Anyone have an ice cream maker?

[kenny]

I realize I'm losing weight but I was thinking of getting one of these.
I hear in 30 minutes it can make a half gallon with no ice, salt or cranking and costs $66.

Anyone have it, or another, opinions or advice about ice cream makers?

I think with these you have to put the big bulky bowl in the freezer a day before you use it, and the machines are noisy.

Review

 

[yssie]

No, but I plan to get the attachment for the kitchenaid stand mixer! Once we either buy or are gifted the stand mixer, that is.

 

[hihowareyou]

I have one (different model though). It takes a bit longer than 30 minutes when you factor in cooking a custard and allowing the mixture to chill before freezing. There are recipes that don''t require cooking but I love an egg custard ice cream

I think ice cream makers are great. I actually eat less ice cream now I have one because we don''t buy it at the store. Since it is a bit of time and effort to make I don''t do it every week but when I do make some it is worth it! I love knowing what goes into it too, it has made me realise how much fat/sugar is in ice cream and makes me appreciate it as a treat.

Also nothing is more fun than trying strange ice cream flavours and your friends will love you too

 

[Yimmers]

You can make sorbets with that cuisinart - I did a mango sorbet, but found my DH didn''t think it had enough "mango" flavor for his liking. However, he spent many summers visiting Hawaii, so I guess nothing tops the mangoes you can get there.

It''s a lot of fun, I once made ice cream for root beer floats at a party. I also made strawberry ice cream before. Yes, you have to make the cream base from scratch, and cool it. So, you can actually make it over 2 days if you like. The actual process itself does only take 30 minutes, but it''s a very soft ice cream.

Yes, you must freeze the bowl overnight. I don''t remember being too annoyed by the noise, however. Just turn it on and leave the kitchen while you surf the pricescope forums, haha!

 

[MissMina]

I thought it would be good to make my own frozen confections and control what goes into them. I bought one of those freeze the bowl types and it takes forever for the ice cream to firm up even after freezing the bowl for days.
To me it is useless.

I am going to get one of the old salt and ice models soon. Not going to crank though.

 

[April20]

I have a Rival. I picked it up at the Goodwill several years ago for $15 or $20. I love it, though I haven''t used it in quite a while. I used to always keep it in a spare freezer so it was ready to go whenever I was. I made a lot of sorbets in it with fresh fruit, which is a good option when you''re focusing on healthy eating.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I won one in a raffle many years ago and my parents still have it. They also have the very old hand-crank kind.

The hand-crank maker makes MUCH better ice cream. Every 4th of July we would make two batches and the hand crank kind had much better consistency. We would all take turns sitting on it while another person cranked. You definitely get a good workout! I''ve occasionally looked on eBay for the old crank kind but they are very expensive!

 

[elrohwen]

One of my friends has one and she uses it all the time! Homemade ice cream is amazing. Just remember that you're always going to get more a soft serve or gelato texture, rather than a hard ice cream texture.

 

[stone-cold11]

Just freeze the ice-cream after it is done to make it harder.

 

[monarch64]

No, I would never use it. There are so many cute places here that serve homemade hard-packed ice cream that we like to go out for frozen treats on occasion. We don''t keep sweets in the house really, and we don''t have children so I don''t see the point of having an ice cream maker. If it fits into your lifestyle it sounds like a pretty good deal for $66 though.

 

[marcy]

We got one as a wedding gift. Made ice cream a few times and eventually put it out for a garage sale. Although homemade vanilla / strawberry ice cream sounds divine right now.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 6/15/2010 9:12:27 AM
Author: Stone-cold11
Just freeze the ice-cream after it is done to make it harder.

You need a special freezer that gets to much colder temps than a regular home freezer can do. Freezing in a home freezer will still make something closer to the texture of gelato.

 

[MissMina]

wWen I say the ice cream didn''t firm up I mean it was liquid except for about 1/4 inch frozen on the sides.
I did put it in the freezer and when it finally did freeze it was like a rock.

 

[tigian]

Hi kenny,
We have one that is similar. It takes longer than 30 mins because after it is mixed and churned, it needs to be put in the freezer overnight. Also, you have to freeze the bowl for several hours beforehand. I highly recommend having an ice cream maker because you can control the ingredients and quality of ingredients. It''s always a hit when we serve homemade ice cream to guests...general favorite is caramel pear and pecan ice cream. Since you are in the process of losing weight, you can make yummy fruit sorbets.
I say get one!!!!

