When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more. Chef’n; Cuisinart; Yonanas; InsiderIn the immortal words of the 1927 song, “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
” Considering that the average American eats more than 23 pounds of ice cream per year, according to the International Dairy Foods Association, it’s a sentiment that just about all of us agree with. Although it’s easy to get a scoop at your local ice cream shop, pick up a pint at the supermarket, or even order your favorite flavors online, there’s something undeniably special about ice cream you make yourself. That’s why we tested and did the research to find the best ice cream makers you can buy, from hand-crank ice and rock salt options to programmable self-refrigerating machines.
Read more about how Insider researches and tests kitchen products here. Michelle Ullman and Caitlin Petreycik previously contributed to this guide. Here are the best ice cream makers in 2022Best ice cream maker overall: Cuisinart ICE-30 Pure Indulgence, available at Amazon, $96.
80While most frozen-bowl ice cream makers only make a quart or so per batch, the Cuisinart ICE-30 Pure Indulgence produces up to two quarts of sweet, sweet goodness. Best budget ice cream maker: Hamilton Beach 4-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker, available at Walmart, $52. 99There’s no reason to spend big bucks when the Hamilton Beach 4-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker turns out such good ice cream at a bargain price.
Best compressor ice cream maker: Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream Maker, available at Amazon, $289. 95The Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream Maker mixes and freezes your ice cream for you, so all you have to do is turn it on, add ingredients, and enjoy your frozen dessert within the hour. Best upgrade ice cream maker: Breville Smart Scoop, available at Breville, $499.
95In our testing, Breville’s Smart Scoop produced the creamiest ice cream with the texture closest to what you’d find in a high-end scoop shop: rich, easy to serve, and free of ice crystals. Best fast ice cream maker: Chef’n Sweet Spot Instant Ice Cream Maker, available at Amazon, $54. 95If the dish is frozen in advance, you can have ice cream in minutes with the Chef’n Sweet Spot Instant Ice Cream Maker.
Best frozen dessert maker: Yonanas Frozen Dessert Maker, available at Amazon, $49. 99If you’re trying to avoid dairy or added sugars, you’ll love the way the Yonanas Frozen Dessert Maker turns bananas and other fruit into soft-serve “ice cream. “Best ice cream maker overallCuisinartWhile most frozen-bowl ice cream makers only make a quart or so per batch, the Cuisinart ICE-30 Pure Indulgence produces up to two quarts of sweet, sweet goodness.
Pros: Large batch, easy to use and clean Cons: Loud, some complaints about icy or not-quite-frozen resultsIf you make ice cream for the family — or let’s be honest, if you just want a really, really big bowl of ice cream for yourself — you can’t go wrong with the Cuisinart ICE-30 Pure Indulgence. This baby cranks out up to two quarts of ice cream per batch, so you’ll have enough to share, although you might not want to. This is a frozen-bowl machine, so you’ll have to remember to freeze the metal bowl for at least 12 hours before using it, but it’s really better to freeze the bowl for a full day.
Once your bowl is frozen and your ingredients added, the machine takes over for you. Churning is automatic, and ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbet is ready in around half an hour. Automatic ice cream makers can be loud when running, and if your bowl isn’t frozen enough or the ambient temperature is high, you may have a not-entirely-frozen result.
If you find the ice cream to be a bit liquidy, pop it in the freezer for a bit to firm it up. Best budget ice cream makerHamilton BeachThere’s no reason to spend big bucks when the Hamilton Beach 4-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker turns out such good ice cream at a bargain price. Pros: Budget price, large batchCons: You’ll need rock salt and a lot of iceIf you want ice cream and lots of it, but you aren’t interested in spending a lot of money or taking up a lot of storage space, and you don’t mind needing to keep rock salt on hand, you’ll love the Hamilton Beach 4-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker.
There’s no need to pre-chill the bowl with this machine. It uses rock salt and ice, which you add to the outer container, to freeze the ingredients. Those go in an inner bowl, where a paddle automatically churns the batter until it’s frozen.
You can produce delicious and creamy ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet, and gelato with this machine in roughly 45 minutes. Best compressor ice cream makerCuisinartThe Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream Maker mixes and freezes your ice cream for you, so all you have to do is turn it on, add ingredients, and enjoy your frozen dessert within the hour. Pros: No need to freeze the bowl, large batches, countdown timerCons: Expensive, takes up storage spaceCompressor ice cream makers like the Cuisinart ICE-100 contain their own freezer mechanism, so there’s no need for you to pre-freeze a bowl or pour in pounds of rock salt.
Reporter James Brains found that the Cuisinart machine is particularly quick and effortless to use. Plus, it’s not as bulky as other compressor machines, measuring 16. 7 inches deep by 12 inches wide by 9.
3 inches high. Thanks to a mix-in opening in the transparent lid, you can add extra ingredients without stopping the churning. The LED screen shows you exactly how many minutes are left until ice cream time, and it even has a 10-minute “keep cool” function if you won’t be able to get to your dessert right away.
You can make up to 1. 5 quarts of frozen dessert per session, and if you need more, there’s no need to wait for a bowl to chill in the freezer before making your next batch. Read our full review of the Cuisinart ICE-100 Ice Cream and Gelato Maker here.
Best upgrade ice cream makerAmazonIn our testing, Breville’s Smart Scoop produced the creamiest ice cream with the texture closest to what you’d find in a high-end scoop shop: rich, easy to serve, and free of ice crystals. Pros: Produces high-quality ice cream, wide range of automatic settings, pre-cooling feature, keeps your ice cream frozen up to three hours Cons: Expensive, bulky, parts need to be hand-washedWhat really sets the Breville compressor machine apart is its vast range of automatic options. It has 12 hardness settings, from super-soft sorbet to dense ice cream, and a “cool down” function that brings the Smart Scoop to the perfect temperature before you add your ice cream base.
