Ice cream makers/machines

[ChefPip]

I have an old 4qt antique White Mountain electric with wooden tub that I take very good care of.  I've had an electric motor shop to PM the motor so it will be dependable as well.   I use 1 cup of rock salt to 6 or 7 lbs of crushed ice.  When it begins to set up I remove the wooden & metal dashers and ripen the batch for about 1/2 hour and pack it in containers for the freezer. 

 

Depending on the ambient temperature,  I'll make some adjustments as I use heavy cream in my basic vanilla recipe.  If anyone is

famaliar with an Ice Cream Company called Blue Bunny,  I'm told my recipe taste like the home made vanilla that they sell.

 

As I create a bunch of cobblers, pies, cakes, and baked goods this vanilla is my go to. and I try to keep it on hand.

 

Nearly everyhing I serve in my Cafe/Bistro is made from scratch so it isn't comparable to any 2014 industrial production.  I'm looking for Farm to Table authinticity to use with my collection of 70 year old recipes... 

[nonkeyman]

**I can't guarantee Amazon won't change the prices, I am not fancy enough to automate that stuff**

Here is a list of my top ice cream machines. I try to go from cheapest to most expensive. All pictures are from Amazon! There are a lot of great ice cream makers on this thread. Just wanted to share!

Gelato and Ice Cream are some of my favorite desserts to make! Making your own flavors. Coming up with your own ideas like toasted chocolate, cardamom, smoked bourbon (if you want ideas, I have more than a few) o.O. I really loved cooking the custard, tasting it and making sure there was plenty of salt. Yeah, salt in the ice cream. Important note!

 

Ice cream machines vary anywhere from a 50$ Cuisine art standard freeze core to a 5,500$ Paco Jet. With such vastly varying prices, it can be a little confusing as an end-user to what the quality of the product will be after the work is said and done.

 

Now I have used all sorts of Ice Cream machines. Classic gelato machines, frozen cores, paco jets and a few others. Each of these had their own benefits and flaws. Sometimes it just happened to be price, other times final product. Now if you have never made ice cream before, perhaps it would not be wise to buy the 5000$ dollar paco jet. Don't get me wrong, I love it. It may just be better to start out with 200$  Cuisinart  first.

 Hey, then when you do a pop up you won't have to be like me and being forced to use dry ice instead of a good ice cream maker to make Black Sesame Gelato.(Actually, that works pretty well!)

 

 

 

 

 

Buried Black Sesame Gelato made using Dry Ice

 

 

 

 

 Ice Cream Makers

1. Cuisineart ICE 50-70$

[Pic from AMAZON.COM]

 

 

Let's start with one of the cheapest options. There are still cheaper, but this ice cream maker is around 50$ and does alright. It is the standard Cuisine Art ICE. I personally bought this one when I was about 18. It requires you freeze the core over night before spinning and hold about 1-1.5 quarts of ice cream.

It doesn't do a very good job with gelato based products. Gelato should be made almost entirely of milk, vs. ice cream which often is half cream and half milk or some combination of the two. The lower fat content requires a lower freezing temperature for a longer period of time in order to avoid the formation of ice crystals. However, the Cuisine art freeze too fast per rotation. The cheap plastic blades of the cuisine art can't sheer the ice crystals. So if you are making a lower fat content product, it is obvious. However, if you are making peanut butter, Nutella, or olive oil gelato. It works great! I actually remember being in Culinary School and using this for my final product showing. I had to make enough for the whole school and there weren't enough Ice cream makers in the school. So I had to add in this puppy. Luckily, I had used it before, so I only used this for my Nutella and Peanut butter ice creams. Of course, the product came out amazing.

