Cuisinart ICE-20 Automatic 1-1/2-Quart Ice-Cream Maker, White
by Cuisinart
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart ICE-20 Automatic 1-1/2-Quart Ice-Cream Maker, White
Customer Review: Makes great ice-cream - follow these tips!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've owned this ice-cream maker for a month and just love it! To avoid the problems other reviewers have experienced, just follow these tips (some posted by other reviewers too):
1) Freeze the bowl with a bag of ice cubes in it (thanks for the tip, Cynthia Nelson). It worked for me, and now I only need to freeze it overnight (instead of 48 hours each time I wanted to use it).
2) Use a blender to mix all ingredients! It's easier to pour from the blender jar into the ice-cream machine, and the sugar is properly mixed and melted into the heavy cream.
3) For fruit-flavored ice cream, use frozen fruits instead of fresh fruit puree, or you can buy fresh fruits and cut them up and freeze them. Blend away as you would if you were making a smoothie. I did this and compared it to using fresh fruit puree and found that the "smoothie" mixture chills and thickens faster in the machine (10 - 15 mins); whilst the fresh fruit puree mixture tends to take about 30 mins or longer and yields more crystals when the mixture is frozen.
4) Put a small bag of ice on top of the opening of the transparent lid - use the bag of ice cubes that you put into the bowl in the freezer. It helps with chilling the mixture faster while it is being churned. Mine did not melt nor drip into the mixture.
5) Put an empty glass container in the freezer before you start making the ice-cream mixture. Use it to store the ice-cream. I use a Pyrex bowl with its lid as glass chills faster than plastic.
I modified a recipe I found online, and get awesome creamy ice cream which doesn't get frozen hard like a rock even when it's been in the freezer for 2 - 3 days! You can, of course cut down on the sugar or use fat-free products or artificial sweeteners (which I haven't tried - I believe natural is better than those chemicals in artificial sweeteners. Our bodies can work off the sugar, but the chemicals stay in our system!)
1.5 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup Half & Half or evaporated milk
1 - 1.5 cups frozen strawberries or any other frozen fruit
1 + 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
Put everything in the blender and blend until the ingredients are well-mixed. Turn on the ice-cream machine and pour the mixture in. Once the mixture thickens and has a soft-serve or thicker consistency, turn off the machine. Scoop and serve, or pour and scrape the mixture out with a rubber/silicon spatula into your chilled glass container and freeze for about an hour or so.
Customer Review: Nice machine
Summary: 4 Stars
This ice cream maker is easy to use, but you do have to be sure the bowl is really frozen and the ingredients are very cold. First try was not so great but much better on subsequent tries and the ice cream turned out great. Much easier than old rock salt machines.Customer Review: Great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am so glad we got this. It is the perfect size for 4 servings and is a great way to make desert fun. I love that you get to make your own flavor combinations.
So far the leftovers have been kinda icy so we have been making ourselves fresh half batches so we don't have leftovers.
It is unbelievably easy to use this machine. I highly recommend it.
Customer Review: My Experience With This Ice Cream Maker
Summary: 4 Stars
I would have like to know ahead of time that there was a freezing element in the machine that has to be kept in the refrigerator before use. It's not a big inconvenience, but I thought all I'd have to do is just insert the ingredients and they would be frozen as the machine worked its magic.
I also thought the machine would automatically increase the volume of the ingredients for a result similar to the thick, rich, creamy ice cream sold by street vendors. I guess that was naive of me since I'm purposely not using heavy cream. Live and learn. I'll just have to keep experimenting until I get the healthful result I'm looking for.
Other than the above, I find no fault in this product.
Customer Review: The Best Homemade Icecream Ever
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are an icecream lover, then this is the gadget for you. Icecream is ready in 20-30 minutes with little or no mess or difficulty. This model makes about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts of frozen deserts. The machine is also excellent for other frozen deserts like sorbet, sherbert, etc. We are very pleased with this item.