Best Cuisinart Ice Cream Makers for Creating Frozen Desserts

The Cuisinart ICE-100 is a fully automatic ice cream and gelato maker that is ideal for big families and those who often host big parties. It boasts a commercial-style compressor which freezes ice cream and other treats while also mixing them. A built-in freezer also means that no pre-freezing is required, thus, you can make batch after batch without a need to wait or plan ahead. However, the compressor makes the ICE-100 rather bulky and heavy. It measures 12" x 16.73" x 9.33" and weighs 32 lb.

The Cuisinart ICE-100 compressor ice cream and gelato maker has a nice stainless steel body with some plastic parts. The 1.5-quart bowl is made of anodized aluminum and is very easy to clean. Once freezing is completed, you just need to take the bucket out of the machine and clean it with warm soapy water. Unlike the lid and dashers, the bowl isn't dishwasher-safe. The lid is fully transparent so that you can watch the mixing process in action anytime you want. It has an additional mix-in opening allowing you to add different toppings, chocolate chunks, nuts, or fruit without interrupting the freezing process.

The ICE-70 is the premium model with a removable freezable bowl for making gelato, ice cream, sorbets and lots of other frozen goodies. The desserts get smooth, creamy, reasonably dense, and with very few icy bits. Made of stainless steel, the machine looks amazing on any countertop. In fact, it's very smart and easy to use unit that consists of just 4 parts - the solid base that holds the motor, freezable bowl, dasher, and transparent lid. The base of the unit is manufactured from brushed stainless steel and has an embossed Cuisinart logo. The base measures 9.5" x 8.5" x 10.5" and has four rubber tipped feet that keep it stable when the mixture is being churned.

The machine features a 2-quart bowl which is lined with a liquid gel. The bowl has to be pre-chilled for 12 to 24 hours before use. The gel inside freezes solid in your freezer and then keeps the temperature really well. After removing from the freezer, it maintains the bowl cool for a good while. The bowl is 7.8" x 6.4", so please check whether it will fit in your freezer before purchase.

When the gel is frozen solid, you can remove the bowl from your freezer, put it back, add the mixture, and turn the ice maker on. Really simple! Unlike many other machines, the dasher here is held in place, while the bowl is rotated. Although this might not seem to make a big difference, rotating the bowl from below ensures more leverage and power. The dasher is held in place by a transparent lid. There's a special hole with a plug in the middle of the lid that allows you to add extras to your dessert.

As this ice cream maker has a capacity of 2 quarts, it can't make huge batches at a time. However, you can buy a spare bowl and pre-freeze them both in order to make simultaneous batches. This amount will be quite enough for small groups of people.

The Cuisinart ICE-21 ice cream maker is the best-seller on the market for a good reason. It's a very affordable, compact, and easy to use machine without all those extra frills. Featuring On/Off button only, the Cuisinart ice cream maker is capable of making frozen yogurt, ice cream, sorbet, and even frozen beverages. Actually, it will take you 20 minutes or less to enjoy ready-to-eat ice cream. This ice cream machine has an average bowl capacity that allows you to make 1.5 quarts of ice cream and other luscious frozen desserts. This domestic ice cream maker can make small quantities of ice cream sufficient for small families.

The Cuisinart ice cream maker ICE-21 is a semi-automatic machine, therefore, before making a frozen dessert, you have to pre-freeze the bowl in your freezer. The freezing time for this bowl takes between 16 hours and 24 hours. Typically, you just need to shake the bowl in order to determine whether the bowl is completely frozen. If you hear the liquid sloshing about, this means that the bowl is still not ready for use. But once it's frozen hard enough to be placed on the base, you can't hear anything when you shake it. It's the easiest way to tell if it's sufficiently cool. Once it's ready, you should immediately place it in the center of the base. Then, install a mixing paddle in the center of the bowl and place the lid on the top. Finally, press the On/Off button to turn the appliance on and pour ingredients as soon as the freezer bowl begins to turn. Your frozen treat will be ready in 20 minutes or even less.

The ICE-60 is a direct counterpart of the ICE-70 machine. Both these models have a generous 2-quart capacity and can whip those two quarts of ice cream in 20-25 minutes. Where they are different is in that the ICE-60 is a bit less sophisticated coming in a plastic housing rather than stainless and that it has no countdown timer, which makes it more affordable too. Sounds fine with you? Then let's check it out more closely.

To begin with, the ICE-60 does a great job of preparing ice cream, gelato, or sorbet. Owing to the advanced paddle design, the consistency of the ice cream is always gently soft, which helps enhance its taste. In case you want it to be a little harder, you can put the dessert into any storage container that has an airtight lid and store it away in a freezer for a couple of hours. This will help change the ice cream consistency.

Furthermore, like many other Cuisinart models, the ICE-60 has a transparent lid, which has a large opening in the middle to let you observe the progress and drop additives without interrupting the whole process. The machine includes a handy cup that fits inside the hole. You simply need to lift that cup and drop in mix-ins of your preference.

The freezing bowl itself has double insulated walls with coolant fluid running between them. On average, the coolant needs 12 hours to get frozen, but actually, this process may require less time. To test the bowl for readiness, you should shake it vigorously and if you hear no sloshing of fluids, you're ready to go. Importantly, the mixing bowl is made of durable aluminum and is coated with Xylan. This means your desserts won't come in contact with the aluminum.

If you like the idea of treating your dearest people to soft and delicious ice-cream, consider buying the Cuisinart ICE-30. This perfect ice cream maker allows you to make any frozen dessert in less than half an hour, which is impressively quick. Besides ice cream, you can also prepare frozen yogurt or sorbet in it. Families who've got kids would definitely praise this option. The Cuisinart ICE30 is very easy to use, though, like many other ice makers, it requires a bowl pre-freezing (from 12 hours to 24 hours). Rather than that, it's all simple and straightforward. You will be surprised at how easy making your favorite frozen treats is! All you need to do is pour the mixture into the pre-chilled bowl and turn On/Off switcher. Your dessert will be ready-to-eat in as little as 25 minutes. A double insulated stainless steel freezer bowl can make up to 2 quarts of frozen homemade desserts from the freshest ingredients for you and all your family members. The open lid design provides aeration of ice cream while mixing to make the dessert much more airy and fluffy. It also allows users to add more ingredients during the process. You can pour chocolate chips, nuts, caramel drops, favorite toppings, or any other mix-ins. Having this machine in your household, you'll be able to make unbelievably delicious frozen desserts: ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, gelato, and frozen beverages. Just put in the needed ingredients and this ice cream maker will do the rest of the work for you. This Cuisinart 2-quart ice cream maker is truly cost-effective if you decide in favor of making your own frozen treats rather than buying them at the supermarket.