Cuisinart Compressor Ice Cream & Gelato Maker

I had always wanted an ice cream maker with a compressor as we make a lot of ice cream but only can do so through the hot summer months. Neither of us likes store bought ice cream and, too, it's gotten so expensive. Upon much research and also watching Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman) use this model, I decided to gift myself with it. Best decision I could have made! I read the instructions twice just to make sure of what I was doing and mixed up my first batch of ice cream from the included booklet. My husband wanted fresh raspberry so this is the one I made first. It was delicious. The only thing I could have done any better was to really crush up the raspberries better. I only mashed them a little thinking they would break up on their own as raspberries are so fragile. They didn't break apart in the mixer enough but it was really good anyway. The bowl and paddle are very simple to get ready and the lid is easy to lock in. It even has a little door that can be opened to add nuts, etc. in the last five minutes of freezing. The really BIG rule is to not put in too much mix. If you do, as it freezes, it will go over the rim of the basket and then you will really have a mess. But the nice thing about the maker is that after a batch is done, wait 10 minutes and then you can make another batch. This you can do all day long if you choose. A recipe from the booklet makes just the right amount for the freezer. But in saying that, if you are a big ice cream eater or have very many people to serve then you will need to make more than one batch. As there are only two of us, this is the perfect amount to make as it last several days, depending how big a bowl my husband gets. I've made several ice creams, vanilla, chocolate (delicious) black walnut, butter pecan and several vanillas with the addition of items toward the end. One of my really favorite things to make are the sorbets. If the fruit is really ripe and sweet, much less sugar can be used in the recipe. Strawberry sorbet is my favorite. Unbelievably fresh tasting. And frozen fruit can be purchased all year around which are much better than the insipid fruits I'm able to purchase out of season. The machine freezes the contents pretty firmly and even has a 10 minute cycle at the end of the churning cycle to keep on chilling. The machine will shut off the churn cycle when it can go no further and then go to the chill cycle, beeping to tell you what is happening. Cuisinart has thought of everything in their design and produced a superior product here. A few hints: always have your mix well chilled before putting into the machine. I even set the mixing bowl in the freezer for twenty minutes before putting in the machine. Thoroughly chill the storage container to have it ready to put the finished ice cream. There's not much melting doing it this way. Have a small silicone spatula handy to scrape out the finished ice cream from the machine bowl. This gets all the ice cream out and the silicone is non scratch. You do not want to scratch the machine's bowl because it would damage the Teflon coating. And last but not least, just take an extra minute and hand wash the bowl, paddles and lid. So much gentler on everything. I found out that the Cuisinart does not churn in as much air as a White Mountain or similar out door maker does which makes the frozen product freeze harder. No problem though, just let it sit out of the freezer for a minute or two or microwave the container for 7 or 8 seconds to thaw it up a bit. Also, I noticed that several reviewers complained about how loud the machine is when churning. We haven't been bothered by it as it's quieter than our dishwasher...hmm...maybe I need a new dishwasher????? Well, now on to many trials and experiments with different recipes...can't wait.

Wonderful! Make ice cream with whatever flavors you like, with much less sugar and better ingredients! Pays for itself. Fun to make different flavors, it makes ice cream super fast, and much healthier than store bought brands.