 

2.Cuisinart ICE-70 Electronic Ice Cream Maker, Brushed Chrome-90-120$

 [Pic from AMAZON.COM]

 

 

 

 I didn't want this to feel like a Cuisine Art commercial, but they are often the cheaper options..... Similar to the previous Cuisine Ice cream maker. This one relies on a frozen core. These can be pains. So the reduced price tag comes with a lot of extra work. However, this model is better at handling lower fat products like gelato. It has a better blade and a stronger spin. Really, those are the best added features. Personally, I would buy the Gourmia GSI if I had to choose again. If you really just want to do this once, and then never plan to use this tool again. Then pick either of the cuisine arts. It touts an LCD display. I don't really know why. It really doesn't add that much to the user experience. A mechanical timer works just as well. I guess the LCD was break through technology for them.

 

  3. Gourmia GSI-400 Sleek and Serve 200$-300$

 

[Pic from AMAZON.COM]

 

I did say this was not a list of Ice Cream makers under 100$. In fact most of these ice cream makers will be more than 200$. The best ones sadly are :(. Now if you are like most people and can't afford these. Check out the previous recommendations. Most of these ice cream makers will be 200$ or more and often time, you will only find them in restaurants. This product is the first product with an actual compressor. This means it cools on its own. Unlike the Cuisine Arts that require a frozen core. It can be a little bit of a pain to clean. Any of the one piece cleaners have their difficulties because you can't really separate the pieces easily. Nevertheless, I love not having to freeze the core. Then you can easily do multiple batches. If you forget to freeze the core, no problem. This puppy just needs to spin. It can be noisy, because of the compressor. It is a small price to pay for the convenience

 

 

 

 

 

3.Lello Musso Pola Dessert Maker 900-1200$

 

[Pic from AMAZON.COM]

 

Alright, now we are starting to play with some real power tools. This beauty can spin you a batch of Ice cream pretty quick. It doesn't have a cheap plastic blade, nope, it has a rotating metal blade that really helps shear through any of the ice crystal formation. Now, this puppy doesn't come cheap. It usually is well over 1000$ for an ice cream machine. However, it requires no frozen core and is a heavy duty champ. I used it a lot when I needed to spin a a separate batch. Typically, most of my gelato and ice cream was done in a Paco Jet, which is the next option.This could make a chocolate sorbet in about 7 minutes. It is very heavy though. So make sure you know where you want to put it. It does cause it to be difficult to clean. However, I have never seen this machine break. So if you don't mind it's heavy duty nature. This is a great ice cream machine.

 

4.Paco Jet

 

[Pic from AMAZON.COM]

 

Finally, I would say, most chef's personal favorite, as long as they don't have to pay for it. A paco jet is amazing. Instead of spinning liquid base, you freeze the base in canisters. This step does take longer. However, it offers the advantage of being able to spin what you need, when you need it. The way a Paco Jet works is it has a very solid metal blade that it spins at XXX rpm and sheers all the ice crystals. At the same time, it is aerating the gelato or ice cream. To make it even better, you can decide how far you want the blade to go. So if you only want to spin half of your tube and leave the other half for later. Well, that is an option. If you want to spin the whole thing, go for it. Trust me, fresh ice cream is just better. So if you are border line spinning to order. Your customers are going to get their ice cream at the best it could be! The downside, a 4-5K price tag.

One final note, this is much easier to clean compare to any of the ones above. There are two parts to cleaning it. You need to clean the canisters, which can go through the dish washer. You also need to clean the actual machine. For that, you have a special insert. You just put in the insert with some water and cleaning solution(not soap). Spin it, dry, and done. Some of the ice cream makers above require you to tip the machine over, or put a frozen canister into the sink and try washing it. Way harder.

 

 

5. Dry Ice or Liquid Nitro

 

 

For this last version. You should be careful and maybe even have an expert. The last thing you want is frost bite. If you want to learn about using these products you can email me or watch the video below! I would say use a slowly spinning kitchen aid, over a whisk. Again, Safety first. I am not responsible if you freeze off your thumb :).

These were just my recommendations for good ice cream makers. I am sure some of you think differently. Please feel free to share what you prefer. Maybe your favorite ice cream to make?

 

 

 

Now with your new ice cream maker. You will need a solid recipe. Check out the Gelato base in the Black Sesame Gelato recipe. You can use it to make any flavor you like. If you need help mixing in other flavors, feel free to ask!

