Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Machine, 1.5 Quart Sorbet, Frozen Yogurt Maker, Double Insulated, White, ICE-21P1

This is a great little ice cream maker for my purposes eating carnivore. It’s a little noisy, sounds a bit like an older bread machine that self kneads the dough. It’s not the worst, especially for the amazing end result.***MAKE SURE THE MIXING PADDLE IS ALREADY IN THE MACHINE AND THE MACHINE IS TURNED ON BEFORE POURING ANYTHING IN***There is definitely a learning curve with it. I’m using it for a sugar free keto/carnivore ice cream recipe (2 cups heavy cream+5 egg yolks+vanilla extract+some stevia sweetener). Do yourself a favor fellow carnivores and thoroughly beat all your ingredients with a hand mixer for a few minutes until smooth, THEN pour it into the ice cream machine. It comes out DELICIOUS and creamy, better than anything store bought.I had perfect frozen custard within about 12 minutes, and the ice cream barrel had been in the freezer for about 17 hours before I placed it on the machine. Just shake it first to make sure it’s frozen solid and there’s no sloshing within the barrel. It gets a really even cold surface and evenly freezes the ingredients, awesome end result for a budget ice cream maker.Since you can’t put the barrel in the dishwasher, Easiest way I’ve found to clean it is just let it sit out for a few hours to melt all the residue off the sides, then wash it out with antibacterial dawn. Let the churning paddle sit in the barrel full of soapy water and swish it around to clean it simultaneously, then dry it off and pop it back in the freezer so it’s ready next time you’re wanting a frozen treat.My only gripe with it is that the churning paddle is plastic, would’ve preferred metal, but it works well enough once locked into place.