We have never had an ice cream maker but had wanted one for years. I remember years ago visiting family and enjoying some homemade ice cream. The one thing that I had always dreaded was the fact that you needed a bag of ice and rock salt to freeze the ice cream. Never invested in the ice cream maker for this very reason. After self quarantining due to the COVID-19 crisis, our favorite ice cream stands were long longer a viable option. Due to our longing for some good ice cream during the crisis, we decided to pull the trigger and invest in a machine. After some research I found a couple of machines that were self contained and did not require the use of the the dreaded ice and salt. After reading many reviews for multiple manufactures and models we settled on the Cuisinart ICE-100 as our best option. Reviews on Amazon were 4.5+ with approximately 1000 reviews submitted. I did read a number of 2 star reviews (I typically ignore 1 star reviews as being not realistic complaints) and most looked to be years old and in some cases did not seem too concerning. I was leery about the ones that concerned ice cream not freezing in the middle of the batch and also reviews that mentioned loud noises or squealing sounds but I found these same types of reviews with every machine regardless the manufacturer. These reviews did put me off a little and had me second guessing but then I stumbled across on a video review a professional reviewer posted and he mentioned that one thing you needed to do was to ensure that the removable bucket is completely dry, even the gear type teeth on the bottom which can sometimes retain a little water which could potentially freeze and cause some of the issues I had read in the reviews. The second warning I took to heart was to make sure the bucket was completely dry before putting the device away for storage to eliminate the potential for a musty smell developing. With all this in mind we patiently waited for the arrival of the ice cream maker. The manufacturer recommends a 24 hr wait time once the machine arrives to allow the coolant to settle which will allow proper operation. Once this was over, we proceeded to mix the ice cream solution we found and pour it into the machine and start it up. The hardest part of the entire process was now the wait for the machine to finish. I do admit that the volume of the bucket is small but it is plenty big for just the two of us now that our kids are all grown and moved out. Since our immediate family had all been self quarantined for well over a month with really no contact with anyone else, we decided to have them over to celebrate our wedding anniversary and what better way to do that than with fresh homemade ice cream. The machine did a great job and made enough for 4 grown adults and 1 grandchild to partake in. Everyone loved it and have asked a couple of times to come back for more. It is funny that now we have this machine we have become obsessed and have made a couple batches a week of all kinds of flavors and types. It has been fun to experiment and find new recipes that we can both help to prepare. My in-laws loved this machine so much that they had us order a second machine for them and they too have been experimenting. I have waited for 1.5 months to write this review to make sure that the machine works properly. We have been very pleased with this machine. We did have a call from the in-laws after their first use saying the bucket had become frozen in the machine and the beater stopped turning. We needed to remind them they needed to make sure the bucket was completly dry and they should even blow a little air into the little holes on the bottom to make sure the gear mechanism was dry before assembling. One great benefit of having a self contained machine over one of the old fashioned machines with the ice and salt is the fact that we can immediately make multiple batches without waiting. I highly recommend this machine and have found that it runs with no problems if you follow the instructions for operation and take care to keep everything clean and dry. A couple of words of caution is to make sure that the bucket is not too full and that the lid is secured properly We did have a batch of Banana Chocolate chip that we were making that was a little too full and we had to stop the machine mid cycle to remove some of the mixture so it didn’t overrun the sides of the bucket. Secondly, if the lid is not Seated properly it will allow the beater to move a little and you will hear it knocking a little. Stopping the machine and reseating then beater fixed the problem. Lastly there were some reviews about the machine being noisy. We did not find this to be true with our machine. It is not silent operation but I would compare the noise level to that of a kitchen mixer running on the slowest speed which is no problem at all. I would highly recommend this machine as it will bring you plenty of fun and enjoyment as you find and experiment with various recipes.

