and better for us. The directions are VERY simple to follow. We’ve never made ice cream before and didn’t know squat about how to do it. Including time spent going to the store, we had our first batch within two hours after FEDEX delivered the package. We were skeptical about the loudness of the motor based on a prior review we read; the motor is really not that loud, but the sound it makes is rather obnoxious after about 10 to 15 minutes. However, it sounds just like I thought an electric ice cream maker would sound like. So, no surprises and SOOOO worth it! The price was awesome too!

Review by Gem B:

This was a temporary buy because I ordered a 6 QT electric White Mountain but had to wait 10 days for delivery and I wanted ice cream now. So I had little expectations. Boy, was I surprised. It worked better than the cuisinart electric. I must say the texture and consistency was perfect. The ice cream was ready in 35 minutes. I’ll keep this one and look forward to many more batches of homemade ice cream.

Review by Not my real name:

I bought this after reading a lot of reviews. My choice was based on a number of factors. I have owned a hand-crank, ice-and-salt ice cream maker in the past – it made great ice cream but was messy; I didn’t want yet another appliance that I had to find where to store; and I have owned and liked my KitchenAid stand mixer for a number of years.

This is basically a double-walled, sealed mixing bowl, with the space inside the walls filled with some liquid (presumably like the refreezable ice packs). It comes with plastic paddle. The basic steps are:

1 Freeze the bowl (I keep mine in the freezer)

2 Make and cool an ice cream custard, or a fruit mix for sorbet

3 Assemble the frozen bowl and the plastic paddle on the stand mixer

4 Switch the mixer on lowest speed, add the custard

5 Let the mixer stir the mix until it freezes (to a “soft serve” consistency)

6 Transfer the ice cream to a bowl with a lid, and freeze until firm

Here are my comments:

First, take a black marker and obliterate all the nutritional information about the recipes in the instruction book. We know that ice cream is full of fat and sugar — that’s why we like it! We don’t need reminding.

* Try a dry run to assemble the bowl and paddle. This is designed to fit many models of KitchenAid mixers, and it’s not obvious. You don’t want to be figuring this out when you are ready to make your first batch.

* Freeze the bowl for longer than the suggested 18 hours

* MAKE HALF QUANTITIES: the two-quart recipes fill the bowl, and I had a couple of overflows as the ice cream expands as it cools.

* Also, filling the bowl means that the ice cream takes longer to freeze. The first time I tried this, it didn’t freeze as the bowl had not been frozen long enough to handle the two quarts.

* Get a good recipe to use up the egg whites. I make meringue from the New York Times Cook Book. I guess an omelet would be good too.

* There’s mistake in the instruction book. In one place it suggests adding the fruit, nuts etc half way through the freezing process, and in another place it suggests adding these ingredients at the end of the mixing cycle.

* Use enough mix (custard or fruit puree) to at least fill half of the bowl — this way the paddle will mix the entire batch.

* Remember that freezing enhances the sweet taste — so do not over sweeten the mix before you freeze, otherwise the ice cream or sorbet will be too sweet.

* If you’re making a fruit puree for sorbet, a blender makes a *MUCH* smoother puree than a food processor. I think this makes a difference in the texture of the final sorbet.

* After preparation, you need to cool the custard or puree in the fridge for a few hours. Use a jug that has a decent pouring lip: this will make it much easier to pour into the freezer bowl than if you just use a regular mixing bowl.

* There is very little space between the edge of the bowl and the paddle — this can mean a mess when you fill the bowl. It **really** needs a pouring spout designed to fit

* Getting the semi-frozen desert out of the bowl can be messy – there is no handle on the bowl and it has smooth, slippery sides.

* Use a container for the final freezing that has a little air space after you fill with the semi-frozen ice cream — this allows for additional expansion of the desert, and prevents the need to squash the final product into the bowl.

* I’ve used recipes from The New York Times Cookbook and Fine cooking magazine — all delicious, better than store bought, and slightly different than the regular recipes for vanilla, cookies and cream, etc.

* Use the freshest eggs you can find — not the ones that have been sitting in the fridge door for a month

Update February 2008

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Thanks very much to all the kind comments that folks have left. For those of you who haven’t read the comments on this review: it’s worthwhile taking a few minutes to do so as some of the commenters have additional suggestions and ideas.