 

[soocool]

I have this (an older model) that I have used for the past 8 years. I make a lot of sorbet using fresh fruit and gelato. I always keep the bowls (I have 2) in the freezer (you never know when the urge to make sorbet or gelato strikes you). Mine doesn''t sound loud at all.

 

[Octavia]

Date: 6/15/2010 3:32:57 AM
Author: yssie
No, but I plan to get the attachment for the kitchenaid stand mixer! Once we either buy or are gifted the stand mixer, that is.

I have this and I LUUURRRRVVVVEEEE it. But it''s definitely one of those special-use appliances, so I can see how it wouldn''t make sense for a lot of people. I love to make strawberry frozen yogurt (macerated fresh strawberries, plain yogurt, and a bit of sugar) as well as ice creams. In fact, I just made a batch of green tea ice cream last night.

 

[Octavia]

There's a site with amazing recipes for ice creams and sorbets -- I won't link because it's a blog, but it's called Ice Cream Ireland (just google it) and it's run by a guy who owns a very small chain of homemade ice cream shops in Ireland. I've been following since just before they opened their second shop and have fantasies of going to Ireland so I can visit one...or all...of them. The recipes he posts are divine!

 

[elrohwen]

Now I want an ice cream maker! Must resist ...

 

[kenny]

Date: 6/15/2010 1:51:33 PM
Author: elrohwen
Now I want an ice cream maker! Must resist ...

See, that's what happend to me.
A poster on another forum told us about his and now it's like Octavia lust.

 

[Liane]

My father-in-law has a great ice cream maker. I put the same one on my registry so I can look up the exact model if you want (dunno if we actually got it, all the registry presents are at my mother-in-law''s and I haven''t opened any of the boxes).

IIRC it''s around $200-250, relatively quiet (about as loud as an espresso machine), takes ~45 minutes to make a quart of gelato or sorbet. What comes out of the mixer is soft-serve consistency, but if you put it in the freezer it''ll firm up to hard-packed ice cream or sorbet. A home freezer works fine but you have to stir it every hour to keep it aerated, otherwise it turns into a rock.

It''s pretty fun and sorbet is a painless way to get a certain fruit-phobic person in my household (cough cough) to eat more fruits, so I plan to get heavy use out of mine once we finally move into the new place this summer.

 

[somethingshiny]

I have a Rival and I use it all the time. I just made custard 3 days ago. It takes less than 30 minutes to freeze. Before this one, I had one of the old fashioned ice and rock salt machines. What a PITA.

 

[Lynn B]

I have a Cuisinart with the freezer bowl, and while I don''t use it very often, I do love it. It is really fun to try lots of different recipes, and I love it for parties.

For those of you who don''t have an ice-cream maker, but would like to experiment with creating your own ice cream flavors/varieties, you still can. Buy a half-gallon of your favorite high-quality chocolate or vanilla ice-cream (actually, any kind will do; it will be the "base" of your new flavor). Let it thaw a bit, then stir in anything: toasted nuts, bourbon, rum, maple syrup, frozen berries, broken cookies, etc., and refreeze. VERY FUN! The combinations are endless!

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

My dad had one that was an ice and salt, but which had electric arms so he didn''t have to churn it. It was probably from the 1970s, but it was really good stuff and we never had a problem with it getting cold enough. He stopped when it broke and couldn''t find a similiar one.

 

[hihowareyou]

I should have added that mine is the type that doesn't need to have a bowl put into the freezer. I went down that path because I often make it for family functions and make 3+ batches one after each other. I was concerned that one frozen bowl wouldn't stay cold enough for a third batch. Our freezer is also very small and very full. They are a lot more expensive though so unless you plan to make a lot of ice cream probably not worth it.

If you do get one then I can't recommend David Lebovitz's book The Perfect Scoop enough. He also has some recipes on his blog: www.davidlebovitz.com
His salted butter caramel is probably the best thing I've ever eaten.

 

[Cehrabehra]

I looked into getting one sent here to china and it was like 80 bucks or so (roughly - cannot recall exactly) and after vat and taxes and shipping it was going to be over 300 so I''m like yeah I don''t think so.

I bought a tiny pint maker one and I haven''t used it yet... I am going to look in the states for a good fit because we are on 220v here and that''s an issue. A PINT SIZED haagen daas is 79rmb which is like $12. So..... yeah I haven''t had any ice cream in a long time.