UPDATE: Purchased this ice cream maker from Amazon in December 2019. Really, really enjoyed it until today, when the motor wouldn't turn on. Immense sadness! I called the Cuisinart support number, not really expecting much. The support person (Kevin) was awesome! He ran through a set of diagnostic questions, determined that we had already done everything we could do, checked the warranty status, and then ... said they'll ship us a new unit. These guys really stand behind their 3-year warranty! I was already a fan of Cuisinart products for their design and functionality (they make the best waffle iron in the world). Now that I know how they stand behind their products, I'm even more of a fan. Cuisinart rocks! Thank you Kevin, and thank you Cuisinart. And for any of you considering an ice cream maker: I originally gave this unit a five-star review, and seriously I would bump that up to six stars now if I could. ORIGINAL REVIEW: We're from New England, where dairy farm ice cream stands dot the landscape, and where crazy people continue to eat vast quantities of ice cream all through the winter. If you've been to one of these stands (e.g., Kimball's Farm in Westford, Massachusetts) you know that the ice cream is unlike anything you can buy in a grocery store. The problem is we're now spending time down in Florida, where, despite the weather, it's much harder to find the kind of dairy farm ice cream we got used to in New England. So we decided to take a chance, treat ourselves, and buy this insanely expensive ice cream machine. IT'S AMAZING. It makes rich, creamy, stretchy ice cream, just like at the dairy farm! And we can make any flavors we want (a good coffee ice cream is really hard to find in Florida). And the machine is incredibly simple to use (just put in the ingredients, turn it on, and come back in 35 minutes. And it makes small batches with the same consistency as full-size batches. And we can even make special, ultra low sugar recipes for keto guests. Yup, it's expensive, and you'll never make your money back compared to buying store ice cream. But if you want to make your own ultra-premium ice cream, in custom flavors, any time you want, without having to plan or to store a drum in the freezer, this is your answer. It's a relatively small luxury that will generate a whole lot of delight. Well worth the counter space. Pardon my enthusiasm, but we LOVE this machine.

I bought this machine in October 2019, so I have been using it for 4 years. I just finished making a gallon of ice cream, and the machine didn't falter through four quarts. But as I was cleaning it, I finally decided to alert prospective buyers to its one fault: You're going to have to clean this machine with a toothpick. There are numerous crevices and cracks where liquids can get in. Nothing comes apart other than the container, and that leaves multiple places where joins are made and things are attached, that won't clean easily. In particular the freezing compartment, where the pot sits, has rings and spaces that don't open and are magnets for liquids. In cleaning today I was, as usual, using a toothpick to remove the spill overs and I happened to find a spot I had missed multiple times before, and I hooked out a big clod of - well I'm not sure what it was, but it was squishy and yellow. This machine was designed by people who will never have to clean it. A simple redesign that seals parts, and permits other portions to be opened and cleaned, would have made this freezer just about perfect. Other than that it makes good ice cream, it is fast, and if you have spare pots you can just keep freezing one mixture after another. Only thing to do is let it cool down between freezings - which you will have to do anyway because things will freeze solid and you won't get the pot out to clean. Also - if you are only doing one quart at a time, get the ICE-21P1 - it is fast and for a single quart, unbeatable.

I've now had this machine for three months, and have used it about 25 times. This machine has exceeded my expectations each and every time. For a couple of decades, I used a low tech Donvier machine to make ice cream. The Donvier was the first widely-distributed machine that used the bucket that had to be kept in the freezer. It served me well, churning out hundreds of ice creams and sorbets over the years. But about six months ago, we adopted a low carb regimen. After a coupl of months I was hankering for ice cream. Both cream and eggs work very well on low carb, and I had done a lot of experimentation with natural sugar replacements, so I felt confident that I could come up with a viable recipe for a reasonably desirable alternative to the high carb stuff that's so ruinous to a healthy diet. However, the idea of intermittent churning on which the Donvier is based just didn't work with sugar free ice cream. Sugar is a highly structural component, especially in ice