CUISINART Ice Cream Maker, Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt Machine, 2-Qt. Double-Insulated Freezer Bowl, Silver, ICE30BCP1

Excellent ice cream machine, know how to take care of it, you will be rewarded. This is a very good ice cream machine for its class (home use, freezer bowl). I’d owned the 1 1/2 quart Cusinart model and liked it a lot. Then someone in my house put the drum in the dishwasher and I found out when I tried to make a batch of ice cream that wouldn’t freeze. Using the 1 1/2 quart model I was always scaling down recipes or hovering over the ice cream as it churned with a spoon, stealing spoonfuls ice cream as it threatened to overflow the ice cream maker because I overfilled it (not that I really minded that). I like the 2 quart size for those reasons,If you’ve never owned one of these types of ice cream makers before, here’s an overview. There are two main parts as far as what makes the ice cream. There is a paddle and a drum, aka the freezer bowl. The night before you intend to make ice cream (or earlier) park your clean freezer bowl in the coldest part of your freezer overnight. This is essential that the bowl be frozen through with no sloshing sound. This drum is what chills the ice cream.When you’re ready to make the ice cream, put the frozen freezer bowl into the base of the ice cream machine, put the paddle in and put the top on, start the machine and then pour your cold (repeat COLD) ice cream mixture into the freezer bowl as it runs. The cold of the freezer bowl chills the ice cream mixture, the paddle scraps the sides of the freezer bowl as it turns which scrapes off the freezing ice cream incorporating it back into the ice cream mixture and churns air into the mixture. Let the machine run for 20ish minutes. Give it a peak every once in a while because watched ice cream never freezes ;). When it’s done, you’ll hear the motor struggle a bit more because of the thickness of the ice cream, the ice cream will be soft serve consistency and will be done as far as its adventure with the machine. From here you could eat it as soft serve, or scoop out the ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze it for a few hours. let the freezer bowl warm up a little, then wash by hand with warm soapy water and a soft sponge or cloth.The negative comments that people have left seem mostly to be due to them not understanding how this machine works or that they expected something different, or both. Yes, you have to freeze the bowl overnight — that’s how this type of ice cream machine chills ice cream. It doesnt have its own refridgeration unit. If you want that, then pay 5x+ the price for a different type of machine. No, this machine doesn’t produce solid hard ice cream — it produces soft serve consistency because it churns and you can’t churn rock solid ice cream. And You MUST WASH THE FREEZER BOWL BY HAND. This isn’t a “to keep it looking it’s best” issue like you sneak your pots and pans in the dishwasher even though you shouldn’t — the heat from the dishwasher will destroy the freezing liquid in the bowl and the bowl will never make ice cream again. You can tell that a well meaning relative put your bowl in the dishwasher because the bowl will still sound sloshy even though it’s been freezing for days.The It Never Froze My Ice Cream comments — the person either put their freezer bowl in the dishwasher or the bowl wasn’t cold enough. Or the freezer bowl was defective.The It Won’t Make Ice Cream Immediately, It Makes Soft Serve…comments — that’s true, but that’s how this machine works.Some have commented that they have to let the finished ice cream (after being I the freezer) sit on the counter for 15 minutes until they can scoop it. My suggestions are: 1. Use more fat in your recipe, 2. Let it churn more air as the machine runs, 3. Know that most commercial ice creams have a ton of what they call “overhead” which is basically air in the ice cream. You may notice that the same volume of two different brands of ice cream weigh differently. Ultra premium brands like Haagen Daaz have little overhead compared to, say most grocery store brands. Lower quality ice creams also have thickeners and stabilizers that hold the ice cream together but keep it from really forming solid. Ever leave a bowl of ice cream on the counter overnight and the next day it’s a little melted but mostly in the same shape? That’s the stabilizers. All of this makes commercial ice cream soft and easy to scoop even though it’s frozen. Take heart that better quality ice creams like the one you are making are naturally harder when frozen, and therefore may take a sturdy ice cream scoop and perhaps a little muscle to scoop. On properly made ice creams (enough fat, enough churning) I’ve never made a batch too hard to scoop straight from the freezer.In short, this machine works beautifully and its make quality ice cream. I’m very happy with it.

I can finally make vegan ice cream. Ok so I am reviewing for those that are either vegan or simply just dairy free because I decided to try my hand at it, even after reading reviews that were not favorable towards using plant milk. I am using this machine weekly now. For those that are wanting to do the dairy free route this is my base for each and every single recipe I’ve done:Vanilla based ice cream: 1 1/4 cup of plant milk, I’ve used soy and oat only at this point. And a 16.9 fluid ounce container of plant based heavy whipping cream. Country Crock came out with a game changer of one and it’s all I use in every recipe that calls for dairy heavy cream. UP TO (but can be less) 1/4 cup of agave.Chocolate based ice cream: 1 1/4 cup chocolate plant milk, ice used oat, soy and almond/coconut blend. And a 16.9 fluid ounce container of plant based heavy cream. UP TO (but can be less) 1/4 cup agave. That’s it.I’ve made cookies and cream by tossing in crushed Oreos in the vanilla base. I’ve done coffee ice cream several times using the chocolate base, vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons instant espresso powder. I’ve done starwberry using the vanilla base, vanilla extract, fresh strawberries & freeze dried strawberry powder that I bought here on Amazon. I’ve made mint and chip using vegan chocolate chips in the vanilla base, and a couple tablespoons of green spirulina powder (for natural green color) along with a teaspoon of peppermint extract. I’m going to make my own version of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia today using the chocolate base with frozen cherries. I have made Rocky Road several times using the chocolate base, adding vegan marshmallows, chopped and toasted almonds and 1/3 cup of cacao powder. The ones with cookies and candies require less agave. Keep that in mind. I’ve done a Lemon Blueberry with the vanilla base, lemon zest added after churning and blueberries, fresh and frozen both work great. If you use either of those bases, you will not fail. I will never pay $7 for a pint of vegan ice cream again that comes in only chocolate or vanilla and is packed with sugar.Side note: mix all of your ingredients in a bowl first (except when using citrus, add after churning) then pour into the machine while it’s on and spinning. Do NOT Pour ingredients in till after it’s running, otherwise it will freeze to the side instantly. When done, I use an offset frosting spatula to get all the ice cream off the sides. It rolls it like ice cream rolls, it’s amazing. Hope this helps and Happy Churning!!

LOVE this thing. Absolutely love this ice cream maker! Really awesome to adjust the sweetness as well as the ingredients. Making ice cream is a breeze. Freeze the bowl for at least 24 hours, pour in the ingredients and turn on. Clean up is incredibly easy. As others have warned, do not put the freezer bowl in the dishwasher. I only wish the tolerance between the mixing blade and the sides of the bowl wall were tighter. I always have a frozen layer on the sides that don’t make it into my storage container. Do not scrape the sides with any metal trying to get the last bits. Only other down side is that the bowl will take up a good amount of space in your freezer. Still, if the maker broke down, I would purchase again.