Cuisinart Deluxe Ice cream Maker, Frozen yogurt maker & Sorbet Maker, Homemade desserts, Easy to use at home, Ready in 25 minutes, 5 year guarantee, 2L capacity, Silver ICE30BCU

I love this thing!! It's so easy to use, high quality and functional. It's not too heavy, the bowl isn't too big so stays in the freezer without taking up too much room. The parts are easy to remove for cleaning, overall love it!

Overall, this is a great ice cream maker. The mechanism itself is surprisingly simple (i.e. the device is basically just a large motor that spins round the pre-frozen tub - more on this later) and the ice cream itself is far superior to anything shop bought. Despite having bought some books on ice cream making, so far we've only tried the recipes in the supplied instruction book, and these have all been great. The basic vanilla is superb, the chocolate recipe (that requires melting chocolate beforehand) is heavenly, and the strawberry (including fresh strawberries in the recipe) is by far the best strawberry ice cream we've ever tasted. All-in-all, the taste and texture of the ice cream has exceeded the expectations of the whole family. The amount made per batch is about the same as a regular shop bought tub (2 litres) and the complete control you have over the ingredients is a massive bonus for our family. My son has a nut allergy, so this device means that we can now make any flavour we want, without any fear whatsoever of nut contamination. I'd recommend the product for this ability alone. We've also served the ice cream to friends as a dinner party dessert, and they've been equally impressed. You do need to be mindful of a few things however, although none of which I feel are deal breakers: 1. Firstly, the rotating tub is big. It's about 20cm in diameter by 17cm high. This tub needs to be pre-frozen in a freezer before you make the ice cream, hence you do need sufficient freezer space to do this. This works very well in our chest freezer, but I'm not in the least bit convinced that we could fit the tub into our standard fridge freezer. Therefore if you don't have a chest freezer, you may wish to consider a smaller model of ice cream maker. 2. The device itself doesn't freeze the ice cream. As outlined above, you need to place the tub in a freezer beforehand. The tub appears to contain liquid (I'm assuming similar to the liquid found in freezer blocks) and several hours in the freezer before use effectively turns the tub into a block of ice that stays sub-zero throughout the ice cream making process. The instructions advise that you freeze the tub for 12-24 hours before making the ice cream. However our experience has shown that you really need to give it the full 24 hours. Anything shorter, and the ice cream comes out too soft. 3. Even with the full 24 hours, the ice cream still comes out fairly soft at the end of the process - a kind of Mr Whippy consistency. Although then transferring the ice cream into a tub and leaving it overnight in the freezer results in the harder texture of shop bought ice cream. 4. Some prep is required, so don't expect to simply pour in all the ingredients and let the ice cream maker do all the work. Although this prep is fairly simple. It normally involves just pre mixing some ingredients and then leaving to chill in the fridge for a few hours, before then pouring into the ice cream making. Despite the above, we are still completely thrilled with the ice cream maker, as the end result is phenomenal. Hence I'd call the above 4 points "considerations" rather than criticisms. Why then only 4 stars? For some reason, Amazon decided to use a courier to deliver the ice cream maker, rather than their own delivery infrastructure. I'm a big fan of Prime next day deliver, therefore was not very happy when a courier arrived with the product on a Friday, left a card, and said they'd be back on the Monday. There was no option for me to do anything about this. So my advertised next day Prime delivery took 4 days. That aside, I'd recommend the product itself without hesitation.