cream. Once you take it out, that changes every property of how ice cream is made. If you don't keep the sugar free mixture moving constantly, you'll end up with creamy soup with a few "icebergs" floating in it. And that's assuming you don't break your dasher trying to scrape the hard-frozen mixture off the sides. So I had two choices. I could have continued to buy one of the lower cost Cuisinart machines that churned electrically, but still required keeping a bucket in the freezer, or I could spend (much) more and buy a machine with its own compressor that eliminated the need for a freezer bucket, and which churned continuously. When I discovered that the second type allows multiple batches to be made in rapid succession, I was sold. With a freezer bucket, you can't do more than a batch each 24 hours, as the bucket has to be refrozen after each batch. My research led me to the Cuisinart ICE-100. Since my husband loves his ice cream, he agreed to let me spring for it. When it arrived, I quickly unpacked it, and discovered you must let it stay in place for 24 hours before its first use. The hubs, who is a professional engineer, told me this is true of all compressors. The compressor fluids circulate around during the shipping process, particularly if the box gets positioned with the top of the machine in any configuration than up. And for a compressor to work properly, the fluids have to return to the bottom, with the aid of gravity, meaning right side up. So I sat on my hands for 24 hours. So... hard... But it was well worth the wait. My first low carb ice cream was a classic vanilla. The texture when the machine had finished was like a Dairy Queen softserve! The taste, however, was much better than that. Think Haagen Dazs. Since then, I have added chocolate, strawberry, black raspberry, blueberry to the repertoire. All of them have been spectacular. And I'm happy to report that even with eating a lot of ice cream (the hubs puts away 2 bowls at a sitting) at we have still continued to lose weight! Diets don't get much better than this. The machine itself is incredibly easy to use. You put your well chilled mixture into the lightweight bucket, affix the lid so that it's locked in place, then plug in. You press the power button, set the timer (I find it easiest just to go with the 60 minute default) and press start. That's it! I usually check after 30 minutes, and usually, it's done by then. You can either opt to let it continue churning until either it becomes too stiff to continue, at which point it stops churning, or just press the stop button. The compressor will continue to chill without churning, for the remainder of the 60 minutes, at which point it will turn off. When it has reached a solid consistency, you can serve it. Or you can scrape it off the dasher and bucket into a container, cover it and set it in the freezer. If softserve isn't your thing, I'd suggest allowing it to "ripen" in the freezer for an hour before serving, in order for it to firm up. Wash your bucket and dasher, and you can then make another batch. The machine does make noise when it churns. We don't find the sound level to be objectionable, even though we have placed it on a counter between the kitchen and family room, where the TV is located. We can hear the TV just fine without adjusting the sound when we're in the family room, with the machine just 4-5' behind us. Another thing to be aware of is that if you opt to leave the mixture in the machine for the full 60 minutes, the bucket may well be frozen in place, making it impossible to remove it for scraping your ice cream out. I haven't found that to be a big problem, however. I just remove the dasher (which holds the majority of the ice cream) and scrape it, then use a silicone scraper to remove any ice cream that clings to the sides/bottom of the bucket. About 10 minutes after the machine is switched off, if the bucket had become too frozen to remove right away, it is then easily removed for cleaning. And speaking of cleaning, it's a simple matter. The bucket has only a small center spindle to hold the dasher, so some soapy water and a sponge makes fast work of it. And be sure to keep an old, sanitized toothbrush by your sink, which allows you to thoroughly clean the dasher in about 30 seconds flat. The plastic top is simple to clean, as well. The outside of the machine of burnished stainless is easily kept pristine with just a bit of Windex on a paper towel. Once you complete making your ice cream, unplug the machine, or a blue light on top will continue flashing until you do. All in all, this machine is a wonder of modern engineering. A quality machine, well made and simple to use. It's basically a mini version of what previously had been available only commercially to make smooth, velvety ice cream. The ICE-100 brings this capability into the home, with no salt, no ice, and perhaps best of all, no mess.

