Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Machine, 1.5 Quart Sorbet, Frozen Yogurt Maker, Double Insulated, White, ICE-21P1

Nice inexpensive Ice Cream machine. I received this item about two days later than the projected Amazon delivery date purchased from “Gourmet Kitchen Gallery”.The item itself consists of:1) Plug in base2) Frozen solution bowl that ingredients will pour in.3.) Plastic blade that slips into bowl and is held in placewhile the bowl spins by…4.) Clear plastic cover with hole at top to allow easy addition of ingredients.5.) Ice cream ingredient book.So far I’ve made the simple ice cream and sorbet recipes.I freeze the blade, the plastic cover and the bowl in the freezer 24 hours before use. I leave ingredients in teh freezer one hour prior to mixing. (although my apricot/ginger sorbet was still warm)The ice cream seemed to be wrapped up in about five minutes. The mixture bunches up and spills up (so it’s important to not overfill and I personally have started underfilling). As soon as it bunches up at the top, due to how the blade works, you’re not really going to get it mixed any further because it’s now bypassing the blade. It’s soft when I scoop it out and I usually place in fridge for a minimum of an hour before eating to let it harden. More cream=softer and less=harder for the simple ice cream ingredients. I have a peach ice cream that’s rock hard because I was trying a lower fat/sugar experiment. Still delicious, I just have to chip at it.The sorbet recipe is awesome. I use the raspberry and then just add whatever other fruit instead and play with flavors. It’s “creamy” (in regards to texture) after days in the fridge allowing easy scooping and VERY much like what you’d buy in the store. As mentioned the apricot/ginger was HOT when I placed in the freezer for an hour and still warm when I put into the ice cream maker. This took a solid 15 minutes to freeze vs the five minutes I experienced with the ice cream. I was impressed the ice cream maker still “froze it” though.The price is cheap, the portions are good for a couple or small family and it’s very easy to clean/use. I’m VERY happy with this purchase and glad the ice cream website I was looking at recommended it. In turn, I recommend it to you.Pros:Easy to cleanSimple to usenice recipe book although i’m sure there are better ice cream recipes/bases.InexpensiveDoesn’t require ice/rock saltCons:The piling up of the ice cream/sorbet when done annoys me. I own a heavier duty mixer that makes WAY too much and requires ice/rock salt. However, you can keep mixing it to a harder consistency (it also takes 2-3 hours). I think part of it is simply how the blades are made and they’re designed poorly. Still, this is my only complaint. It gets your ice cream to the point that your freezer can finish it for you.Notes:Cool ingredients prior to mixing and it speeds up the process.Don’t add alcohol (vanilla) until the very end. (this may be why i’m 5 minutes to done instead of 15ish)Freeze bowl overnight to make sure it’s frozen.When it bunches up you’re not going to get much more done so package and store.Vanilla extract REALLY isn’t needed when you do fruit ice cream. I ignore that ingredient.Sorbet recipe is AWESOME and comes out perfect.Enjoy. Sorbet is easy and fun to play with and doesn’t require ingredients you don’t normally have (sugar, water, fruit vs cream/eggs/whole milk/whatever else… i don’t drink whole milk or eat eggs and NEVER have cream).My recommendation is a strong buy. Nice cheap machine that works well. There are probably better out there, but I would expect a need to pay a lot more for them and frankly I don’t see the need when this works so well itself.

WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE. Bought the Model 21 in time for homemade peach ice cream. Had gone back and forth whether to purchase a newer, more expensive version but after reading someone else’s recommendation that the older, simpler model worked just fine, decided to follow their advice and after having made nine batches of various flavors, agree that the “21” couldn’t be any better. No bells and whistles are really necessary other than the on/off switch, and it’s overly pricey to upgrade. The machine does make some noise, but not like a revved-up Harley or anything. I continue putzing around in the kitchen while the ice cream churns, and the high-pitched hum is not overly annoying. The slightly smaller capacity (1-1/2 qt) is advantageous since we can polish off a batch and go on to the next “experiment” without much delay. Finally, the smaller canister is easier to fit in a small refrigerator-freezer for the necessary pre-chilling. I haven’t found a second canister to be necessary for a small family, but if you have the freezer space and need to make larger quantities more often, it could be the ticket.This little gadget has been fun to use and it’s so easy, almost foolproof, to have great-tasting ice cream without the mess of an old-fashioned salt-and-ice freezer. After trying one of the Cuisinarts I ordered another as a gift, along with a 1-1/2 qt oblong storage container (have tried both Tovolo and Sumo—they seem practically identical). After the initial experiments with various “rich” recipes and flavors, we will probably try some of the lower cal versions such as sorbets and ices, but for now, it’s full bore with the creamy goodness. Life is now measured “before homemade ice cream” and after!Observations/methodology: Have tried various recipes—with eggs, cooked custard; with eggs, uncooked; no eggs, adding some instant vanilla pudding powder for extra thickness and body, and using fruits–peaches, cherries, strawberries, as well as butter pecan. (B.C. was hands-down fave!—toasted the chopped nuts in the oven first, with melted butter, a little sugar, and a sprinkling of kosher salt. In the custard, used dark brown sugar, maple syrup and Jack Daniels for flavoring—yummilicious!) Finally decided to stick with the cooked custard approach, adding a small amount of vanilla bean instant pudding powder, say 1-2 TB, to the cooled custard just prior to freezing. (I feel uneasy about using raw, uncooked eggs.) Have had excellent results using a Thermapen to measure the temp, whisking constantly while cooking in a heavy pot. It doesn’t take long to come to temp and thicken, but does need to be cooled prior to freezing, so if in a hurry you may prefer the easy-no-eggs-instant pudding type of recipe, readily available online.Not one batch so far has been a “failure”—in fact, they’re all so good that we’ve become addicted and eat ice cream three times a day. It should come with a warning label! We prefer a rich version, with a combination of heavy cream, evaporated milk, condensed milk and regular milk for a vanilla base resulting in that “from my childhood” taste. It can be modified with add-ins as you please. Be sure to write down what you do as you go, in case tweaking is needed next time or in case you pronounce the latest batch a sure winner. Have plenty of tasting spoons at the ready while churning, and several rubber spatulas will come in handy.As many have noted, it’s key to have the canister frozen rock-solid prior to churning. We keep it in the freezer between uses and even put the plastic shell (aka “lid”) in there while prepping the custard. There’s no actual lid as you might imagine. I wring out a wet dish towel and lay it on top across the open hole, and put some ice cubes atop that to help insulate. May not be necessary, but every bit helps.So far the “21” has worked great and we make a batch every other day. The most challenging part is transferring the just-frozen custard to a storage container for additional hardening. Take out the paddle first and scrape it off (another opportunity for tasting). The filled canister is heavy and to hold it with one hand while scraping out the soft ice cream is a bit unwieldy. A very firm plastic spatula works best (rather than a flexible one) to get all the ice cream out. Never use metal, anywhere, anytime! Wash and dry the canister when empty and return to your freezer pronto. You WILL want more ice cream soon and it’ll be ready to go, so keep a spot empty for it. It’ll be worth it. (I scream for green beans? Not so much….)Some have complained about the freezer not working for long, but being a new owner, I can’t say.. It seems like if you treat the parts gently it would last “forever,” but maybe that’s just like the honeymoon phase with a new lover. Time will tell but we’re very happy for now—even obsessed.Be cautious of OVER-filling the container which can cause an overflow mess since the mixture expands while freezing. Err on being conservative with the amount of custard mix. I use 2 eggs per 3 to 3-1/2 cups of liquid per batch and add the mixings the last few minutes to help ensure they don’t add too much volume. Keep an eye on it from time to time during the freezing process to make sure it isn’t about to overflow. You can always remove some of the mixture if it seems necessary. In the case of the toasted buttered pecans, I folded most of them into the mixture AFTER pouring it into the storage container because instructions say not to add anything larger than a chocolate chip, and I wanted some to be larger chunks. This delayed-addition technique works well for other fixings, too. On one hand, adding pureed fruits at the outset is good, for overall flavor intensity, but adding extra cut-up fruit later may be to your liking. Be aware that too-large chunks will likely get icy in the long run and be hard to scoop up, so there’s a fine line.The other “misteake” was making a double portion of custard in order to have back-to-back batches of half vanilla, intending to make another flavor with the remaining half of the mixture. Apparently the second half of the custard wasn’t chilled enough to overcome the freezing canister having gotten warmer on the first run. Although most batches froze in 15 to 30 minutes max, after a longer time it was obvious this batch refused to set up, so I returned the chilled custard in a bowl in the refrigerator, returned the canister to the freezer and decided to try again later. About five hours worked. Lesson learned—be patient. OK to double the batch, but chill it all thoroughly prior to churning.If pondering whether to get a countertop ice cream freezer, go for it. It’s fun and easy to use. You’ll be a proud as a brand-new parent after you make the first batch.