I have had the ICE30 since June 2011 and it makes the Best ice cream I've ever had. In the video I show you How to set it up How to make a quick ice cream recipe How Noisy the Machine is What the Ice Cream is like How you clean it OK, this machine is noisy, there's no escaping that, but I've still given it 5 stars. Why? quite simply because it makes the best ice cream I've ever tasted. If you want a quiet ice cream maker, you can always buy a Andrew James Professional Fully Automatic Ice Cream Maker With Built-in Compressor + 128 Page Ice Cream Maker Cook Book. which is a good ice cream maker, but the ice cream just isn't as good as what you get from the Cuisinart. In fact I would be willing to bet that you won't get better ice cream from any other home ice cream maker, freezer bowl or fully automatic. About the Machine This is a freezer bowl ice cream maker which means that the bowl needs to be pre-frozen for at least 12hrs before you use it. Your freezer must be -17oc or below for it to freeze the bowl properly. The size of the bowl is - Width = 20cm / Height = 17cm (It's a really good idea to check that the bowl will fit in your freezer before you buy it). If you've got a chest freezer, or an American fridge freezer you should be OK, but you might struggle if you have draws. Product Specs 2L Bowl makes over 1kg of Ice Cream Bowl needs to be frozen for at least 12 hrs before use (this will depend on your freezer) Churn Time - 25 - 40 mins (depending on Recipe) The body of the machine is Width = 21cm / Height = 29cm The reason that the Cuisinart ICE30 makes such good ice cream is because 1. It has a nice big bowl 2. The lid lets lots of air into the mixture 3. It's the bowl that spins round, not the churn arm. These 3 things allow more air to get into the mixture, which gives you thicker and fluffier ice cream. No other ice cream maker on the market works in this way, so you won't get ice cream of this quality from any other machine (not even from a fully automatic). What I also love about this machine is it's simplicity. When you read reviews for other ice cream makers, you read about a lot of them having problems, such as the lid not going on, or the churn arm sticking. I've had my ice cream maker since June 2011, and I've never had any problems with mine at all. What I like about My Cuisinart ICE30 1. It's Very Easy to Use - Setting it up is a breeze, and the on / off switch is a basic dial that you just turn on and off as you need it. 2. The lid just twists on and off very easily 3. The churn arm sits inside the machine. It is not driven through the lid, which means you never have any problems getting the lid on and off. 4. The big opening in the lid makes it really easy to add your ingredients. 5. The bowl is really easy to get in and out of the machine, so there's absolutely no faffing about there either. 6. It's also really easy to clean I always say that the easier a machine is to use, the more you'll use it. And this machine is so easy to use, you'll want to use it all the time (I use mine a couple of times a month) The only negative about this machine is that it is noisy. I personally cannot stand to be in the same room with it while it's churning. But this is easily solved by leaving the kitchen. I used to own the quietest ice cream maker you can by, and given the choice between that one and this, I would choose the Cuisinart ICE30 everyday of the week over the other because the ice cream is just so damn good. However, if you live open plan, this might not be the best ice cream maker for you. Overall I would say that if your looking to buy an ice cream maker, you won't go far wrong with the Cuisinart ICE30. It is probably the most expensive freezer bowl ice cream maker you can by, but to me I think it's worth it. It's not plasticky in the slightest, and you'll never have any problems attaching the lid or the churn arm. Plus it comes with a 5 year guarantee, whereas most come with only a 1 year guarantee. Ice cream makers can be quite expensive, especially the fully automatics. I would say that if you have the room for a freezer bowl in your freezer, save your money and get yourself a Cuisinart ICE30. You won't regret it.

This machine makes really great ice cream. The recipes in the instructions sound great and can’t wait to try them. The instructions say to leave the freezer bowl in the freezer minimum of 12 hours but I’d recommend leaving it in for at least 24hrs. Wasn’t as noisy as I expected it to be. Very easy to clean. I’d definitely recommend this is if you want delicious homemade ice cream

