Ice Cream Machines

[Smithy]

As others have said, keep the bowl in the freezer if you do things on impulse.

I keep mine in the freezer most of the time but took it out this week to have more room for Thanksgiving leftovers, etc.

It makes lovely small amounts of ice cream and no watery mess.

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Amen. I have a Cuisinart ICE-50. My mother has a Krups equivalent. We both keep the bowls in our freezers, for those spur-of-the moment ice cream binges. If you do a lot of that sort of thing, you can buy a spare bowl, so that one goes into the freezer the instant another comes out. No muss, no fuss; great ice cream.

[Swisskaese]

I also like my freezer bowl, but if you can afford one, buy an ice cream machine. It does make better ice cream.

[Richard_D]

thanks to all, it helped me decide and now it's on order. I'll post my results

R

[MGLloyd]

I used to have a Krups, but gave it away. In its place, I got the KitchenAid ice cream maker kit for the KA stand mixer. It has a larger capacity, and I like the multi-tasking aspect of yet one more KA attachment.

[misstenacity]

I like the aspect of the KA attachment that implies you can churn more air into the ice cream, making it a little softer and lighter, especially lower-fat ice creams. Despite my inclinations towards cream, I am far more likely to make MOST of my frozen treats with milk or half & half or a mixture, so that I can eat more of the ice cream at once! :grin:

I do not yet own a KA mixer, but have been quasi-coveting one for some time, and being "in need" of a new ice cream maker has had me thinking about killing two food-birds with one stone.

Thanks for all the insight!

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

[NhumiSD]

Down to $950 on Amazon as of last week. I ordered it Friday. Woo!

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Can you personally give us ur opinion of the machine ? Iam debating between the Kitchenaid vs. the Musso Pola. I chose these for its quality and also the price range that Iam able to work with. Thanks so much.

-Nhumi

[mikeycook]

I have a Krups and have used it for several years and have come to hate the whole bowl-in-the-refrigerator thing. I don't like the space it takes up in the freezer and I have found that ice cream and sorbet do not get to a frozen enough consistency in the bowl. When I remove the ice cream and freeze it, it invariably has crystals in it from not being frozen enough from the mixing. I have virtually stopped using it because of not being happy with the final product.

Seeing that the types with their own compression/freezing unit (i.e. no frozen bowl, salt, or ice required) have now gotten down to the $200-$250 range, I intend to buy a new one very soon, likely a Cuisinart Supreme.

[jgm]

I want to get a new ice cream maker. This machine won't receive a heavy workout, so I don't need a really expensive one; I'd like to spend in the $150 neighborhood.

Which features should I seek, and which should I avoid?

[Richard_D]

Got to say I've had my new pre-freeze ice cream maker for a couple of days and it works OK. It doesn't freeze as hard as ones with a built in freezer but it does the job as long as you don't add too much alcohol to your ice creams.

So far I've tried lemon sorbet and baileys ice cream, both have come out pretty well and considering the machine only cost £15 it's been a good buy.

[maxmillan]

Does anyone have a Cuisinart electric ice cream maker? This is the one with it's own fridge unit and (I believe) a half pint container. The cost is approximately $300 Canadian.

I'm not interested in the hand crank as I have a Donvier already, and I don't there is another fridge unit ice cream maker in this price range for the home use.

I just like to know what your experience and opinion are on this particular model.

Thanks.

[maxmillan]

I was in a Williams Sonoma today and saw this CuisineArt ice cream machine with a built in freezer compressor for 249 bucks.Has anyone used it/bought it?

http://ww2.williams-sonoma.com/cat/pip.cfm...1%7Crshop%2Fhme

What do you think?

The KA Pro Line looks great, it's built like a Taylor but this CuisineArt Supreme is very...affordable.

Talk to me!

Thanks!!!

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I have had the Cuisinart supreme for almost a year now and I really like it. Very nice if you are interested in making icecream in 1 Qt. batches. The only downside is that it is rather noisy.

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Aside the noise, how is the ice cream produced from the Cusinart Supreme? Is it better than the non-refrigerated systems? How does it compare to store bought ice cream? What have you made with this model?

I don't care to hear about other refrigerated models as the Cusinart Supreme is the only affordable unit for me. I've had the ones in which you freeze the cannister and I don't like the fuss.