Update December 2009

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A couple of the recent comments have asked whether the inside of the bowl is aluminum or non-stick. It *appears* to be metallic, but with plastics these days, it’s anybody’s guess. It is light gray so could be aluminum, but I’d wager that it is some sort of alloy. It is definitely NOT the type of non-stick found in Teflon-type frying pans.

BTW – I’ve had this for nearly four years and am still loving it. Long term durability seems to be good.

Review by Michael Trotman:

I think my wife is trying to murder me with this KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment! She bought this for me for Christmas along with the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Recipe book knowing full well that I would become obsessed with trying all of the recipes. I’m on the third batch (Cherry Garcia, Coffee Chip, Chocolate Chocolate Chip) and I can already feel my heart slowing down. I can hardly make it to the mailbox without becoming winded. Luckily I realized her dastardly plot before having an ice cream overdose induced myocardial infarction. She almost got away with it as nobody would have suspected her. The paramedics would have just thought I was another fat pig who overdosed on ice cream.

This is so easy to use you may also find yourself overstocked with fresh quarts of the best ice cream you ever tasted. Follow the recipes in Ben and Jerry’s book and carefully follow the directions that come with the churn and you’ll make great ice cream every time. As the other reviewers have mentioned, it is essential to allow the ice cream to “ripen” before serving. This is not a requirement that is unique to this churn by the way. This is necessary with other churns as well. So be patient, plan ahead, get creative, and enjoy.

Review by John Stagaman:

Like another reviewer, I was happy to see a compressor machine available for a reasonable price. I’d owned a smaller machine with a bowl that was placed in the freezer, but the ice cream wasn’t as creamy as I wanted and the results varied dramatically from batch to batch.

Armed with a gift certificate (plus quite a bit more), I ordered this machine. For the fourth of July, I made 3 flavors for a party (vanilla, chocolate, & stawberry–I went with the basics), making the bases for each the night before. The next morning, I froze all three ice creams in less than two hours. With a compressor machine, it’s easy to make multiple batches one after the other. And the ice cream was a hit at the party, too.

Some tips:

1. The first batch I made was a simple recipe from the instructions which contained no eggs. While it turned out OK, it couldn’t compare with custard-based ice creams that include egg yolks. The custard bases consistently result in smoother, creamier, and richer ice cream.

2. Try to make the ice cream base the night before you’ll be freezing it (especially custard bases). It allows the flavors to blend and ensures the base is cold. A cold base will freeze more rapidly and is less likely to develop ice crystals.

3. When making chocolate ice cream, using quality chocolate rather than cocoa gives a richer flavor.

4. It’s much easier to make ice cream when there’s no need to have lots of ice and rock salt or remember to pre-freeze bowl wich may or may not fit in the freezer.

5. It also can freeze sorbets and sherberts and make slushies for the kids. I suppose you could make frozen drinks with it, but I’ll stick to the blender for those.

I’m very happy with it so far. It seems well made, produces great ice cream, and has a larger capacity than many other compressor units. While I expect to usually make a half-batch at a time, the 1 1/2 quart capacity plus the ability to quickly freeze multiple batches is great for those times when you need lots of ice cream.

Review by D. Brennan:

The only ice cream maker I used prior to this was an italian gelato machine. That device required the work bowl to be frozen for several hours prior to making ice cream AND the use of alcohol to assist in the transfer of cold from the compressor to the work bowl.

This machine from Cuisinart eliminates the need for both. This is accomplished by finely manufacturing the components so that the work bowl fits VERY snugly in to the device. The result – much easier setup with less mess.

A batch usually takes 35-40 minutes, assuming you have allowed the mix to reach room temperature before adding it to the machine. Add 10 minutes if you are adding a warm mix.

You will still need to place the ice cream in your freezer for 20-30 minutes to get the right texture. That’s common with most home machines so don’t look at this as a fault of this machine.

Because you do not need to pre-freeze the bowl, you can make batch after batch of ice cream. We have made 5 consecutive batches (for a party) in under 5 hours without any problems.

One star is deducted for the amount of noise this machine generates. We have taken to putting it in our bedroom while it does its work. We were not able to speak with other people at a normal volume when this machine it in the same room.

The recipes in the included recipe book are ok – not great. I would recommend picking up a recipe book – perhaps Ben & Jerry’s – when you buy this machine.

