Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

If you've ever eaten homemade ice cream or sorbet then you already know it's no joke and if you've ever tried to make it yourself then you already know it's not as difficult as it might seem especially if you know a few tricks and you have the right equipment.  A little know how and a good ice cream maker goes a long way.

I've heard of people putting a ziploc bag filled with unfrozen ice cream into another bag filled with salt and ice and then they shake the bags until they magically end up with a big bag of ice cream.  I'm sorry but I'm not convinced that it can hold a candle to properly made ice cream from a machine.  A machine provides the consistent speed and temperature that is so crucial to making good ice cream.  Besides, it really doesn't need to be more difficult than making a good ice cream mix and putting it into a machine, does it?

The basic concept behind making ice cream is that you pour your unfrozen mix into a frozen vessel and "stir".  The ice cream then contacts the sides of the vessel just long enough to freeze but no longer than that.  This creates tiny ice crystals which impart a smooth creamy texture that melts in your mouth and releases the magic.  If the vessel is too cold or if you crank too fast then the ice crystals will be large and you end up with gritty ice cream.  If the vessel is too warm or you crank too slow then the ice cream just doesn't freeze very well.

So to give your ice cream the right smooth creamy texture that makes you want to smack your momma you need to make sure you're forming tiny ice crystals by perfectly regulating the temperature and speed.  So how do you know how fast or how cold?  I have no idea...

Ice cream makers like this Cuisinart address that problem and do it rather well.  The Cuisinart provides constant speed and the perfect temperature without the shoulder workout.  It gave me extremely consistent results.  I've made dozens of batches of sorbet and countless batches of ice cream with this machine.  The only trial and error is whether to process your recipe for 25 minutes or to let it freeze a little bit longer.  That's easy enough to do with this machine too.  There's a handy little opening in the top that allows you to add chunky ingredients towards the end of the process or you can just look in to check the progress.

As far as the cons go: I've heard that some people have complained about the noise but I don't really think it's that loud.  They're probably the same people that called the cops on me when I was a kid because I was playing Twisted Sister too loud at 8pm on a Friday night.  Let me put it this way: If you don't mind the sound of a vacuum or listening to a washing machine for an hour but you'd complain about the the noise of a mini-appliance that takes 20 minutes to churn out a frozen treat that has been touched by the hand of God then you need to re-evaluate your priorities.