Your response would be much appreciated.

[tan319]

It would seem like the 'Supreme would be pretty good.

The regular one produced ok product but those canisters are a drag.

Believe it or not, it usually all comes down to the recipe you use re: texture, mouthfeel, etc.

Good luck!

[Sethro]

I wound up selling my KA Pro.

Too inconsistent freeze times, and inconvenient design.

Batches of the same base would alter in freeze time by as much as 8 minutes day-to-day, resulting in alot of over-churning.

The despenser is star-tipped, which would be nifty for soft serve, but basically just slows down the process and creates clogging.

The motor would also start to whine after freezing 2-3 batches.

Overall I wouldn't recomend it for anything other than a soft serve machine.

[tan319]

I'm using the KAPro and am finding it ....ok....

The batch time is usually around 20 minutes, I agree with you about the design flaws, ESPECIALLY not having an extraction gear but overall it's better then the alternative.

I miss the Paco JEt I was using last year like a mutha!!!

For ease of use, virtually no cleanup and what that saves in labor it's a no brainer.

BTW, I'm doing about 8 or more quarts a day of sorbet or ice creams 5 days a week.

The only thing I've had seriously overchurn is some cheesecake ice cream we did today and that was just some that was left in the chamber from the batch that was made minutes before.

Oh, and the boss got this machine as a refurb for less then 300 bucks.

[tan319]

Ok, I take it all back...

Pratically the next day. overchurning happened to me. twice, pissed me off.

Almost everyday now, blows...

How much would a timer ala a Taylor B-104 have added to the cost???

[SweetSide]

What is overchurning -- that is, how do you know you've overchurned the ice cream?

At home I only have a small Cuisinart where you put the bowl in the freezer. Is it possible to overchurn in one of these machines?

I mostly make ice cream in the summer (without air conditioning in the house), and when it is really hot, sometimes the ice cream won't freeze beyond a VERY soft serve because the bowl loses its chill to fast. Any advice for these situations? Other than buying a second bowl to switch to....

Thanks!

[David J.]

What is overchurning -- that is, how do you know you've overchurned the ice cream?

At home I only have a small Cuisinart where you put the bowl in the freezer.  Is it possible to overchurn in one of these machines?

I mostly make ice cream in the summer (without air conditioning in the house), and when it is really hot, sometimes the ice cream won't freeze beyond a VERY soft serve because the bowl loses its chill to fast.  Any advice for these situations?  Other than buying a second bowl to switch to....

Thanks!

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I suggest pre-chilling the mix in the freezer until it is about ready to freeze. I also toss a folded dish towel over the top of the unit to cover the pour hole and thus reduce heat loss through air transfer. You could wrap the whole unit in a big towel to further insulate it.

[tan319]

What is overchurning -- that is, how do you know you've overchurned the ice cream?

At home I only have a small Cuisinart where you put the bowl in the freezer.  Is it possible to overchurn in one of these machines?

I mostly make ice cream in the summer (without air conditioning in the house), and when it is really hot, sometimes the ice cream won't freeze beyond a VERY soft serve because the bowl loses its chill to fast.  Any advice for these situations?  Other than buying a second bowl to switch to....

Thanks!

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Overchurning looks like the ice cream "broke". IE: Turns grainy, tastes gritty, not a pleasant mouthfeel.

When it happens to me I usually remelt it and spin again the next day.

In answer to your frozen canister type machine, I think it would be harder to overchurn it because the bowl is losing temp the whole time, thawing out.

The opposite is happening with an refrigerated machine, the compressor keeps the mix cold while it churns at a contant temp.

RE: Beating the heat.

If you really like making ice creams and sorbets that much, I would splurge on a cusineart Supreme, , same type of machine but with an onboard compressor (no frozen canisters).

You can probably find one cheaper then the advertised price on Overstock.com or on a refurbished machine site like they have for cuisinearts, kitchenaids, etc.

Remember, sethro and I are (were) using this machine in an more industrial setting, at least in my case, making sometimes 10 or more quarts of ice cream or sorbet a day!

That's a lot and Kitchen aid Pro doesn't really come out and say "sure, work the hell out of our machine, we'll keep up with anyone!!!".