                                                                            

 

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by nonkeyman (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

@nonkeyman you didn't mention the Cuisinart ICE-100.

 

[nonkeyman]

4 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

@nonkeyman you didn't mention the Cuisinart ICE-100.

 

Fair enough, but I can't vouch for it :). I just haven't used it, that's all. I am sure it is also great! What are your thoughts @JoNorvelleWalker

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Nothing I have not discussed here before.  I've owned a Sears branded White Mountain, a Simac, a very expensive KitchenAid with a horizontal freezing chamber, and most recently the Cuisinart ICE-100.  The ICE-100 works for me.

 

But then the Paco Jet remains out of my grasp.

 

[Lisa Shock]

Frostbite is the least of a cook's worries with regards to unsafe handling of LN2. The liquid to gas ratio is 1:692 at 20°C. This means that LN2 which is not handled properly and is exposed to warmth (like room temperature) can cause a large explosion. One liter is enough to displace the air from a small room, making it potentially fatal to transport in elevators and cars, or use in an un-ventilated home kitchen. The gas is odorless and displaces air, but does not impede release of C02 from the lungs, so people do not feel like they are asphyxiating even when there is no oxygen left in the environment. They just lose consciousness and die within a few minutes.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Lisa Shock (log)

[andiesenji]

I love my Gelato by Lello.  I got it to replace a 25-year-old Simac because it leaked coolant and the type it was designed for was no longer being used and conversion would cost more than a new Lello.

 

I do have an extra "can" for the machine so I can finish one and start another batch immediately.

 

My old Simac from late '70s, was very heavy and awkward to move but it worked great for many years while I was catering.

[paulraphael]

I wrote a post on the different varieties of ice cream machines (and related tools and techniques) here.

 

I covet the Lello machines. Unfortunately the small one has a bit less capacity than I'd like, and the big one is ... big. And not cheap.

[nonkeyman]

19 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

Frostbite is the least of a cook's worries with regards to unsafe handling of LN2. The liquid to gas ratio is 1:692 at 20°C. This means that LN2 which is not handled properly and is exposed to warmth (like room temperature can cause a large explosion. One liter is enough to displace the air from a small room, making it potentially fatal to transport in elevators and cars, or use in an un-ventilated home kitchen. The gas is odorless and displaces air, but does not impede release of C02 from the lungs, so people do not feel like they are asphyxiating even when there is no oxygen left in the environment. They just lose consciousness and die within a few minutes.

Oh dear! That is scary.

[andiesenji]

6 hours ago, paulraphael said:

I wrote a post on the different varieties of ice cream machines (and related tools and techniques) here.

 

I covet the Lello machines. Unfortunately the small one has a bit less capacity than I'd like, and the big one is ... big. And not cheap.

I use the small one and the turnaround time is zero.  I just leave the compressor on, pull out the finished batch and pop in the second batch (the advantage of having an extra can).  I prepare the mix usually the evening before, have it in a large plastic pitcher chilled in the fridge - which cuts down on freezer time.  I usually churn for 25 minutes then straight into the freezer while I start the next batch.

I have done 4 batches in two hours, no problem.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Maybe it's different with the Lello but I find if I churn over fifteen minutes I have quality problems.

 

[IEATRIO]

On December 2, 2016 at 0:09 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Maybe it's different with the Lello but I find if I churn over fifteen minutes I have quality problems.

 

 

Its not unique to the Lello.  There is a direct and declining relationship between batch time and ice cream quality due to ice crystal formation -- any batch time over 15 minutes will be less than perfect, and proceed to become worse and worse the longer the batch takes to freeze.

 

Fortunately for you, I think that you can greatly improve your batch time with the Lello, by following two rules;

 

1) Not processing a full 1 liter batch -- this machine is not powerful enough to make a full liter of ice cream at a time, but it can successfully process a sub-15 minute batch it if you split your recipe and process your mixture serially a half-liter at a time; and

2) keeping your bucket in the freezer, getting your mixture down as close to freezing as possible by keeping it in the freezer for an hour or so before processing (I keep it in a mason jar so I can shake it up and make sure no crystals begin to form), and letting the machine run for at least 30 minutes or more before starting a batch --  your machine will squander its limited power if it needs to cool these elements any more than absolutely necessary, and you can help it along by keeping things as cold as possible and limit the work it needs to do.