Edito porque en el quinto uso ha empezado a hacer un sonido extraño el motor, no tengo mucho usándolo, le quitaré una estrella esperando que sea algo poco común, pero si el motor se descompone lamentablemente ya pasé mi mes de garantía con Amazon.Reseña original:Es un producto simple pero funciona y lo más importante facilita la creación de un helado casero con textura de uno profesional, vale la pena.Funcionamiento.Es sencillo, se debe enfriar en el congelador el vaso de aluminio que trae el producto, dentro del vaso trae un líquido que ayuda a mantener el frio por 20 minutos mientras creas el helado. Enciendes el aparato con tu mezcla y en 20 minutos máximo quedará tu helado.Un día completo se debe enfriar el vaso para mejor resultado, trae un recetario pero básicamente todos los helados del recetario necesitan de crema para batir, este ingrediente sirve para darle cremosidad al helado, también puedes hacer a base de agua, de hecho fue el primero que hice, uno de limón y quedó delicioso, queda como el del cine de la marca ice.Consejo para mejores resultados.Los ingredientes los puedes elegir, no tienen gran ciencia, lo que si te recomiendo es enfriar tu mezcla casi el mismo tiempo que el vaso (solo que no en el congelador, sino en la parte del refri, debe estar frío pero no congelado).Una vez que haya pasado un día frío el vaso y tu mezcla de helado, sólo resta poner los ingredientes en el producto y encenderlo, en 20 minutos máximo quedará listo.Funcionamiento.Lo que hace el producto es darle vuelta al vaso y tiene una pala que se encuentra ligeramente separado del vaso, al estar frío se congela una capa fina de la mezcla sobre el vaso y la pala lo separa, de esta forma le da una consistencia muy fina al helado, después de mucho giros empieza a solidificarse, si quieres mayor dureza te recomiendo congelarlo por 2 horas posteriormente de hacerlo con la máquina, si puedes dejarlo un día más en el congelador es mejor, porque si lo consumes inmediatamente se hace agua al instante, no se disfruta igual. Así que básicamente debes hacerlo con 2 días de anticipación. Un día para crear y helado y otro día para que se haga lo suficientemente duro para disfrutarlo con calma.ExtrasPuedes agregar sólidos a tu helado como galletas, fruta, chispas de chocolate, etc, de agregan 2 minutos antes de terminar los 20 minutos para que quede bien integrado. Puedes hacer cualquier cosa que tú imaginación desee.Consejo final.El vaso es de litro y medio, pero no debes poner esa cantidad de líquido porque expande, así que te recomiendo poner máximo un litro y verás cómo fácilmente se llena el vaso al límite. Si después de 20 minutos no se hizo duro es porque le faltó más frío al vaso y al líquido, no creas que con dejarlo más tiempo lo logrará porque pasados los 20 minutos el vaso empieza a calentarse.Ruido.Realmente no hace mucho ruido, mientras más espeso es la mezcla, se escucha que el motor trabaja más pero nada como para preocuparse. Debes cuidar muy bien el vaso, para evitar que se abolle o tenga fugas, supongo que el líquido que tiene el vaso no es apto para consumo humano y no quieres perforar el vaso y se impregne tu helado de esa sustancia.Conclusiones.Los resultados son muy buenos y el único inconveniente es el día que necesitas enfriar el vaso y después otro día para enfriar tu helado si deseas que quedé mucho mejor. Vale la pena la espera. Si sigues estos consejos no tendrás problemas.Estaba por adquirir el otro modelo de 2 litros pero la verdad no vale la pena porque el precio casi se duplica por sólo medio litro más, puedes hacer tu helado y guardarlo en el congelador por días, pero no te recomiendo que lo dejes más de una semana porque empieza a cristalizarse especialmente los que no tengan crema para batir, por ejemplo hice uno de yogurt de fresa, sólo compré el yogurt le puse más azúcar, lo revolví muy bien para evitar que se sienta los granos de azúcar y agregué pedazos de fresa, quedó cremoso y sin crema batida.Pocas veces califico con 5 estrellas.Espero que mi reseña te sea útil.

Me gusta, funcional

Great wedding gift. From the bride, “This ice cream maker is fantastic! Super easy to use, and the results are delicious every time. The machine freezes quickly, and you can make a batch of ice cream in under 30 minutes. I love that you can customize your flavors and ingredients—perfect for experimenting! Cleanup is a breeze, and it’s compact enough to store easily. Definitely a fun addition to our kitchen and well worth the price!”