Cuisinart Ice Cream and Gelato Maker Makes Ice Cream, Gelato, Sorbet, Frozen Yoghurt in 40 Minutes No Need to Pre-Freeze Bowl Stainless Steel ICE100BCU, Silver

UPDATE 2026 (2 years on): Machine still works perfectly so the 5* review remains. Unfortunately the bowl fell onto a hard floor which broke the mechanism, causing some of the ice cream mix to leak into the base of the machine but very luckily it was immediately dealt with & did no lasting damage to the machine! I ordered a replacement bowl from Cuisinart which was reasonably-priced & arrived next day, so it was soon good to go again! (They also stock replacement lids and paddles.) Re. cleaning the bowl - I recommend unscrewing the base of the bowl every few uses, to clean the parts you can't access normally. It only involves 2 screws, takes literally seconds & is well worth it. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Amazing piece of kit - makes the finest ice cream you'll ever eat, with minimal effort and you don't have to keep waiting 12 hours for a bowl to freeze! Believe me, once you've had this ice cream, you'll never want to touch any commercial variety again (not to mention goodness knows what additives.) This is a heavy chunky machine that you probably won't want to keep dragging in and out of a cupboard (and it really shouldn't be moved around anyway) so you ideally need permanent space on your worktop. I've sat mine on one of those black oven liners so I can easily slide it aside when I want to clean the granite worktop underneath etc. When the machine arrived, I left it to settle for 24 hours before using it. Next day I made a batch of strawberry gelato and blackberry/mango gelato, using the gelato paddle - pic attached shows the strawberry. The results were out of this world - smooth, creamy and full of fruit. I used one of the online recipes from the excellent 'Ask Chef Dennis' website using fresh strawberries, half full-fat milk/half double cream, lemon juice and granulated sugar (I used less sugar than the recipe called for, as the fruit was quite sweet.) And that was it. No messing about with egg yolks and making custards. You can substitute virtually any fruit. I don't find this machine excessively noisy at all - it's a lot quieter than even most kettles and you can easily talk over it. Some people have also marked this machine down because they say the ice cream is hard to remove from the paddle but I had no problem with that at all - I just used two small silicone spatulas. TIP: get a teaspoon ready to just eat the residue left on the paddle - it's too good to waste! Getting the lid in place can be a bit of a knack but once you've got it, it's very easy - just make sure the small lock icons line up on the lid and the machine. The handbook is very clear and well-written. It's got a small but good selection of basic recipes but I find the (free) 'Ask Chef Dennis' recipes much less of a faff to prepare and give great results. Although the handbook states that 1 litre is the total maximum quantity you should make at a time, I'd actually recommend using slightly less because as the mixture freezes, it expands massively and depending on what you're making and how long your chosen cycle is, it rises right to the very top of the bowl. If your paddle squeaks as it goes round when the mixture starts thickening, a tiny drop of cooking oil or butter on the top part of the paddle spindle where it touches the lid should stop it. You'll probably have to re-apply the oil every time though because it will come off when you wash the paddle. All in all, although this is a relatively expensive machine, it's solidly built and imo worth every penny. My only regret is not buying one much sooner.

Fantastic ice cream maker! Made several types of ice cream including some with mix-ins. All came out delicious and a lot easier than my old freezer bowl maker as I didn’t have to remember to freeze bowl the day before. The best part is using your own everyday ingredients for any type of ice cream you can dream up. You can control, to a certain extent, how you want your ice cream to taste. Making ice cream doesn’t take as long with this type of machine either. Pour your cold cream base into the insert, set timer and start. Ice cream churns a lot quicker (40-50 minutes) and it keeps ice cream cold for a bit so you don’t have rush to get it into your container. The consistency of ice cream is a good deal better than freezer bowl IMHO so you can eat it straight away or put it in the freezer for a few hours to harden. Wash and dry insert and paddles after and machine is ready to go for the next batch. There are a few minor issues that I found while using it. Pouring the ice cream base directly into machine was a bit messy so I took out the insert to pour the base in and then re-inserted it back into the machine. It’s also a bit fiddly to scrape out just churned ice cream from the paddles but I just use a small spatula and a spare plate on the counter. The unit itself is quite big so you need a bit of counter space near an outlet. I had put off purchasing this since last year due to the price and size but I treated myself a month ago and have absolutely no regrets (except for the extra cm’s around my waist!). If you love ice cream all year round, have people to share it with and have the space, this Cuisinart ice cream machine is a great little investment.

I absolutely love this ice cream/gelato maker. It is so convenient to be able to make ice cream any time without having to pre-freeze a drum. The machine works wonderfully well, and makes ice cream in as little as 25 minutes depending on which recipe you use and how much you are making. I often make a half-batch as it is so quick to make and that way I can make a greater variety of flavours at once. I didn't much like the recipes that came in the machine's recipe book- they didn't have a great texture and got very hard in the freezer. Instead I prefer the Ben & Jerry's recipe book for quick no-cook bases, or the BBC Good Food Vanilla ice cream recipe for a cooked custard base. Both of those recipes turn out rich and smooth and don't get too hard in the freezer- you can still scoop them immediately after taking them out. I've had this machine for a year now- I've used it very regularly, about twice a week every week- and it still works just as well as when I bought it. I've loved playing around with all sorts of different flavours and textures in ice cream and gelato. This has become one of my most-used kitchen appliances, I've grown very attached to it! The machine is a little noisy but it isn't loud enough to bother me or to be a nuisance. FYI the first time I used it I thought it was broken when it got stuck and stopped turning after about 40 minutes- it turned out that's perfectly normal and it just meant the ice cream was ready to be taken out! I adore this ice cream maker and would highly recommend it! It is worth the investment!

