Ice cream maker recommendation

Thinking about buying an ice cream maker for home and wonder if anyone has an equipment recommendation. I don't need huge capacity. Obviously I'll go google up some reviews but would love to hear from someone with experience. Thanks very much!

Pegeen
  • Posted by: Pegeen
  • July 12, 2014
  • 4068 views
  • 8 Comments

8 Comments

Liza's K. July 14, 2014
I have this one: http://www.cuisinart.com/products/ice_cream/ice-30bc.html and it works wonderfully. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is the fact that there isn't an automatic shut off so I need to check it quite a bit. It's also pretty loud, but all ice cream machines are. Needing to keep the bowl in the freezer is a little inconvenient, but I'm not in a position to shell out several hundred dollars for a maker with an internal freezer. If I were, I'd go for the Breville in a heartbeat.
 
Kathy July 13, 2014
I have a rival electric crank ice cream maker that just died after 18 years of use. I also was looking to replace mine and ended up buying the same type of machine. I just couldn't see making 1 1/2 quarts of wonderful ice cream. They are relatively inexpencive and do a great job.
 
petitbleu July 13, 2014
At the restaurant where I worked most recently, we used a Breville Smart Scoop. Bear in mind, this thing churns quarts and quarts of ice cream on an almost daily basis, and it's been great. Obviously, you won't need to use it for the same kind of production, but I certainly take this durability as a good sign! There are different settings for ice cream, gelato, sorbet, etc. I also love the self-cooling feature as opposed to having an ice cream maker with a bucket that you have to freeze ahead of time (had one of those and was consistently disappointed with it). It's on the pricey side, but I'm seriously considering getting one for home use.
 
Pegeen July 13, 2014
Thanks, everyone! Very helpful to be able to check with people who have first-hand experience.
 
Susan W. July 12, 2014
I have the Cuisinart and love it. I had a little krups for years. It finally died and I couldn't find the similar model, so I went
with the Cuisinart. I bought an extra bowl because I often wished I had with the Krups. The only annoying thing is that it's not easy to get the ice cream off of the bottom of the frozen bowl. Small annoyance.
 
mainecook61 July 12, 2014
The ice cream bowl attachment for a Kitchenaid mixer works very well.
 
Matt H. July 12, 2014
The Musso Lussino is a solid choice if you have the funds. It makes wonderful ice cream and sorbet. Another possible downside is the weight, although it's for a good reason. It has a serious built-in compressor that can even handle bases that have just come off the stove.
 
Greenstuff July 12, 2014
This question comes up regularly on the Hotline, and pretty much respondents go with the Cusinarts. They are relatively inexpensive and they work reasonably well. I have two and have bought a couple others for friends this past year. Extra bowls have sometimes been hard to find, but even then, an extra machine can be worth it.
 
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