Review by Sourdough:

Our family loves this ice cream machine! It makes enough ice cream (6 quarts! not 1 to 1-1/2 quarts like the others) for our family gatherings or enough to store for future consumption. It’s very simple to operate with the electric motor doing all the work and the Ice Cream is fabulous, smooth and creamy. We put it on a “rag rug” on the kitchen floor and everyone gets to help with the adding of ice/salt. It’s a bit noisy, but my kids consider that part of the fun. Our only complaint is that very few recipes are included with the machine. Solution, purchase a book of ice cream recipes to supplement. Some good ones are: Frozen Desserts : The Definitive Guide to Making Ice Creams, Ices, Sorbets, Gelati, and Other Frozen Delights which gives DETAILED history/information and The Ice Cream Machine Cookbook by Melissa Clark which includes some very creative ice cream combinations.

Review by SUZANNE FINLEY KLUVER:

Recently, a group my son was in had to make over 200 gallons of homeade ice cream. The group would go to local festivals and sell the ice cream to raise money. Anyway, we had about 14 six quart freezers, 4 of them being the White Mountain models. The White Mountain freezers not only froze almost 2x faster than the other models but the ice cream was much more firm. Also, after making all of the ice cream, many of the other models were literally “burnt out” but the White Mountain machines seemed to go on and on showing no signs of wear. These freezers have probably made over 30 gallons of ice cream and still are as good as new. I would highly recommed a White Mountain machine.

Review by Lisa Rasband:

I’m not unreasonable, but I’m apparently the only one who thought this ice cream ball was crummy. I bought it for my three young children and I to make ice cream, and found it to be a pain. First, the capacity is only 2 cups, which is not a lot. Second, ice cubes from a standard ice cube tray are too large to fit into the opening for the ice and salt. You either have to have a crushed ice ice maker, purchase comercial ice or spend 15 minutes crushing the ice with a meat tenderizer mallet, like I did. I hoped that 5 ice trays of ice would be enough ice, but you need at least twice that much to keep the ball filled for the time required.

The instructions for the ball say that after ten minutes of mixing, to stir the ice cream. Sounds easy, but after you pry the lid off (with a special wrench they include with the ball so the ice cream mix can splatter everywhere) you have less than a 3 inch diameter to stir ice cream which is liquid on the inside core and frozen solid on the metal wall of the chamber six or seven inches deep. But wait, don’t use anything metal to chip the rock hard stuff into the liqid stuff! I tried a silicon spatulta, a wooden spoon, and eventually took the silicone head off the first spatula and scraped the sides with the wooden handle wedge. (My neighbor and I both tried making ice cream and stiring every 5 minutes instead, didn’t help to hard ice cream mixing very much.)

Of course, you get ice cream dripping down the sides, but the ball has little raised decorative ledges that catch the drips and funnel them into tight angled crevices that you need to use a mashed up paper towel corner, or a sharp knife tip with a dishcloth stretched over it to get out so you don’t end up rolling sticky ice cream batter into what ever surface you are playing with the ball on. There are mini chocolate chips stuck in some of those grooves I haven’t been able to get out after multiple washings, as well.

If you get this far, the end result is not very creamy or very smooth. We tried rolling, shaking, tossing, in many different combos and still couldn’t get smooth textured ice cream. The recipes enclosed that I tried tasted cheap and not like any ice cream I’d pay for twice. I tried my own recipes, but the inability to mix adequately through the small opening into the deep canister made for hard crystal type lumps.

Overall, it may be a fun novelty for children, but it is a pain in the rump to use. You can do the same thing for a lot less with the same 2 cup capacity with a gallon and quart ziplock bag and just squishing it. I wish we had put the thirty bucks towards a hand crank or electric freezer, instead.

Review by L. Colwell:

I am a homeschooling mom who purchased this item this summer to make ice cream with my child. It worked wonderful, but we are completely unable to get the seal holding the saltwater undone from the container.I had two strong men and my contractor, who used torque, try to remove the seal and couldn’t get it to budge. We are sitting here with an item we have used once and can’t use again.We have contacted the company, who made recommendations,which we tried to no avail and when asked for a replacement, recieved no reply. They have been unresponsive to us since. A bad, bad deal!

Review by Dwain M. Gleason:

In reading the reviews for this product, I’ve noticed that some people may have been expecting something more than what Cuisinart is selling. Having used this unit several times now, here are my impressions and thoughts.

- The unit uses a freezer bowl to freeze the product. That means that the bowl MUST be frozen solid and the product MUST be very well chilled, otherwise you will not get good results. We have just kept our freezer bowls in the deep freeze when not in use so that we can make ice cream fairly quickly. It’s probably best to mix up your soft serve mix at least an hour in advance and put it in the coldest part of your fridge or (as another reviewer suggested) in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to get it as cold as possible without prematurely freezing it.