 

I find that I can get a sub-15 minute batch time with my Lello Gelato by following the above.  I have had my Lello for over a decade, and although I would love something better some day, it can work if you are willing to make up for its limited power.

 

 

[paulraphael]

Ieatrio, do you find that if you make two batches in the Lello back-to-back the freezing time suffers?

 

Also, how does it do with 3/4 liter (of mix)? It's unclear to me if the company rates the capacity before or after overrun. My recipes are about 0.8L of mix, and at least in my current machine, freeze to make about 1L. If the machine could handle that in one batch that would be ideal; if it could handle it in two 15-minute batches that would be ok.

[IEATRIO]

11 hours ago, paulraphael said:

Ieatrio, do you find that if you make two batches in the Lello back-to-back the freezing time suffers?

 

Also, how does it do with 3/4 liter (of mix)? It's unclear to me if the company rates the capacity before or after overrun. My recipes are about 0.8L of mix, and at least in my current machine, freeze to make about 1L. If the machine could handle that in one batch that would be ideal; if it could handle it in two 15-minute batches that would be ok.

 

I don't think that batch time suffers too terribly -- on the second batch the container will need to get down to temp again, but that's the only added time.  I would just split any recipe up to a liter 50/50.  There isn't a heck of a lot of overrun in this machine, so I wouldn't worry about that too much, but I think they rate it for a liter pre-processing.  I don't think you'll have a problem processing .5L, so it shouldn't be an issue either way.  But don't think you are going to run an ice cream shop with the Lello -- it works (just) but its a pain in the ass to make it work properly, and a slower process than it should be.

[weinoo]

 

This is my 16 year old Lello 4070 ice cream machine. When I schlepped it out of the pantry last week, I was worried it wasn't going to really work any more. But I plugged it in, and after a little bit of wheezing, it was like old times. The first batches I churned (and, like @andiesenji, I always turn the machine on with the canister inside for a good 15-20 minutes before adding the base) were a Sicilian-style gelato, using cornstarch in the base, and a melon sorbet. The gelato was delicious, the melon sorbet less so - I never have great luck using melons for sorbet (other than watermelon) - they're too fluffy or something. In any event, my ice creams and sorbets are very basic - I use just sugar, fruit, vanilla, milk, cream, salt and occasionally eggs - the cornstarch was my first attempt at anything other than those ingredients. Yesterday, I made two more.

 

 

A true Philadelphia-style (via David Lebovitz in Paris) Madagascar vanilla bourbon ice cream.  Cream, milk, vanilla beans, salt, bourbon. Into the fridge for 4 or 5 hours and spun.

 

 

I also made a sorbet from local green market cherries; don't know the variety, but they were sweet, not sour.  The sorbet was, in my opinion, meh. Actually too sweet (even though I cut back on the sugar) and I may have overused kirsch. Gotta go back to my more successful citrus sorbets - I just have better luck with them. The ice cream, on the other hand, is great. Not an ice crystal in sight, just delicious. If my ice cream/sorbet base is properly chilled, nothing takes over 25 minutes of spinning...maybe I got a really cold machine!

 

I was all set to treat myself to a new ice cream machine (a Whynter), but this Lello is really a nice product, so I'll use it till it croaks.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Proper ice cream.  I have.never understood putting chemicals in homemade ice cream in an effort to duplicate “store bought” when the best/artisan ice creams contain only the simplest natural ingredients.

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Proper ice cream.  I have.never understood putting chemicals in homemade ice cream in an effort to duplicate “store bought” when the best/artisan ice creams contain only the simplest natural ingredients.

 

As many might say, they're not "chemicals" per se, just scientifically manipulated real stuff.

