Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet & Ice Cream Maker

I love this thing! It is easy to use, easy to clean, and we have made some delicious ice cream with it! The simple vanilla and simple chocolate recipes in the included booklet are delicious and easy, as was a mint recipe I found online. Just mix ingredients in a bowl, turn it on, and pour it in! Haven't tried one that requires cooking on the stove first, seems like a lot of unnecessary work. It made a fun little activity for the grandkids, too! I don't find it to be loud, it's just a low whirring in the background. The bowl does need to be frozen overnight, so it might take planning if you have limited freezer space. I just store ours in our chest freezer so it is always ready to go. I don't think it's any cheaper than buying ice cream, but I guess that depends on what brand you buy, too. I try not to buy single purpose kitchen appliances that take up space and don't get used very often, but we eat a lot of ice cream around here so I think we will get some use out of this one. Oh, and you can use it to make frozen margaritas!

This Cuisinart ice cream maker is AWESOME! What an improvement over the old fashioned ice cream makers! No more salt or ice needed, and this thing can make soft-serve in about 20 minutes time! Because it's Cuisinart, I also know it's built to last. The one I bought is a beautiful, cherry red! And as beautiful as it is, it is even better at making ice cream! There is a base unit that plugs into an electrical socket. There are but two dial functions: off and on. There is a removable "bucket" / bowl where you place ingredients for making the ice cream. The bowl has liquid inside, that is between that hard plastic exterior of the bucket, and the stainless steel interior of the bucket. You MUST freeze the bucket for at least 24 hours prior to making ice cream. This is how the ice cream maker avoids having to use salt of ice, when making the ice cream! You simply prepare very simple, COLD ingredients (e.g. - milk, cream, sugar, some vanilla / other flavoring), remove the bowl from your freezer, add the cold ingredients, place the bowl into the main unit (when you turn the unit on, it turns the bowl of contents), add the stationary agitator to the bowl (the agitator has construction through which the ice cream ingredients pass, while the bowl turns. In essence, the stationary agitator "stirs" the ice cream, while to bowl turns), and then place the lid on the ice cream maker. The lid has a hole in it, whereby you can easily add ingredients (e.g. - crushed Oreos, pistachio nuts, chocolate chips, marshmallows, etc.). You can make soft-serve ice cream in 20 - 25 minutes. NOTE: do NOT go beyond 20 - 25 minutes churn time; the ice cream expands, and if you over-freeze it, it will overflow, and create a HUGE mess! It's never happened to me - I set a timer for 20 minutes, max - but my daughter wasn't so diligent, and wound-up with a huge, sticky mess, all over the outside of the ice cream maker! Honestly, this issue is simple to avoid - just set a timer! The resulting ice cream is delicious, but always comes out as soft-serve. No ice cream maker has a powerful enough motor to solid-freeze ice cream. To harden up the ice cream, place it in plastic storage containers, and place them in the freezer (you need to be able to store 2 quarts of ice cream). To serve, remove the containers of ice cream from the freezer for about 15 minutes - it will then be just soft enough to scoop out! Cleaning is easy (two parts to hand wash): the bowl and agitator must be HAND-WASHED. Neither of these should go in the dishwasher, especially the bowl (remember, the bowl has liquid inside, between the plastic outside, and the metallic inside). I assume a dishwasher would ruin the bowl / agitator. Anyway, this thing makes great ice cream, and in a very short time. My OLD ice cream maker can't even begin to compare. And no longer do I need to buy ice cream salt and ice, when I want to make ice cream! And the Cuisinart makes ice cream way faster than my old fashioned ice cream maker. And the resulting ice cream is delicious! One hint: regardless of the type of ice cream I'm making, I add almond extract. ALL the ice cream recipes call for vanilla extract, but only SOME call for almond extract. EVERYONE who has tried the ice cream I make LOVES the smell and flavor that almond extract adds. If you want to make ice cream, this Cuisinart ice cream maker is the way to go!

I’ve used it now 4 times. There is a learning curve but once you find a recipe you like and figure what works best for you in terms of length of churning and the ice cream’s desired thickness, it becomes a well worth it task and a great purchase. Cleanup is not that bad but be sure to wait to clean the bucket after it has thawed. Wash by hand. People have complained about ice cream sticking to the inner wall of the bucket after churning. It happens but that’s ok because that means your bucket was properly frozen. I use a semi-soft large plastic spoon to scrape the sides to get the residual leftover ice cream. It’s really not that big of a deal. My hubby likes to eat that part anyway so we never waste anything. Seriously the ice cream this machine makes is so good and if you get the right recipe you won’t complain about any of the minor details or extra effort it takes. But finding the right recipe is KEY. And DO NOT over churn. That’s what creates the gross ice crystals. It should be soft-serve after churning (15-20 mins) and then let the containers do the rest in the freezer overnight. (Thaw out for 5 minutes before serving after it’s been in the freezer overnight.). To check if churning is done, take a small spoon and hold it sideways on the ice cream as it’s churning. If the ice cream mounds up nicely on the spoon then it’s done. Turn the machine off and fill your containers. If it’s liquidy and moves off the spoon then keep churning. Buy this machine. I watched ALL the videos and read everything I could from Cuisinart’s site as well as many others. And don’t get the cheapy model. Spend the extra dollars and get this one. It’s stronger and will work better and last longer. The noise is somewhat loud but so what. It’s over before you know it. Remember there is a learning curve! My first batch was messy and gross. My hubby ate it but I threw mine out. It was AWFUL! But I didn’t give up, did more research and tried a different recipe. I changed things up to my liking and we’ve had three great batches since! Oh and get those white containers with the red tops. They work perfect and are less expensive than the purple or green ones. I put Saran Wrap and then parchment paper and then the lid over the ice cream. Cuts down on ice crystals forming. Good luck!!

