Cuisinart ICE-21RP1 1.5-Quart Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker, Double Insulated Freezer Bowl elminates the need for Ice and Makes Frozen Treats in 20 Minutes or Less, Red

I’ve made several batches of ice cream and it works awesome! I’ve found that 3 cups total of liquid ingredients is the right size. Any more and it starts to flow over a bit. I usually add in the extras (chopped cookies, nuts, etc) by hand. I just remove the base then stir in. I bought 8 oz containers on Amazon with lids and it makes about 5 containers. I freeze then thaw for about 15 minutes to eat. Perfect size.Small enough to keep in my freezer at all times so it’s ready to go. Otherwise I just put in the day before I know I’m making a batch.

Love it. So good and easy to make ice cream! Scoops just like store bought ice cream overnight. Others comment it’s noisy but it’s really not so bad. Didn’t bother me. The only negative comment is I wish I had recipes in hand with purchase but I downloaded the manual. I liked the instruction booklet. It was very helpful letting me know how to set it up. Look forward to making more ice cream flavors.

I've had this unit for 1.5 years now, I can honestly say that it has ruined store-bought ice cream for me - I can never go back. If your looking for an entry-level machine to dabble in ice cream creation and don't want to drop $200 on a high-end appliance, this the one for you.I've tried dozens of recipes, and this is the one I use pretty much every time:- 1½ cup whole milk- 1½ cup heavy cream- ¾ cup sugar- 1 tablespoon Malted Milk powder- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean paste-⅛ teaspoon saltThis will get you a solid vanilla base. You can add one or two things to this and get yourself nearly any flavor you want. On its own, you can add an extra tsp of Vanilla for a solid Vanilla icecream, melt 4 oz of chocolate and mix it in for a great Chocolate icecream, do 2 tsp Peppermint Oil for a mint Chocolate chip, powder up to 3/4 cup of freeze dried strawberries for the best strawberry icecream you've ever had. Add crushed up toppings just before it finishes churning or mix them in after.The Pros:- It works great- It's very simple to use and to clean- Ice cream is done in around 20 minutes.- You control the ingredients going in, which means you can have that PB&J ice cream you always wanted (it's amazing btw)- It's arguably cheaper to make your own ice cream (especially if you buy ingredients in bulk).The Cons:- The machine is moderately noisy. Not to a high degree, but it can be annoying.- You need to chill the bucket for 12 hours minimum for best results, so you're effectively limited to making 1 batch per day, unless you buy more buckets.- The bucket will spend a lot of time in your freezer which eats up space, and it can be a chore to tetris in if you have limited space in your freezer.Things to consider:- Make sure your mixture is chilled or at least somewhat cold before putting it into the machine. If it's too warm, the bucket will thaw too quickly and the ice cream will come out soupy.- Turn the machine on before pouring your mixture in. Sometimes the mixture will freeze too quickly on the edges and lock the paddle in place if it's not already moving, especially if your mixture has a high water content (like Gelato or Italian ice)- Let the bucket dry out completely before returning it to the freezer.- Use food coloring! It is so stupid, but green mint chocolate chip tastes more mint than a white mint, even though it's the same recipe.

I got this ice cream maker because I wanted to make flavors I can't get in the stores, like Green Tea Ice cream. Making your own ice cream is a great way to make it as rich or as simple as you want, or as guilt-free as you want, too. I've never made my own ice cream before this, and I was a bit nervous about buying another appliance just for this, but I really like Green Tea ice cream and the store bought stuff just wasn't hitting the spot. Anyway, after reading the reviews on several ice cream makers, this model appeared to be the best overall for value/cost and ease of use. It was also said to be not as noisy as the others.Once I got it and made my first batch, I was amazed at how easy it was to use. I followed the directions, as well as read the helpful reviews here that had a lot of good tips, the main one being to make sure that your bucket is frozen solid, at least 24 hours, and that your ice cream base mixture has been chilled to be as cold as possible. My first batch only took 12 minutes, much quicker than I thought it would be. I didn't find it to be noisy at all when running, I could certainly talk, and hear over it - it's just a mechanical hum noise, and it's not on that long.One tip, get a plastic or nylon, NOT silicone or metal, scraper to scrape the sides and bottom of the canister to get the rest of your ice cream out. I say no silicone because it's too soft to scrape the sides effectively. Most of the ice cream is like soft-serve, but the sides and bottom will have a layer of hard frozen ice cream. I use a Cuisinart pot scraper that's handheld, no handle, and it has a rubber edge and a nylon edge. The nylon edge easily scrapes off all the ice cream from the sides and bottom. Clean up is extremely easy, everything washed by hand. The ice canister will still be frozen and you can wash it out and put it back in the freezer so you can make another batch sooner, but it has to be dry of all water before you put it back in the freezer. This isn't easy to do when you rinse it out and the remaining water freezes right away before you have a chance to wipe it dry. I just wash it and air dry it, it thaws out, but I only make one batch at a time anyway. Once dry, I do keep my ice canister in the freezer so that it's ready to make ice cream whenever I want, but that's something that's optional depending on how much room you have in the freezer.Overall, I'm glad I got this model. I was lucky to get it on sale at $49, and it's worth it at that price. The other models that have the freezer motor in them are more convenient in that you don't have to worry about freezing the canister in the freezer ahead of time, but the cost is much more expensive, and the appliance is much larger than this one. For a small family of occasional ice cream eaters, a quart at a time, this ice cream maker is perfect.