- The freezer bowl doesn’t have a huge capacity. It can make “10-12″ servings – if your servings are small. 6-8 is probably more like it. If you want more, make certain you purchase an additional bowl and keep it frozen.

- The instructions on time expectations generally say 10-15 minutes, and this can be true if you chill the ice cream mixture very thoroughly. Otherwise it will take longer, probably more like 15-20 minutes.

- The first serving or so may be fairly soupy – I have found that I can dispense some into a cup and then re-add that into the top of the bowl.

- The “mix-ins” really don’t mix in to the soft serve at all, they are really topping dispensers. If you’re expecting something like a DQ Blizzard, it’s not the same. Also, don’t over-fill (or pack in) the mix in bins. I’ve had good luck with chopped peanuts, sprinkles and the mini M&Ms.

The differences between this unit and a more conventional ice cream freezer are mainly that this unit has a freezable bowl vs. a bowl that is placed in a mix of ice and rock salt. That means it is a little more convenient, but lacks the capacity of the conventional freezer. Our ice cream freezer makes about twice as much ice cream as the soft serve, but it is much louder, generally requires more clean up and doesn’t dispense the product. On the other side, I think a conventional freezer has more versatility if you are making things like frozen custards that set up harder than soft serve. Finally, the freezer just isn’t really as much “fun” as this one is which has real appeal if you’ve got kids in the family.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed this gadget – but I did some research first and made certain I understood what I was buying. This is NOT like the soft serve dispensers in restaurants – but it’s very nice for a treat on a summer afternoon.

Review by J. Scott:

We bought this ice cream maker thinking we could use it for a big party we were having. It turns out that the freezer bowl will give you about 10 – 12 servings before it needs refreezing. So we opted not to use it for the party (not enough servings) but instead use it for our family.

I was a little apprehensive about buying this product since similar product reviews were none to flattering. This unit howover seems to work just fine.

The instructions claim that the ice cream is ready to serve in about 12 – 15 minutes but we found that 20 minutes was needed to reach the right consistency. But, once it’s ready, the ice cream poured out perfectly (we even got the knack of twirling the column of ice cream into our cones). We’ve decided that the vanilla ice cream recipe is our family’s favorite.

Clean up was a snap since all the parts can be easily removed and cleaned.

We tried the condiment dispensers and my kids loved it. We found that certain things don’t work well if they aren’t chopped finely or if they don’t have a slippery surface (like m&m’s). Otherwise, it’s cool to have the ‘extras’ intermixed with the ice cream.

Overall, this product is nicely engineered and works very well.

Review by Rebecca Johnson:

While I do have the ice cream maker, I ordered an additional freezer bowl to have on hand. It is helpful if you want to make two flavors of ice cream, or if you want to cool the warm custard for vanilla ice cream before you freeze it.

I have also used this container to quickly cool items (like Jello which must be cooled for a mousse, raspberry mousse comes to mind in a metal bowl. Place any metal bowl on the top of this container. It will be stable and the bowl will get ice cold. The contents will then cool very quickly.

Try this bowl to cool down custard when you are filling pastries. Just pour in the custard and stir with a spatula for a few minutes. Soon, you have creamy, cold custard to fill those pastries.

I recommend keeping one of these in the freezer at all times. There are just so many more uses! Use it everytime you need to cool a liquid quickly. You will love the results.

~The Rebecca Review

Review by :

Cuisinart makes it easy for ice cream lovers by selling extra freezer bowls! Having an extra freezer bowl is extremely useful if you are making large quantities of ice cream or you plan on making different varieties. According to the instruction booklet it can take between six to twenty-two hours to freeze the bowl. We usually keep one bowl in the freezer all the time, then when making a batch of ice cream we replace it with the extra bowl. The freezer bowl doesn’t take up much space and it’s easy to clean! Fantastic Buy!

Review by Ruby G. Turner:

This was my third try at finding a high quality ice cream maker without a high price. This product was the best of both! I highly recommend it. A note oc caution:

be sure to read the instructions before using it.

Review by Tanya Tolleson:

I bought this item for my brother-in-law’s birthday. So far he has made grape, vanilla and root beer ice cream which all turned out great! It did freeze up once but he did something and got it working again…that’s the only reason for not rating it a 5!