[paulraphael]

3 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Proper ice cream.  I have.never understood putting chemicals in homemade ice cream in an effort to duplicate “store bought” when the best/artisan ice creams contain only the simplest natural ingredients.

 

I hate to break it to you, but every batch of ice cream you've ever made was 100% chemicals. 

 

And many of the ingredients with scary sounding names are every bit as natural as anything else you'd put in ice cream. Many of them aren't even processed as much as table sugar. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

All in the eye of the beholder.     I prefer to have a Straus cow process Marin grass into cream, Petaluma hens process pasture grass into eggs and bees do what bees do.    I know it's all in my head, but my ice cream makes me happy.

[Yiannos]

I don't want to speak for @Margaret Pilgrim but I think what she is trying to say, and I agree in a sense, is that you can make truly exceptional ice cream without ever having to add anything else. I'm not good at much in this life, but I have made ice cream countless times at this point and have never felt the need to introduce anything but the usual suspects as far as ingredients go. I do play with different qualities of ingredients, ie chocolates vanillas fruit flavors etc etc, or more or less or no eggs, that kind of thing, it is a balance always... But I've always felt like I have been able to manage the attributes of ice cream with a little less of this or a little more of that. Now I'm not particularly adventurous as far as flavors go, I can understand needing something exotic to balance out some peculiarities of an ingredient that might affect texture or intensity of flavor or whatever. But I feel like I have made some of the best ice cream I've ever had using nothing but milk cream eggs sugar etc.

 

1 hour ago, paulraphael said:

I hate to break it to you, but every batch of ice cream you've ever made was 100% chemicals.

 

I get this argument too, and you are right, but this applies to literally EVERYTHING on this planet... While there are many "chemicals" that may subjectively improve an ice cream, I can't imagine you want to just toss whatever into your food that makes it better just because deep down in its molecular structure somewhere it originated naturally on Earth, if that makes sense.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Yiannos
An extra word (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

@Yiannos Is much more eloquent than I, but, yes, my point was that I don't see the need to add other than fine quality basic ingredients in order to make superb ice cream.    My question is, to what end to you add other than dairy and flavors?  

 

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[paulraphael]

5 hours ago, Yiannos said:

I get this argument too, and you are right, but this applies to literally EVERYTHING on this planet... While there are many "chemicals" that may subjectively improve an ice cream, I can't imagine you want to just toss whatever into your food that makes it better just because deep down in its molecular structure somewhere it originated naturally on Earth, if that makes sense.

 

I'm not suggesting that all ingredients are equal, just that the "natural" vs. "chemical" distinction is almost always both meaningless and useless. 

 

For one thing, when I ask people what these chemicals are that they're worried about, it's usually gums (guar gum, carrageenan, locust bean gum). These are no less natural than anything in your kitchen. Guar gum is flour made from a legume. Locust bean gum is flour made from a tree seed. Carrageenan is rendered Irish moss seaweed. Table sugar is more processed than any of these ingredients. Chocolate is more processed than just about anything.

 

Many ingredients that sound "chemically" to people are just sugars. Dextrose is just glucose. It's flowing through your veins right now, keeping you alive. Fructose is another sugar, found in fruits and all over the natural world. Invert syrup is the primary component of honey. Atomized glucose is glucose syrup that's been dried into a powder. Trehalose is a less common, but naturally occurring sugar. Inulin is a large-molecule sugar extracted from chicory. 

 

So I end up thinking that by "chemical," people mean an unfamiliar ingredient. This is just closed-mindedness—although I get that "gum" isn't an appetizing word. This is a PR problem, not a culinary one.

 

There are some ingredients that can be helpful in ice cream that I can understand calling "unnatural," because they have been so significantly altered from their natural precursors. I don't know exactly where you might draw the line, but carboxymethyl cellulose (cellulose gum) and glycerol monostearate (a lipid used as an emulsifier) aren't things I'd call natural. But they're also harmless. And if they are chemicals, they are chemicals in the exact same sense that water is a chemical. 

