Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Machine, 1.5 Quart Mix It In Soft Serve, Yogurt, Sorbet, Sherbet Maker, White, ICE-45P1

I bought this on a whim. We used to have the same type of liquid-filled bowl for our Kitchen Aid stand mixer but misplaced it somewhere along the way. This is the same concept, but it's a full-sized machine with a soft-serve style dispenser.Having owned it for just under a week now, I must say that I absolutely love it. I've made two batches of ice cream so far, one a maple cinnamon vanilla and the other chocolate. Both were as tasty as anything at the ice cream parlor. I definitely read as many Amazon reviews as I could, and it really helped me with my first batch to know what to expect.Pros:- Simple set up.- Great set of initial recipes included.- Makes delicious ice cream. Haven't made frozen yogurt or sorbet yet, but I can't wait.- Easy to clean.Cons:- Large footprint. Even though it's a handsome machine, not exactly something you want to keep on the counter, especially if, like me, you have limited space on your kitchen counter.- The dispenser is cool, but the lack of height makes it sort of challenging. I find myself having to dip my head down near the dispenser to make sure I'm getting it into the bowl correctly.- A fair amount of ice cream gets left over on the mixing paddle, and it's a bit tough to get it all off.- Ice cream comes out pretty soft and melts quickly. But if you leave it in the bowl for too long, it can't come out of the dispenser easily.So why am I giving it five stars? Because it's reasonably easy to use and it makes PHENOMENAL ice cream. I solved the soft and melty problem by putting it in a wide-mouth mason jar and sticking it in the freezer for a few hours. The resulting ice cream is as good or better than anything you can buy in a store. I'm not kidding, the simple combination of milk, cream, sugar and flavoring creates superior ice cream, even better when you realize there are no preservatives or strange ingredients you've never heard of (guar gum, anyone?). And, as a dad with two small kids, the ice cream making process is heaps of fun for the little ones. I feel like our days of buying ice cream from the store are behind us, at least until it breaks!I do recommend reading a handful of the more helpful Amazon reviews, as they give a pretty good idea of what to expect. The main things are to make sure the bowl is completely frozen (we have a chest freezer in the basement which is a perfect place for the bowl to live) and to understand that it takes a minimum of 20-25 minutes to make the ice cream.Enjoy!

This is absolutely wonderful ❤️ making homemade ice cream let's YOU decide what to put in it, or on it. The kids love to be creative with their toppings and adults are always surprised by what little ingredients it takes. Basic recipe; cream, milk, sugar, vanilla. Soo much better than store bought. It does make some noise, but well worth it and definitely not as much as the old "rock salt and ice" machine, and so much faster. The capacity is just right too, although, everyone always wants more!

I've enjoyed using this machine for over a month now, generally a couple of times a week. All of the prior reviews with suggestions helped quite a bit, especially the recommendation to get Ben & Jerry's book of ice cream recipes. Those recipes have turned out the best for me; I particularly like the recipe with raw eggs as an emulsifier. I understand that many are reluctant to use raw eggs these days but, fortunately, the salmonella-laden eggs didn't make it to my market! The eggs give the ice cream better consistency.As a kid, I briefly worked at a soft serve ice cream stand, where I served up cones from a commercial-grade machine. The Cuisinart Ice-45 is NOT that kind of machine, so I did not expect it to deliver the same consistency. It takes about 22-25 minutes to reach a consistency I like, and at that point, it basically plops out of the machine in spurts 2-3" long. I wish it flowed steadily, but it seems to be a function of the stirring blade--as it goes around inside the machine, it blocks the flow briefly. That's my chief complaint about the machine.That said, I like that I can make fresh ice cream with fresh ingredients so I know what I'm eating. Sometimes I just use it at milkshake/Wendy's Frosty consistency. Often I chop up some fresh peaches in a bowl and top it with the dollops of ice cream dropping out of the machine. I've put the leftovers in containers to freeze - the consistency isn't so great when I hard freeze it, but the flavor is great.I haven't had trouble freezing the bowl -- I've left it for 12 hours and it's frozen solid, but I'm sure the time depends on the freezer temperature. As long as I wash and freeze the bowl immediately after making ice cream, it's ready again the next day. If I had to serve a crowd, I'd buy a second & third bowl. Since the bowl is about half the price of the machine, I haven't bothered yet.Overall, a good product for a small price.