I've had mine now for a couple of weeks. This ice cream maker is superb. I had been considering the type with its own freezer but just couldn't convince myself to spend that much. I'm glad I didn't. This ice cream maker makes ice cream with such a beautiful smooth texture that I find it hard to believe that the expensive models can improve on it. This maker uses a 'gel' filled bowl that has to be pre-frozen. My last one was the same, but I could not get the ice cream to freeze properly. The insulation on the bowl of the ICE30 is very thick and so it only warms up slowly. It also has a large capacity - 2 litres - so you can make a good amount in one go (and what will do a lot will do a little). However, it is a very large bowl so you need plenty of freezer space. I could not get it on either of the fast freeze shelves of my new freezer so it has to go in one of the drawers. Unlike most machines of this kind, the blade is static and the bowl turns. I like this, its less noisy and means that there is a lovely big hole in the lid to pour stuff through. However, this means that the main unit is also big so you will need cupboard space for it. On the upside, it looks really smart so is looks fine if you have to leave it on the surface. I've spent some time struggling to make ice cream with my old machine before it gave up the ghost so here is the benefit of my experiance: 1) THE most important thing is to have the bowl REALLY cold. Check your freezer. My old one was (as we discovered) on the way out so wasn't maintaining a low enough temperature. Ice cream freezes below 0 C so the bowl needs to be very cold. It must be at least -15. I now put my freezer on fast freeze for 4 -5 hours before I use the bowl. This lowers the freezer to -27. I should imagine that 'Super' (like my old freezer) would do the same. 2) Chill everything before hand (even if you've just mixed milk with cream stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours). 3) Sugar (and alcohol) lower the freezing point. That means it has to be even colder to freeze (or will take longer). Try reducing the amount in the recipe. 4) Try making a smaller quantity (it will take less time to freeze) 5) Leaving it churning beyond 40 mins is pointless. If it isn't frozen yet it wont. 6) Don't expect solid ice cream at the end. Its more like 'Mr Whippy'. Pour it into a box and freeze it for a few hours to make it hard. Hope that helps

Very impressive little ice cream maker. I made a yummy vanilla ice cream last night from the recipe in the booklet provided (although used semi-skimmed milk and not full fat) and it turned out perfect. I had left the freezer bowl in the freezer a good 24 hours before first using it. Nice, creamy and thick on taking it out of the bowl and then decanted it into a tub to put in the freezer to harden up. Easy to use and clean. I think the only negative is that it’s quite noisy (in the video it sounds like the engine of a deep sea fishing boat but that’s because I was close to the machine). Can highly recommend if you’re wanting to save money on buying ice cream and ensure that you have ice cream with no preservatives or rubbish in it. You won’t be disappointed.

Positives: - Small and square footprint - The motor "unit" is entirely removable and the cable directly attached to it - Due to the small size, the motor is strong enough to keep stirring until you have proper ice cream - Tight tolerances, meaning good scraping from the sides preventing crystals - works perfectly fine operating directly in a chest freezer with the cable leading outside the freezer - relatively quiet compared to compressor machines - due to the small size it's great for learning, you don't end up making liters of bad ice cream - Simple controls, no display no nothing, just an on off switch Negatives: - Takes relatively long - Not big enough for a family or party unless you prepare ahead of time I will say that I never tried using it the intended way, I always just use it in the freezer directly. Because it's very compact, it doesn't take much space in there, and having a square footprint, it's also easy to make space for it. In the past I had a compressor machine that could make 1.5l, but I actually prefer this one. The large volume of the larger machines means you need a really strong motor, which machines for the home market usually don't have. That results in crystals forming on the sides, and the machine stopping before you have proper ice cream - that does not happen with this machine. I would love if Cuisinart made a version of this without the cooling element bowl and rather have a bowl with a sort of heatsink - that way, the method of just putting the entire machine in the freezer would work even better, and take less space. Also, the cable could be made longer and thinner to increase the efficiency of running it out the freezer. And finally some tips for people new to making ice cream, look into glycerine, gelatine alternatives and stabilizers. Proper ice cream is not stored at the -18 degrees we have in our freezers, therefore adding in these ingredients(which might sound chemical, but are plant based) gets you scoopable ice cream at common freezer temperatures. Don't trust recipes for home made ice cream that don't include any glycerine, and you will have much more success. It'll take some experimentation to get right though.

Absolutely terrible, need to freeze the bowl for 12-14 hours pre use! Bowl is huge so wouldn’t fit in a conventional freezer! Designed for a commercial kitchen!! Worst buy for a family gift