I think the KPro is being marketed to people with a big house, semi pro kitchens that do a decent amount of entertaining ( remember, it makes nice slushy Hurricanes/Margaritas, etc.) and to schlubs like us who need something better then a Donvier or an ice & salt machine but can't talk our masters into getting us a PacoJet or a Coldelite/Taylor tabletop machine.

good luck!

[alanamoana]

when you overchurn/spin ice cream...you're basically making butter.

it is possible to overchurn ice cream in the home machine if your ice cream base has a very high percentage of fat/cream in the mix. as these machines take longer to freeze the base, the constant agitation is whipping the cream...thus butter.

[tan319]

when you overchurn/spin ice cream...you're basically making butter.

it is possible to overchurn ice cream in the home machine if your ice cream base has a very high percentage of fat/cream in the mix.  as these machines take longer to freeze the base, the constant agitation is whipping the cream...thus butter.

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Yes, what she said...

You're indeed churning butter.

One of my ice creams that overchurned the other day was my peanut butter ice cream which, while it has no egg does have a LOT of peanut butter.

The other one that overchurned was an ice cream that was tring to salvagwe some cheesecake that wasn't opitimum.

Not garbage, just not good enought to plate.

We thinned with Milk.

That said, I think super high percentages of cream and yolk are unnecessary in many recipes and even anglaising them (making custard to where it stripes) is rarely required.

[SweetSide]

Thanks Ted and alanamoana! And after reading this, I do know that I have "broken" and ice cream in school. And our poor machine was in the situation you are in -- several us doing our formulas each churning several quarts in the course of night. Wasn't keeping up with the cooling and we were spinning them for much longer than normal periods.

And I like the reverse "tea cozy" method on cooling. Don't know why I didn't think of that. I do already chill down the mix in the freezer and it helps. But on those 95 degree days, it can still be hard.

Not sure if the cooled Cuisinart ranks high enough on my toy list at the moment though....

Thanks again!

[Eden]

Not sure if the cooled Cuisinart ranks high enough on my toy list at the moment though....

After the death of our DeLonghi ICK8500 we have gone back to the freezer bowl model, but I have to say we really LOVED the built in compressor for it's convenience. I am still trying to figure out if there is a model that combines reasonable price with reliability (NOT the DeLonghi!) so we can get another one, but so far I'm not finding anything under $300 with good enough reps to risk it again...

So now I'm trying to convince Bill that we just need a 3rd freezer out in the garage to store more freezer bowls

[tan319]

Not sure if the cooled Cuisinart ranks high enough on my toy list at the moment though....

After the death of our DeLonghi ICK8500 we have gone back to the freezer bowl model, but I have to say we really LOVED the built in compressor for it's convenience. I am still trying to figure out if there is a model that combines reasonable price with reliability (NOT the DeLonghi!) so we can get another one, but so far I'm not finding anything under $300 with good enough reps to risk it again...

So now I'm trying to convince Bill that we just need a 3rd freezer out in the garage to store more freezer bowls

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That cuisineart Supreme doesn't have a good enough rep at 249.00?

If you make ice cream and sorbets as much as you cook pasta, etc., maybe invest in a pro machine.

Not to bad rap a company but DeLonghi's products always look a bit...not sturdy.

Best of Luck

[bjcohan]

I have two of the Cuisinart bowl-in-the-freezer machines. For folks who don't want to spring for a compressor model, I think they're the best. (I've burned out the motors on many of the other brands, including three 4-quart White Mountain ice-and-salt machines.)

When I began making the desserts for my husband's restaurant six and a half years ago, I had a perfect excuse to spring for a compressor model. After much research, I bought a Simac Il Gelataio and I couldn't be happier. I use it nearly every day, for batch after batch, 50 weeks a year. Starting with a very cold base, each batch is finished in 20 minutes or so. There are two switches - one for the dasher and one for the compressor. It only needs five minutes between batches - just enough time to pop out the bowl and clean the bowl and dasher. The dasher appears to be made of solid teflon or some similar material. I haven't had a moment's problem with it.

Best of all, I got it as a factory refurb on eBay for $225 instead of the $600 it listed for back then.

I was googling my machine a while ago, thinking that I might someday need to replace it. The Simac seems to be much more available in Europe where several models are available. I would definitely buy another!

Barb

[ALTAF]

Any one tried the kitchen aid icre-cream attachment? please give us a review. I'm thinking of buying one.