The machine beeps and flashes the words “add mix-ins” across its LCD screen when it’s time to do just that. I found the buttons to be intuitive, and I’d feel confident letting a kid use it. Once the Smart Scoop senses that your dessert has reached its perfect consistency, it’ll stop churning and play a little ice cream truck song to let you know it’s ready.
And, if you happen to miss the alert, it will automatically enter “keep cool” mode to maintain a constant temperature for the next three hours. Aside from these sound effects, which can be turned off, the machine operates at a quiet hum. While it turned out smooth, perfectly-churned ice cream, I had to run my Smart Scoop on the hardest setting more than once to get there.
The whole process took about an hour using David Lebovitz’s recipe for chocolate ice cream, although the results were worth the wait. With most other machines, you have to freeze your ice cream before you can enjoy it, but the batches I made in the Smart Scoop were ready to eat immediately. This is a bulky machine — about 15 by 11 inches and 30 pounds — which is something to keep in mind if you have a small kitchen.
And at $500, the Breville Smart Scoop is certainly a splurge. If you’re serious about making ice cream and want a high-quality, easy-to-use machine that lends itself to all kinds of frozen dessert experimentation, it’s a solid investment. Best fast ice cream makerChef’nIf the dish is frozen in advance, you can have ice cream in minutes with the Chef’n Sweet Spot Instant Ice Cream Maker.
Pros: No need for electricity, quick results, easy to use, fun for kidsCons: Bowl must be frozen before use, small batches of ice cream, expensive for what it isNo electricity, no rock salt, and no lengthy churning. Just pour your ice cream batter onto the pre-frozen surface of the Chef’n Sweet Spot Instant Ice Cream Maker, mix with the included spatulas, and in just a few minutes, you’ll be enjoying your frozen dessert. The bowl must be frozen at least overnight.
During testing, we were pleasantly surprised by how cold the bowl stayed — we easily made three cups of ice cream before the bowl starting getting a little too warm. Keep in mind that you’ll probably need to cut your recipe in half to account for the smaller capacity of this ice cream maker. You can make up to three cups of your own ice cream in a 30-minute session or use the device for adding mix-ins to softened commercial ice cream.
This also by far the easiest ice cream maker to store — you can stack other items on top of it or even store it sideways in a narrow cabinet. Best frozen dessert makerYonanasIf you’re trying to avoid dairy or added sugar, you’ll love the way the Yonanas Frozen Dessert Maker turns bananas and other fruit into soft-serve “ice cream. “Pros: Great for those with lactose intolerance, options for low-sugar “ice cream”, very easy to useCons: Noisy, fruit sticks inside the chuteYes, it has a silly name, and yes, technically it’s not ice cream.
But why nitpick when the results taste so good? With the Yonanas Frozen Dessert Maker, your overripe bananas, mangoes, berries, or just about any other fruit are quickly converted into creamy, smooth soft-serve desserts. The process is simple, but your fruit does need to be frozen and slightly thawed before using the machine. You then push the fruit into the chute, turn on the spinning blade, and push down on the plunger.
Voilà, you’ve got a bowlful of nature’s goodness. There are some shopper complaints. The device is noisy, and smushed fruit tends to stick inside the chute, meaning you’ll need to disassemble the device and scoop it out with a spoon.
But those seem small annoyances compared to the joy of a delicious, fruity dessert. Ice cream maker research methodologyBased on in-depth research and some hands-on testing, we evaluated each machine on the following categories. Capacity: We looked at how much ice cream a machine could make it one batch, as well as if it could make multiple batches in a row.
Additionally, as capacity often correlates to the size of the machine, we considered how much space an ice cream maker would take up in the kitchen and if it could be easily tucked away. Ease of use: Depending on the type of machine, we considered how long it took to make one batch, the complexity of the interface and buttons, and if the machine was easy to take apart and clean. Type of machine: There are three main types of home ice cream makers: ones that use ice and rock salt, those with pre-frozen components, and self-refrigerating machines.
MachineProsConsIce and rock saltNormally less expensive, no advance freezing necessaryRequires several pounds of ice and rock salt, difficult to add mix-insPre-frozenLess expensive than self-refrigerating, automatic settingsCanister needs to be frozen for 12 hours at minimum before useSelf-refrigeratingNo pre-freezing, just add ice cream mixture and press start, automatic settingsNoisy, takes up a lot of space, expensiveIce cream maker FAQsStrawberry ice cream in ice cream maker. vm2002/Getty ImagesWhat type of ice cream maker should I get?If you plan to regularly make ice cream at home, we recommend a pre-frozen or self-refrigerating machine over one that requires pounds of ice and rock salt. With a pre-frozen machine, you freeze a canister filled with liquid coolant for up to 24 hours before use.
A compressor machine is even easier to use: often all you need is to pour in your ice cream mixture, flip a switch, and wait 30 to 40 minutes. Unfortunately, these are also the most expensive and bulky. Does homemade ice cream taste the same as store-bought?You may find that the stuff you make at home freezes harder than store-bought ice cream.
Commercial-grade ice cream makers are powerful enough to run at super-high speeds, meaning they can whip extra air (called overrun) into ice cream in a way that home machines just can’t. Plus, your typical supermarket pint often has a longer list of ingredients than a homemade recipe. That being said, many people prefer the denser, richer texture of homemade ice cream — to retain a little softness, just scoop it straight from the machine or let it rest on the counter for 10 minutes prior to serving.
Check out our other small appliance guidesIsabel Fernandez/InsiderThe best countertop ice makersThe best air fryersThe best blendersThe best all-in-one kitchen appliancesRead the original article on Insider.
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URL: https://www.insider.com/guides/kitchen/best-ice-cream-maker