Definitely a good quality ice cream maker. I do not have negative things to say. It does its job, the ease of clean is not something worth to discuss, in my opinion. Done ice cream and frozen yoghurt, and it froze perfectly.

On first glance, it looks great. It's a shame the Amazon courier turned the box on it's side (even though there were arrows pointing upwards to show how it should be placed down on the ground)..... As a result, I now need to wait 24 hours before I can use it (something to do with the compressor / lubricant). I wish couriers would pay attention to packaging instructions. We're looking forward to using the machine - I've seen great things about it online and it was a bargain price, Amazon Prime deal. *Update: It makes beautiful, soft ice cream. It takes around 1 hour. I still need to look at all the functionality as I’ve only used it a few times but so far-I’m very pleased. It's fairly quiet when it's on - it's barely noticeable - it certainly isn't distracting, I can still hear conversations and the radio. It's much quieter than I thought it would be. It's relatively easy to use, the booklet is useful as it contains several recipes. I've tried a few and the custard style ice cream is very luxurious...although it's quite time-consuming to make. I love the strawberry ice cream recipe and the simple vanilla ice cream recipe. My only complaint is that the ice cream is very soft when it's made....it doesn't really firm up until it's been in the freezer for a day or two...but, I can overlook that because it's a great machine and to say that we can make ice cream from start to finish within 1 hour - perfect! Sometimes in an evening (especially during the current heatwave), I've made ice cream on a 'whim'....it's ready in no time at all. The main reason for buying the machine was because store bought ice cream contains so many additives - it can make my child hyper...the homemade ice cream is much better, no additives - just delicious ice cream, a few basic ingredients....perfect! x

This is amazing!!!!! Day 1 we made a batch of mixed berry sorbet, frozen strawberry and banana yoghurt and Oreo ice cream. Today I made Peach sorbet. So easy to experiment with recipes. I substituted all recipes that said sugar with a few squirts of honey. Just taste test before you freeze, it’s that simple. I do love a gadget so I have a magimix so I just whack all the ingredients in there then blitz and pour into the ice cream maker, that’s it, literally time spent picking ingredients nothing else and then 45 mins later frozen delight. I also learnt a clever hack of putting the ice cream in a ziplock once it’s frozen to desired amount in freezer and then it stops it from going hard. And I was even more excited to have bought it at £149 in the prime day sale to see it only a few days later in the CUSINART sale for £249. It’s big but it’s beautiful and it does exactly what you want it to over and over again. No more destroying my Magimix blending frozen fruit and yoghurt. If you’ve ever thought about buying an ice cream machine then buy this one. I was about on the fence as I was considering buying a Ninja that makes slush etc but so glad I went this way, if I want slush/smoothie I just stop the sorbet early. Absolutely perfectly timed purchase the cover the heatwave and beyond as honestly I make banana ice cream in my blender at Christmas so this is something I will use every week for forever more. To make Oreo ice cream I followed the vanilla ice cream recipe provided however I substituted for semi skimmed milk and added more milk and less double cream (only 300ml) then I added 4 Oreo’s to the blender and poured the mix into the ice cream machine. For berry sorbet I used 600grams frozen mixed berries partially thawed, squirt of lemon juice and honey to balance the taste I used 2 squirts. For the banana and strawberry frozen yoghurt I used 500ml of fat free Greek yoghurt, 4 bananas and a handful of partially thawed frozen strawberries. For the peach sorbet I used 2 cans of peaches and 3 squirts of honey and a squirt of lemon juice and then a small amount of water to bring it up to level in the ice cream machine. Enjoy

I am loving using this ice cream maker. It’s so easy to use. I bought it in the winter and have only just started to play with it. During this heatwave it’s provided so many iced treats using seasonal fruit and it’s great that I can determine how much sugar I want to use. It’s perfect to keep cool during the heat

I have had this machine for 5 years and still works perfectly. Whatever I throw in it - ice cream comes out within 40/60minutes. My kids love it too!

Very good

No warning. How annoying ! Doesn’t say in description.

A very good product. I am very satisfied with it. Very easy to use and maintain. As of yet I have only made ice cream with it but also will to try it for frozen yogurt. It takes between 40~60mins to make ice cream depending on the quantity . I have been using it almost once a week for making ice cream and there hasn't been any problems yet. Definitely recommend this.

PARFAIT. Mais extérieur salissant, ce qui n'a aucune importance.

The ice-cream is delicious. However- from day one it beeps- constantly when in use. All the troubleshooting and still there. And after 10 weeks the ice-cream paddle cracked.