Cuisinart Ice-45 Mix-It-In Soft-Serve 1-1/2-Quart Ice-Cream Maker
by Cuisinart
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart Ice-45 Mix-It-In Soft-Serve 1-1/2-Quart Ice-Cream Maker
Customer Review: Easy to make
Summary: 4 Stars
I received this as a Christmas present and have made ice cream at least a dozen times since. The only time it didn't turn out was when I only froze the bowl for 7 hours instead of all day or overnight. We just have a normal freezer and it freezes just fine in there.
We usually make the simple vanilla or simple chocolate recipes which are as the name says, simple. Takes about 5 minutes to make the batter and then about 16 minutes to freeze. We only make a 1/2 batch, so I don't know if it would take longer with a larger batch.
One trick we learned with the mix-ins is to chill them first. We put the sprinkles and mini chocolate chips in the freezer while the ice cream was being made. They dispensed easily, nothing got stuck, and cleanup of the dispensers was easy. Many parts are dishwasher safe, but cleanup is more involved than our traditional ice cream maker.
Customer Review: yummy icecream
Summary: 5 Stars
This ice
cream maker is easy to use and easy to clean!
Customer Review: Fresh ice cream never tasted so good
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading many reviews of this product, I wasn't so sure that I spent my money wisely. What I think many people who left negative reviews here don't realize is how to freeze the bowl correctly, which results in the thin, milkshake texture and not ice cream. I have used this machine quite a few times in the past month that I have had it, and the results varied at the beginning until I learned a few tips through trial and error.
First, follow other reviewers' advice and freeze the bowl in the back of your freezer to ensure the coldest temperature possible. Not only that, but leave the top of the bowl uncovered by other objects so that the cold air can penetrate the inside area of the bowl completely. I left a frozen meal box on top of the bowl one time, and the ingredients did not freeze to as hard of a consistency as usual. If you have any doubts as to whether or not the bowl gets cold enough, let me share my story. I made my ice cream and was washing the bowl afterwards. When I went to dry it with a paper towel, the paper kept tearing off and sticking to the sides because the water was freezing on the bowl! Mind you, I have a standard refrigerator/freezer unit in my house, not a fancy separate deep freezer.
Invest in a whisk so that you can beat the ingredients together well- it aerates the mixture so that it's easier to freeze while in the bowl.
Don't take out the freezer bowl until you're ready to turn the machine on and pour the ingredients in. Also, while you're setting the bowl up in the machine, put the bowl with your ingredients in the freezer so that it gets an extra minute to chill on its own.
In general I find that the consistency of the mix is perfect at about 20 minutes or longer. Sometimes the ice cream looks like it's being pooped out 1 inch at a time, but if you have a small container (like a cone), just hold it as close to the dispensing spout as possible, and you will get the swirl dispensing action of a real soft serve machine. Don't think that this machine is the same as the real thing- it doesn't dispense exactly the same way and costs a lot less for a reason! Whatever is left of the ice cream can be frozen into a nice Italian ice consistency and tastes just as delicious!
Clean up is easy- whatever you need to clean is detachable from the main unit. The only thing is you need to wash things by hand, but that's not that hard to do!
It's been a lot of fun creating my own recipes with this machine. Homemade ice cream is great because you know exactly what is going into the mixture, and you can adjust the sugar/fat content on your own. I'd recommend this machine to anyone who loves soft serve. It's a great gadget for kids and adults and a lot of fun to use.
Customer Review: Not at all what i thought
Summary: 1 Stars
I guess from the pictures i was thinking this was going to be easy... it wasnt. You have to mix everything in a blender first (yogurt, whole milk, sometimes heavy cream, sugar, etc etc etc etc) and get it PERFECT, dump it into the bucket and set your timer for 18-20 minutes EXACTLY (recipe depending). Any less and its to runny, any more and its to hard and it wont dispense. What i thought would be a fun, easy thing to do as a family turned into a huge messy hassle.
Not at all what i thought it would be, and am very disappointed, as i love soft serve (and all ice cream in general), and was really looking forward to this product.
Customer Review: Great for Family Night
Summary: 4 Stars
This is so easy to use that my kids have gotten into making ice cream for family night (family home evening). One hint: the recipes say to use 1 C milk to 2 C cream --- try the reverse! Less fat, cheaper, and tastes just as good.