Ice cream makers/machines

[Moopheus]

Has anyone tried the Ice Cream Maker attachment for the KitchenAid Stand Mixer?

←

There was a recent thread about the KitchenAid attachment.

I've been pretty happy with the Krups, though I haven't tried making two consecutive batches with it. One batch is usually enough. Out on the counter on a hot day I doubt it will keep cold enough for two, unless your house is very well air conditioned. In my apt it will start to thaw before even one batch is done. It is small enough to run in the freezer, and then it is still quite cold when finished. I suppose if you don't use hot water to clean it out between batches, you could run it several times that way.

[jgarner53]

I have the Cuisinart and like it quite a bit. The only word of warning I have is that you have to make real ice cream. Trying to make it with just milk, or only a little bit of cream, and no eggs (unless you're making sorbet), will get you a very icy product that will freeze rock hard.

Like it so much that I just ordered one (in racy red!) for my BIL who's an ice cream FIEND for Christmas. Even living in Alaska hasn't slowed down his ice cream consumption.

[bloviatrix]

I love my Cuisinart. If you plan to make many double batches just buy a second canister. Amazon carries them for about $20.

The only drawback with the cheap machines is you have to keep the canisters in the freezer, and if you have a small freezer, like I do, it means you have to be very organized.

[SethG]

Cuisinart seems to be the way to go. I checked around the web and it appears the Krups machine is being phased out. Many shops have none in stock. If you go to the Krups site, they have a new model but there's not much descriptive info about it and no one seems to be carrying it yet.

[Moopheus]

The only word of warning I have is that you have to make real ice cream. Trying to make it with just milk, or only a little bit of cream, and no eggs (unless you're making sorbet), will get you a very icy product that will freeze rock hard.

←

If you want to make low-fat ice milk, try adding a little nonfat dry milk powder to the mix (maybe 4 or 5 percent by weight).

[FWED]

I have a Krups and it makes good ice cream. My only criticism of it is that a sheet of hard ice/cream mixture forms on the bottom of the canister. I am not sure if this is because there is a space between the dasher and the bottom of the canister and/or the canister is too cold. I am planning on experimenting with the temp of the freezer and the placement of the unit in the freezer to see if I can avoid this layering.

[KarenS]

Ice cream machines- still no good answer. It is crazy that the cheap ones are crap (I threw out a Donvier after the first use- it was a fit, and I have never done anything like that- my thought was that I would have had a better product , stirred with a whip, in a hotel pan in the freezer,)

I remember one that in college the roommates bought; it used ice cubes and salt (and was very easy). I don't remember the brand. The best ones I've worked with are Italian and cost $20,000. I have worked with lots of $5000 coldites though.

I have a problem with the volumne of the makers of the cheap machines. One quart is very small.

[Moopheus]

I have a problem with the volumne of the makers of the cheap machines. One quart is very small.

←

The cheap machines are probably no good for restaurant service, but a small machine is just fine for most home users. I often make batches as small as a pint, eating it straight out of the machine without even hardening it. Even a cheap machine can make ice cream as good or better than almost anything you can buy; with ice cream the ingredients you use are far more important than the type of machine.

[merstar]

I have the Krups La Glacière and I've been very happy with it - it makes excellent ice cream and gelato.

Edited December 4, 2004 by merstar (log)

[RETREVR]

I bought one at the thrift store for $2.95. Works fine.

I made a grapefruit sorbet to be served tonight. It was killer. The ruby reds rock right now. I Think it is a Rival. I made 2 quarts and had plenty additional capacity (might hold 4 quarts). The expensive part is that I have to build a barn for the dammed thing to cut the noise down.

When my machine breaks I will go buy another.

It sits next to my $5 Atlas pasta roller and my $5 Maviel heavy roaster.