 

For perspective, many natural things are not harmless. Consider hemlock. Radon. Shellfish toxin. Botulism. You're more likely to die from the saturated fat in the cream than you are from cellulose gum.

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by paulraphael (log)

[paulraphael]

3 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

@Yiannos Is much more eloquent than I, but, yes, my point was that I don't see the need to add other than fine quality basic ingredients in order to make superb ice cream.    My question is, to what end to you add other than dairy and flavors?  

 

I do it to make the ice cream better. I can get smoother textures, better mouthfeel, better body, and better resistance to becoming icy in the freezer, if I go beyond the basic ingredients. Using sugars beyond table sugar lets me independently control the sweetness and hardness of the ice cream. I think most ice cream is too sweet—so sweet that it mutes the flavors I want to be highlighting. But just reducing the sugar turns ice cream into a brick. So I blend alternative sugars. 

 

I use gums. Because I believe you can make much better ice cream with them than without them. Every Michelin 3-star pastry chef whose ice cream techniques I've studied feels the same way. 

 

I use skim milk powder. Because milk and cream don't have enough milk solids to give the kind of body and other characteristics I want. I resisted it for years because it sounded gross. Now I think it's the single best thing you can add to ice cream. I've done blind triangle tests; if the milk powder is good, no one can taste it. But everyone appreciates the texture improvements. 

 

In sorbets I use a whole litany of unusual ingredients with unappealing names. Because every sorbet I've had from traditional recipes has been disastrously too sweet. And the texture has always been disappointing. My ingredients let me make sorbet with 75% fruit—double what I've seen anywhere else. And the sweetness is just enough to complement the fruit, and the texture is like silk. 

 

I made ice cream for years using nothing but old fashioned pantry ingredients. I pushed the quality as far as I could, but never got it as far as I wanted. Opening my mind to new ingredients and techniques made it possible to take things to a whole different level. 

[ccp900]

1 hour ago, paulraphael said:

 

I do it to make the ice cream better. I can get smoother textures, better mouthfeel, better body, and better resistance to becoming icy in the freezer, if I go beyond the basic ingredients. Using sugars beyond table sugar lets me independently control the sweetness and hardness of the ice cream. I think most ice cream is too sweet—so sweet that it mutes the flavors I want to be highlighting. But just reducing the sugar turns ice cream into a brick. So I blend alternative sugars. 

 

I use gums. Because I believe you can make much better ice cream with them than without them. Every Michelin 3-star pastry chef whose ice cream techniques I've studied feels the same way. 

 

I use skim milk powder. Because milk and cream don't have enough milk solids to give the kind of body and other characteristics I want. I resisted it for years because it sounded gross. Now I think it's the single best thing you can add to ice cream. I've done blind triangle tests; if the milk powder is good, no one can taste it. But everyone appreciates the texture improvements. 

 

In sorbets I use a whole litany of unusual ingredients with unappealing names. Because every sorbet I've had from traditional recipes has been disastrously too sweet. And the texture has always been disappointing. My ingredients let me make sorbet with 75% fruit—double what I've seen anywhere else. And the sweetness is just enough to complement the fruit, and the texture is like silk. 

 

I made ice cream for years using nothing but old fashioned pantry ingredients. I pushed the quality as far as I could, but never got it as far as I wanted. Opening my mind to new ingredients and techniques made it possible to take things to a whole different level. 

I agree here

 

i use dextrose because I don’t want to use a ton of sugar to make my ice cream scoopable. Not because sugar is bad but because I don’t like sweet ice cream.  For example I am about to reformulate my last ice cream to only have a pod of 10.5. 
 

for the gums, I wanted to see if I can make my ice creams better with some pastry chef items. I only used tapioca starch before so I wanted to see what would be the change if I used emulsifiers since I don’t use eggs.  It just makes it so that my Ice cream can survive more than 2 weeks in the freezer. If you get to eat everything in a few days you may skip the emulsifiers and added stabilizers I think. Enough milk proteins and enough cooking would probably get the job done along with more skim milk powder

 

its all about compromise in the end

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Store your ice cream at -30C and it will last indefinitely.