From some of the other reviews of this product I was almost reluctant to purchase it, and did in fact wait for several months before placing the order. I looked at a lot of other models from other manufacturers and even much higher priced models, but kept coming back to this one. When I received the shipping notice, I prepared a cooked custard ice cream base, so that it would be chilled and ready to use when the freezer was delivered to the door. After reading the instructions and the warning about not turning the freezer upside down, my husband cautioned me to wait for 24 hours before using it, to allow the freezer gases to settle, if there inadvertently had been any mishandling during shipping (one would never know if it had been tipped on its side or turned upside down). I impatiently complied. When I finally got to try it, all I can say is: This unit makes wonderful ice cream!! Absolutely smooth and creamy. The first batch was a cooked custard base into which I melted 4 oz of chocolate. It was only about 3 cups, and froze in 22 minutes. The second batch was a full 5 cups of cooked and chilled custard base, and froze in 42 minutes. Longer running time will only incorporate more air, which makes the ice cream rise higher in the freezer bucket. This could cause the ice cream to overflow the bucket, which in turn will make it difficult to remove the bucket from the machine, because the overflow will freeze to the unit's wall. Even though the instructions say that you can use a maximum of 5 cups of base, next time, I will only use 4 cups, just to stay safe and avoid overrun problems. With the 5 cups, it was all the way to the top of the lid by the time it completed its cycle. Right out of the machine, the ice cream is soft-serve consistency, which some people complained about. I've made ice cream in many different types of freezers, even the old fashioned hand crank with rock salt and ice. I've never gotten any thing other than soft-serve consistency from any machine. That's just the nature of the beast. After two hours in the refrigerator freezer, what we made today is firm but not rock hard. Do be cautious about drying the bucket THOROUGHLY between use, when making batches one after another. If the outside of the bucket has any moisture on it, it will freeze to the wall of the freezer chamber. This machine is not nearly as noisy as some people stated. I didn't find it to be any more noisy than the Cuisinart model with the canister that you keep in the freezer. It was not noisy enough to make us feel like we wanted to cover our ears, and neither did we need to raise our voices to be heard over it. The unit is sleek and easy to clean. The electronic buttons work simply, and I like the fact that they are smooth and even with the rest of the surface of the machine. Makes it easy to just wipe it off. The lid is easy to put into place--just takes a quarter twist--and the lid opening is large enough to make it easy to add chips, nuts, or candy at the end of the freezing cycle. The machine's rim for the lid has a rubber (silicone?) O-ring that seals the freezer chamber, so it fits snugly in place. The only thing I regret about this purchase is that I waited so long to make it.

I am updating this review to tell others that as of today - 9/9/19 this machine has officially died - after 4 years of every other day use of two buckets each day. We are satisfied with the life and heavy use of this machine and will be purchasing a new one immediately. An excellent product! Some flaws but not anything I can't live with. I found many of the recipes time consuming but used the basic method to create my own. This is a simple product to use, nearly zero effort. I usually mix fruit, yogurt, heavy cream or half and half in the blender add a few other favorite items and pour the liquid into the machine - after 40 minutes I have the best ice cream/frozen yogurt product. Family loves this item. There are numerous recipes and some great ideas. This will allow any smart cook to create ice cream cakes, pies, etc. with less than an hours effort. I used it to make orange cream ice cream in less than 40 minutes. Grandson was thrilled and so were our sons. Less sugar, less fat, less junk, less preservatives but a exceptional flavor. This item freezes as it stirs. Only draw backs noticed are the occasional freezing issue - the tub will freeze to the machine - just turn it off for a few minutes and all is good. I would love to see this in a larger size but there is enough for 3-4 people; if they want more just pop more liquid into the tub and turn it on again - about 30-40 minutes and 3-4 more servings are available. Well worth the price - it is nearly half on this site than on others. If you get a squeak, just pause it, put a drop of oil on the blade/shaft area under the tub/bucket and it will stop. Absolute does what it says it will do. I would definitely give this as a gift. My husband loves it, it was a gift for him. The tub/bucket does get rough after about 6 months and the replacement cost of a bucket is ridiculous - $60+. I would like another bucket but will not pay that much money for a bucket. 4/28/2019 - After owning this appliance for a few years and using no less than every other day I still LOVE it!! I have perfected many of my own recipes even some for our dogs to have nutritional desserts. I did locate a 2nd bucket however I discovered there were 2 sizes of the bucket with this particular machine being B. Not sure if they did an upgrade or what but they did send me the correct bucket and all is great. Do not put the pail/bucket in the dishwasher it damages it. Favorite ice creams has become Orange Cream - mix tang, vanilla soft serve mix or carnation instant breakfast packets, and 1/2 milk & 1/2 heavy whipping cream in blender or shaker bottle. Adjust tang to taste. Substitute pink lemonade is also great. I would never give up this machine - my husband loves ice cream and this machine allows for a nutritional high-quality product.