Bought the Model 21 in time for homemade peach ice cream. Had gone back and forth whether to purchase a newer, more expensive version but after reading someone else’s recommendation that the older, simpler model worked just fine, decided to follow their advice and after having made nine batches of various flavors, agree that the “21” couldn’t be any better. No bells and whistles are really necessary other than the on/off switch, and it’s overly pricey to upgrade. The machine does make some noise, but not like a revved-up Harley or anything. I continue putzing around in the kitchen while the ice cream churns, and the high-pitched hum is not overly annoying. The slightly smaller capacity (1-1/2 qt) is advantageous since we can polish off a batch and go on to the next “experiment” without much delay. Finally, the smaller canister is easier to fit in a small refrigerator-freezer for the necessary pre-chilling. I haven’t found a second canister to be necessary for a small family, but if you have the freezer space and need to make larger quantities more often, it could be the ticket.This little gadget has been fun to use and it’s so easy, almost foolproof, to have great-tasting ice cream without the mess of an old-fashioned salt-and-ice freezer. After trying one of the Cuisinarts I ordered another as a gift, along with a 1-1/2 qt oblong storage container (have tried both Tovolo and Sumo—they seem practically identical). After the initial experiments with various “rich” recipes and flavors, we will probably try some of the lower cal versions such as sorbets and ices, but for now, it’s full bore with the creamy goodness. Life is now measured “before homemade ice cream” and after!Observations/methodology: Have tried various recipes—with eggs, cooked custard; with eggs, uncooked; no eggs, adding some instant vanilla pudding powder for extra thickness and body, and using fruits--peaches, cherries, strawberries, as well as butter pecan. (B.C. was hands-down fave!—toasted the chopped nuts in the oven first, with melted butter, a little sugar, and a sprinkling of kosher salt. In the custard, used dark brown sugar, maple syrup and Jack Daniels for flavoring—yummilicious!) Finally decided to stick with the cooked custard approach, adding a small amount of vanilla bean instant pudding powder, say 1-2 TB, to the cooled custard just prior to freezing. (I feel uneasy about using raw, uncooked eggs.) Have had excellent results using a Thermapen to measure the temp, whisking constantly while cooking in a heavy pot. It doesn’t take long to come to temp and thicken, but does need to be cooled prior to freezing, so if in a hurry you may prefer the easy-no-eggs-instant pudding type of recipe, readily available online.Not one batch so far has been a “failure”—in fact, they’re all so good that we’ve become addicted and eat ice cream three times a day. It should come with a warning label! We prefer a rich version, with a combination of heavy cream, evaporated milk, condensed milk and regular milk for a vanilla base resulting in that “from my childhood” taste. It can be modified with add-ins as you please. Be sure to write down what you do as you go, in case tweaking is needed next time or in case you pronounce the latest batch a sure winner. Have plenty of tasting spoons at the ready while churning, and several rubber spatulas will come in handy.As many have noted, it’s key to have the canister frozen rock-solid prior to churning. We keep it in the freezer between uses and even put the plastic shell (aka “lid”) in there while prepping the custard. There’s no actual lid as you might imagine. I wring out a wet dish towel and lay it on top across the open hole, and put some ice cubes atop that to help insulate. May not be necessary, but every bit helps.So far the “21” has worked great and we make a batch every other day. The most challenging part is transferring the just-frozen custard to a storage container for additional hardening. Take out the paddle first and scrape it off (another opportunity for tasting). The filled canister is heavy and to hold it with one hand while scraping out the soft ice cream is a bit unwieldy. A very firm plastic spatula works best (rather than a flexible one) to get all the ice cream out. Never use metal, anywhere, anytime! Wash and dry the canister when empty and return to your freezer pronto. You WILL want more ice cream soon and it’ll be ready to go, so keep a spot empty for it. It’ll be worth it. (I scream for green beans? Not so much….)Some have complained about the freezer not working for long, but being a new owner, I can’t say.. It seems like if you treat the parts gently it would last “forever,” but maybe that’s just like the honeymoon phase with a new lover. Time will tell but we’re very happy for now—even obsessed.Be cautious of OVER-filling the container which can cause an overflow mess since the mixture expands while freezing. Err on being conservative with the amount of custard mix. I use 2 eggs per 3 to 3-1/2 cups of liquid per batch and add the mixings the last few minutes to help ensure they don’t add too much volume. Keep an eye on it from time to time during the freezing process to make sure it isn’t about to overflow. You can always remove some of the mixture if it seems necessary. In the case of the toasted buttered pecans, I folded most of them into the mixture AFTER pouring it into the storage container because instructions say not to add anything larger than a chocolate chip, and I wanted some to be larger chunks. This delayed-addition technique works well for other fixings, too. On one hand, adding pureed fruits at the outset is good, for overall flavor intensity, but adding extra cut-up fruit later may be to your liking. Be aware that too-large chunks will likely get icy in the long run and be hard to scoop up, so there’s a fine line.The other “misteake” was making a double portion of custard in order to have back-to-back batches of half vanilla, intending to make another flavor with the remaining half of the mixture. Apparently the second half of the custard wasn’t chilled enough to overcome the freezing canister having gotten warmer on the first run. Although most batches froze in 15 to 30 minutes max, after a longer time it was obvious this batch refused to set up, so I returned the chilled custard in a bowl in the refrigerator, returned the canister to the freezer and decided to try again later. About five hours worked. Lesson learned—be patient. OK to double the batch, but chill it all thoroughly prior to churning.If pondering whether to get a countertop ice cream freezer, go for it. It’s fun and easy to use. You’ll be a proud as a brand-new parent after you make the first batch.

I love this ice cream maker! So far, I've only made vanilla ice cream, but plan to make some different flavors very soon. The vanilla ice cream was simply delicious! I like it that you can control what is in your ice cream...or yogurt, etc. I feel that makes it a healthier choice. It's also more economical. I compared the cost with a major brand, and yes, it will save money if you make it yourself.It's super easy to make ice cream with this machine. You do need to be sure the bowl is frozen ahead of time. I just wash the bowl, dry it well, and keep it in the back of the freezer...that way it's always ready. If someone wanted to, they could purchase an additional bowl, but I myself am fine with just the single bowl....at least, for now. It's easy to clean everything, which is another plus. I don't like things that are difficult to clean, so it just makes it really nice to be able to clean it easily.One thing I learned is that it's helpful if you have some good containers to store the ice cream, yogurt, etc. in, so I purchased some ahead of using the machine.These are the ones I got, and they work great: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHPVVW2J?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1I also got these, but haven't used them yet: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079HSST6M?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1