Pretty simple to use. Make sure the center drum is frozen solid before use. We put ours in our chest freezer for 24 hours, worked like a charm. I honestly think we may have gotten a second batch of of the drum, but we didn't try it. The only reason for only 4 stars is that this thing is loud. I've seen other reviews comparing it to a kitchen aid stand mixer, and that's pretty accurate. Overall, we love it. But we do wish it was a little more quiet.

I had wanted wanted an ice cream maker in the Cuisinart family for a long time and when this one came up as a Prime Day special, I couldn't pass it up. I have no reason to regret my purchase. I followed all of the instructions carefully (freezing container for at least 24 hours, chilling the contents before adding them, carefully seating the paddle) and it has produced the most amazing frozen desserts. So far, I have used it for ice cream, which after 25 minutes is almost stiff enough to scoop, and frozen yogurt, which isn't as stiff, but delicious as soft serve even before going into the freezer. I have found that one to one and a half hour is sufficient curing time for the product to be scoopable. How creamy or icy it turns out seems to be more a result of the recipe rather than it is of any timing or techique used. The one thing I was not quite prepared for is how very, very noisy it is. It is similar to running a dishwasher or using a lawn blower. Unless you are sensitive to loud noises, this should not be a problem. I also noted that everything touching the container is plastic--the lid, the paddle, etc.--so I have used only plastic or soft utensils in the container. The interior is a soft aluminium metal and looks like it could easy scratch.

After making home made ice cream the old fashioned way (outside during the Summer months with rock salt and a noisy/messy ice cream maker) I wanted to find a no-mess ice cream maker that I could use inside during the Winter months. I purchased this unit and have made several batches of delicious ice cream. The methodology for making ice cream with this machine is different than the old fashioned ice cream makers but it's so much easier to use and it's mess free. It's not automatic as noted in the description but you do just turn it on when you begin churning the mixture and turn it off when you believe the mixture is ready to be transferred into another container and placed into a freezer. There are no other switches. I keep a timer close by and use that as a guide as to when the mix is ready as well as my eyes. I have tried several of the recipes that are included in the owners manual. The quick and easy recipes as well as the more time consuming ones all taste great. The machine is easy to clean. It's a bit noisy, but not nearly as noisy as the old fashioned makers. If you are new to this type of ice cream maker I recommend that you read the owners manual fully before you use the machine. Although my first batch was good, I later streamlined my processes and have been producing delicious ice cream. This was a good purchase!

We've used the product several times now and are quite pleased with the results. It was an adjustment as I was accustomed to the old school rock salt and ice. But I was pleasantly surprised with the results of this maker. I also saw a few negative reviews and decided to add my two cents: 1. The liquid you add to the maker should be at least refrigerator cold for consistent results. Room temperature or cool liquid will not only take longer, but will most likely not firm up as well (if at all). You do not have the "forgiveness" factor of adding layers of rock salt and ice, so you'll pay for it if you skip this step. 2. Do not overfill the maker with liquid. By that I mean leave at least a centimeter or so of space between the level of the liquid and the lower rim of the mixing arm with the pour. If you overfill it, the liquid at the top will hit the rim of the mixing arm and not have direct contact with the freezer bowl. 3. As a sidebar to number two, the preparation of the liquid matters. I wasn't paying attention (watching a movie) and prepped a batch of vanilla ice cream at high speed instead of the low speed indicated in the directions. The taste was still good (according to my husband), but it wasn't as dense and it took a lot longer to freeze. If using recipes from the manual, make sure you follow the directions in full. Don't wing it. 4. Be sure the liquid in the freezer bowl is actual frozen before you start the batch. If you hear any movement at all with a gentle shake, put it back in the freezer. Again, no layers of forgiveness with rock salt & ice to fall back on. So you'll pay for it if you skip that step as well. Hope this helps. Overall, a good product for the money and far better than a hand crank.

This is a great ice cream machine. I read some reviews that said it turned out liquified ice cream. With most ice cream churners, you have to chill the ice cream base after you have made it. If you attempt to put hot ice cream base in the chilled core, it won’t turn out correctly. Simply make you base, place it in an ice bath for 30 minutes and then churn the ice cream. It will set up nicely and then you freeze the churned ice cream in a separate container for 4 hours or overnight. The machine works great and is very simple to clean and use. I store the core in the freezer wrapped in plastic so it’s always ready to go when we want to make ice cream. The core must be frozen solid before use. Great little machine for the price!