[halloweencat]

hey all :)

i'm looking for the best electric ice cream maker with an internal compressor, so that i don't have to pre-freeze bowls.

granted, it will be more of an expense, but our household consumes a lot of frozen treats, and i also will never again have to deal with

....a bowl that will not get cold enough, despite days in the freezer (this happened with our freezer that was inside our fridge, if you know what i mean)

.....cranking every three minutes when i'm trying to prep for dinner party, and trying to coordinate a million other things

.....accomodate a bowl insert in my freezer when i need that space for everything else i'm doing for a dinner/party

.....feel sad that i can't provide a yummy treat because i didn't think 24 hours beforehand to freeze the bowl

now, don't get me wrong, i think those hand-crank models are great, i just think for my needs i'd like a bowl that doesn't need pre-freezing.

and i'd also like something that doesn't cost an arm-and-a-leg, so those $1000k machines are out (sadly).

the only two i could find that fit the bill were these...

cuisinart

http://ww1.williams-sonoma.com/cat/pip.cfm...test=1&flash=on

lello

http://www.chefscatalog.com/store/catalog/...&showCrumb=true

(i looked the lello up on amazon, and there appear to be some customer service issues, plus folks who feel it wasn't well-designed; e.g., the crank can get stuck or pull out, etc.)

any other candidates out there? is a used or refurbished high-end model a good thought? if so, where would one acquire one?

cheers :) hc

[R Washburn]

My Cuisinart is noisy, but it works pretty well.

[bleachboy]

Cook's Illustrated raved about the Lussino Dessert Maker by Musso. With a built-in refrigerator unit, you just put the ingredients in and turn it on.

It's outrageously expensive -- the Amazon link above sets the price at $594 -- and I don't see any on eBay. But if you've got $600 to blow, I'd bet it's pretty awesome!

[mklynch]

I bought the Lello over a year ago and it's great. It's heavy, so make sure you can store it near where you'll use it. It's nice to be able to do back to back batches with no down time.

[andiesenji]

I have one of these and a larger one made by Nemox

like this.

however if I were to get one now, I would get the Musso Lussion

like this one.

I used to have a Simac that I used for many years until it would no longer hold the refrigerant and when they stopped selling Freon, it needed a different valve for the new coolant.

The ebay seller is one from whom I have bought several other items.

You can ask if they will be getting another of the Musso, they just sold one yesterday.

Edited March 3, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[halloweencat]

andie :)

re what you would get now....

what makes you pick the musso over the oxiria? there's a difference in pricepoint...do you feel the motor/mechanics are better with the musso? does the oxiria require some extra care (like one machine i read about that required something like 2 tablespoons of alcohol between the bowl and the interior...not sure i get that).

i have $105 in amazon gift certificates, and amazon would take anothe $25 off (their current promotion)...bringing the lusso down to $475.

that would make the lusso $475 vs. the oxiria at $360.

i'm a little leery of the lello, for all the reasons mentioned above.

thanks to everyone for all the replies, btw. :)

cheers :)

hc

[Jeni Hicks]

I was just flipping through the latest issue of "delicious" magazine, and noticed an ad for the Sunbeam Gelateria....it's a new product. The MSRP is 299.95. I don't know anything about the machine personally, but it may be another option for you.

Here's a link to the machine - Click

Hope that helps!

Jeni

edit: whoops! So far, the Gelateria appears to only be available in Australia and NZ....sorry about that! Maybe you could contact Sunbeam directly for more info?

Edited March 4, 2005 by Jeni Hicks (log)

[andiesenji]

andie :)

re what you would get now....

what makes you pick the musso over the oxiria?  there's a difference in pricepoint...do you feel the motor/mechanics are better with the musso?  does the oxiria require some extra care (like one machine i read about that required something like 2 tablespoons of alcohol between the bowl and the interior...not sure i get that).

i have $105 in amazon gift certificates, and amazon would take anothe $25 off (their current promotion)...bringing the lusso down to $475.

that would make the lusso $475 vs.  the oxiria at $360. 

i'm a little leery of the lello, for all the reasons mentioned above. 

thanks to everyone for all the replies, btw.  :)

cheers :)

hc

←

The Musso is heavier (10 pounds heavier than the Nemox) - The Nemox tends to "walk" a bit and so has to be placed on a non-slip pad or on a cart with a raised edge.

The Lello works fine, no problems, it just has a smaller capacity than the Nemox or Musso.

It is simply personal preference, I like the looks of the Musso and think it may be made for heavier use.

