CuisinartAutomatic Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker (Pink)

One button, on or off. Too simple. Cook up your fav gelato, ice cream or other frozen dessert recipe. Chill your cooked batch overnight in fridge. Keep the Cuisinart bucket in the freezer overnight. Fill it up with your chilled mix, turn it on and come back in fifteen minutes. Too easy. It's done when the ice cream is so cold it won't churn around anymore. The bigger choices are the recipes, but this machine will make it all. Forget wasting your time with machines with too many buttons and sensors, this machine works - it's simple and to the point and will probably last three decades. The recommended volumes in the Cusinart recipes are about 30% too much material and will overflow a bit, but it's easy to clean up and adjust the volumes for the next batch. Take notes. Lots of good recipe ideas on the web. There's even Marcella Hazan gelato recipes available online (in her book too.) Things to consider - how much fat to use, all milk, or half milk with half and half, or milk and full cream. They will all work. Baker's sugar is super smooth, especially when beaten into farm fresh egg yolks. The better the vanilla, the better the flavor. Vanilla paste from Madagascar rocks. For chocolate, Valronha Feves Guanja and Valrhona Dutch Process Cocoa will beat any chocolate dessert you have ever tasted. I promise you will never go back to the grocery store "gourmet" ice creams which are loaded up with cheap ingredients, fillers etc. Homemade is so superior. Go for it and have fun. To store in freezer, I use the paper One - Pint Frozen Dessert Containers with Lids. Fold up some wax paper and put it on top of the ice cream to prevent crystalizing. Put the whole container in a plastic bag with a tie, so that when you open and close the freezer, it stays super cold and doesn't crystalize on the outside. For the truly obsessed cooks, here's my version of Vanilla Gelato: 325g whole milk - 325g half and half - 50g really thick Icelandic yogurt - 145g bakers sugar - 2 tsp. madagascar vanilla paste - 5 egg yolks - separate the egg yolks, put in bowl, gently whisk in baker's sugar, don't over mix; mix the milk, half and half, yogurt and vanilla together and heat up to about 150 degrees in a good double boiler, stir so it doesn't stick but not too much or it will take forever to warm up; take off heat; slowly add in about a half cup at a time while stirring the eggs, not too much too fast or your will ruin the eggs, then put the mixture back in the double boiler and bring to 165 degrees - not higher - take off the heat immediately, put into a bowl with a good lid - set bowl in some ice water to cool it down quickly. Then put the bowl in the fridge overnight. The Cuisinart mix bowl goes in the freezer overnight. Put it in a clean plastic bag to keep crystals out. Next day, set up the Cuisinart with freezer bowl, pour in chilled mix, let it spin. Mine takes twelve minutes to make. It's done when the gelato stops churning because it is soft frozen. Scoop it into the paper containers with wax paper on top. Makes two pints. Ok, real Italian gelato does not use cream, yogurt or eggs, this is just my version. The amount fills the Cuisinart up without overflowing. You can use only milk, or heavy cream instead of half and half. More or less sugar to your taste. If you don't use the egg yolks, you won't have to mess with the double boiler, but then it won't have the deep crazy good custard flavor. I have tried lots of fancy vanilla pastes. While I can't promote who makes the best, lets just say look for N & M. For the chocoholics - add 70g of melted 70% great chocolate into the warm milk mix plus 42g of Dutch Process cocoa powder. Just don't blame me if you get addicted. Ciao...

I love this ice cream maker! So far, I've only made vanilla ice cream, but plan to make some different flavors very soon. The vanilla ice cream was simply delicious! I like it that you can control what is in your ice cream...or yogurt, etc. I feel that makes it a healthier choice. It's also more economical. I compared the cost with a major brand, and yes, it will save money if you make it yourself.It's super easy to make ice cream with this machine. You do need to be sure the bowl is frozen ahead of time. I just wash the bowl, dry it well, and keep it in the back of the freezer...that way it's always ready. If someone wanted to, they could purchase an additional bowl, but I myself am fine with just the single bowl....at least, for now. It's easy to clean everything, which is another plus. I don't like things that are difficult to clean, so it just makes it really nice to be able to clean it easily.One thing I learned is that it's helpful if you have some good containers to store the ice cream, yogurt, etc. in, so I purchased some ahead of using the machine.These are the ones I got, and they work great: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHPVVW2J?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1I also got these, but haven't used them yet: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079HSST6M?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

I've really enjoyed this ice-cream maker!! Easy to use and fast!

I have relied on my Rival ice cream maker for many years, churning out many, many batches of good ice cream...but after so many years, i got tired of the rock salt and ice ordeal so i went for this model. GLAD I DID! I've made half a dozen batches so far and i'm pleased to say this works better than the salt/ice machine. A few comments:First, it's easier to do, and doesnt take any guessing on how much ice to salt than the traditional ice/salt machine. THer'es no messy clean up of salt and/or ice off the counter/floor, either.Second, it's quicker than advertised. While eveything says 20-25 minutes, i have yet to have a batch take longer than 15 minutes.Third, I did not have to turn my freezer down to the lowest setting either (i was concerned about wasting energy just for this!). I have it on a "5" out of "9" settings, and it's fine. I stuck the canister in the back, on the bottom shelf--which I assume is the coldest place. Just make sure the recipe you use is VERY cold before you throw it into the machine. (i often put it in the freezer for 30 min before i make ice cream). ANother tip: put the exterior clear casing into the freezer for a while before making the ice cream--it just helps insulate the canister all the more when it's turning.)Fourth, it's the quietest ice cream machine i've heard. No, you cant hear a pin drop in the other room, but i use it in the kitchen and can comfortably watch TV in my adjacent family room without having to adjust the volume at all. I can hear the machine churing, but it doesnt get in the way of hearing the TV.Fifth, so why 4 stars instead of 5? Her'es the only downside of the frozen canister v. salt/ice machines. Scooping the finished ice cream out of the heavy and awkward-to-handle canister and into a container for freezing, is challenging. The canister, understandably, is VERY cold. It seems off balance as you try to do this, too. And if you wait more than a moment, the ice cream quickly starts to freeze hard to the canister, so a rubber spatula (never use metal or you'll scratch the canister!), cant scrape the hardened ice cream off the sides very easily.Overall, GREAT ice cream maker. THe quality of the ice cream is good, with a nice, smooth texture.