My old Simac was the 2-quart model and I would prefer a 2-quart model but at the time I was in a hurry and was able to get the Lello shipped in two days, the others would all have taken much longer.

[halloweencat]

good details. :) thanks, andiesenji.

jeni, thanks for the heads up on that model.

btw....found another one....

does anyone have any experience with the delonghi 8500?

http://www.sendicecream.com/delicecreamm.html

cheers :)

hc

[andiesenji]

I don't know anything about the delonghi machine, however I have not had a lot of success with other delonghi appliances in recent times.

I bought their top of line deep fryer which was returned after the first use. It did not perform as advertised.

[marinade]

I’m kind of partial to the Simac products. I had a 1.5-quart Simac Il Gelataio that lasted 13 years and I beat the crap out of it. I bought the next Simac model up that looks something like this: Simac-DeLonghi . Bought it 5 years ago as a Simac and its still making great sorbets. It appears to be the same model. The removable bowl is a plus because I can prime the process by putting it into the freezer for a slight chill. Also you can order more than one bowl. If you can find one, grab it. I think they’re real sleepers. I just may snag another one myself for back-up in the event they’re discontinued. I originally bought a Musso Lussino from Williams-Sonoma but returned it (for the Simac) because it overheated.

On the other extreme, I had a 5-gallon Emory-Thompson batch freezer hard wired in my basement. It had a 3-horsepower compressor and a 3-horsepower dasher. That thing just spat out gallons of sorbet.

Looking at the previous links, I'm curious as to what’s happening in the ice cream appliance market. Did DeLonghi buy out Simac, or did Simac merge with Musso Lussino? Or is it just a distribution thing?

Edited March 7, 2005 by marinade (log)

[marinade]

Just a quick update to my previous post. The Simac model that I was referring to was the Magnum. I’ve learned they were discontinued but here is a link for a refurbished one for about $385.00, newer ones are $489.00. These folks also service them.

Simac Magnum

[halloweencat]

thanks all and everyone for their great, informed input.

my SO and i decided to go with the musso lussino...it's on the expensive side (decidedly), but we had quite a cache of amazon gift certificates kicking around between us (birthday and xmas gifts), plus amazon is giving back $25 if you spend $125 in kitchen&bath (thru this friday, march 31). that brought the price down +considerably+.

i'm very excited to finally be able to try all the wonderful recipies i've been seeing in cookbooks (it's so frustrating to purchase a cookbook and have a good chunk of the recipies be unuseable because one doesn't have the right equipment).

anyway, i'm +very+ excited. :) thank you all. :)

cheers :)

hc

edited to add: the final price, given the additional gift certificates generally donated by my SO was $375. a great price for this machine, i think.

Edited March 29, 2005 by halloweencat (log)

[misstenacity]

Bumping thread due to my frustrations with my Donvier....

So, I've got a Donvier hand-crank, pre-freeze bowl model. I have had totally mixed results with it - great, creamy, luscious ice cream, as well as crystalline, rock-hard icy crap.

The problem is, I can't draw any big conclusions since I vary my recipes so much in their stabilizer content that its either just the stabilizers messing with me, or my freezer's temp is too variable. Or possibly too cold - the batter starts freezing solid at the edges the second I pour it in and I have to crank like crazy to get it going.

By stabilizer I mean: fat, protein, alcohol, or actual "stabilizer" like gums, powdered milk, gelatin, etc.

THE BIG QUESTION: When making a lower fat concoction, am I going to get a better result with a motorized machine (however cheap), than with a hand-cranker?

Thank you! :-)

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

[tan319]

If you're not going to spring for the cuisinart 50 buck guy, which is not bad, and you don't mind going with the salt and ice scenario, go down to the Kmart at Astor place or someplace like that and get a 4 qt. rival machine for 17.00 bucks or so.

I'm getting tremendous results, believe it or not, with mine, especially the 4 qt. one.

Very fluffy, good spin.

Much better then the cusinnart, much messier though if you're not careful.

←

Get the Rival 4 qt., some ice and some rock salt.

You'll get a much better product then a Donvier or a Krups/Cuisineart/etc.

trust me on this...

P.S. You can also use the box as a sound insulator(turn upside down, top off)