ICM-200LS 2.1 Quart Capacity Automatic Ice Cream Maker

This Whynter ICM-200LS is very identical to The Ariete - DeLongi Ariete - DeLonghi Stainless Steel Ice Cream Maker with Built-in Compressor, LCD Digital Display, 2.1 Quart and the Gourmia GSI400 Gourmia GSI400 Stainless Steel 2.2 Qt SleekServe Automatic Ice Cream Maker - Gelato, Sorbet and Frozen Yogurt Machine - Built-in Compressor and LCD Digital Display- Includes Free Recipe Book . Side note: I'll briefly compare these units to Cuisinart ICE 100 Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker and the Breville BCI600XL Breville BCI600XL Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker and the Lello Lello 4080 Musso Lussino 1.5-Quart Ice Cream Maker, Stainless toward the end of the review. The Whynter ICM-15LS and the Knox 1.5 are also identical with their smaller capacity of 1.5 Quarts (though the stickers say litres which I guess is technically about 6% more volume than the Quarts advertised) All these Chinese made units have the same company bringing the UL listing, specs, and design to market from the company Intertek. The lids are also identical as are the plastic paddles as are the mechanisms that attach to the bottom of the bowls/paddles. Regardless of the specs listed, I had access to a couple of these machines and they all weigh about 26 pounds according to my calibrated shipping scale. The dimensions are about 16 5/8 inches length x 11 1/16 inches width by 8 7/8 inches height. Since they seem to have the same motors that spin around 25 RPMs, the same refrigerant for the cooling action and the same interchangeable aluminum container that houses the mixture, what are the differences you ask?Well, the difference is mostly cosmetic with some differences with button controls on the LCDs. All the 2+ quarts makers (Whynter ICM-200LS; Ariete-Delonghi & Gourmia GSI400) feature a power button, a start/pause button, and a menu button. The Whynter ICM-200LS has two additional buttons to increase or decrease time. The two others (Ariete-Delonghi & Gourmia GSI400) have a round knob that you turn to incrementally increase or decrease time. Otherwise the built-in software and the LCD readouts are absolutely identical. You can toggle between the 3 modes of "ice cream" ; "cooling only" ; or "mixing only." When you power the units on, they all default to 60:00 minutes which you can toggle down if you prefer less time (either by turning the knob on some models or pressing the buttons on the Whynter) They all go to automatic cooling mode for 10 minute increments after the ice cream is finished churning for the prescribed amount of time. They all have the safety function to shut the motor off in the event of an overload should the machine not be able to muscle through the mixture if it freezes too hard while churning. The "Cooling only" mode is good if you want to pre-chill the bowl before pouring in your mix which could lessen the total contact time and make for a creamier end result... of course you could also throw the bowl in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to achieve this effect if you get a machine without this feature.A word about the warranties. They all seem to have a one year limited warranty except the Knox which is as unknown as the company itself. The real issue is that the warranty covers against manufacturers' defects. It is important to realize that these units are mini freezers which mean they have a compressor with sealed oil. If the units travel on their side or upside down, they need to be place right side up for at least 4 hours and preferably 24 hours to make sure all of the oil drips out of the sealed housing. If it is run with oil in it, it will break and though make noise like it is working, it will not cool a thing. This also means that if you store the unit on it's side or back, you have to wait many hours with it right side up to safely turn it on. If you turn it on and it doesn't get cold because there was oil in the compressor, it probably wouldn't be covered as a manufacturer defect.These units all make excellent ice cream and excellent gelatos. Since they spin at 25 RPM's per minute, you will never be introducing air into the cream like what is done with commercially made ice cream. More dense ice cream and gelato is the premium product we want at home anyway.Other differences between the units is that some user manuals are marginally better than others. Some give you more recipes than others. Some give you silly extras like a cheapy plastic scoop (with the Whynter) or a cheapy plastic measuring cup (with the Ariete - DeLonghi) or a cheapy plastic spatula.What about the Cuisinart, the Breville and the expensive 3x cost Lello?The Cuisinart is VERY similar, also built in China like the ones mentioned above, but does seem to have a slightly different motor as it spins at 26 RPMs. Cuisinart seems to have gone through their own certification and design process and did not rely on Intertek. Though if you turn the unit upside down, it is very identical in design of the rest with the exact same access points to get to the internals if need be. The interface of the Cuisinart is less robust and only has 3 buttons and very much resembles the software of the 1.5 litre Whynter and Knox. It will also default to a 10 minute "Keep Cool" cycle after mixing, like the above units. It is a 1.5 quart machine and It does not have the cooling only and mixing only functions so it is most similar to the Whynter ICM-15LS and mystery company Knox brand. It does have a different paddle design and in fact comes with 2 paddles, one for ice cream and one for gelato. This to me is a little gimmicky though as at 26 RPM's you'd be hard pressed to get any better whipping action (air injection) from the cream in the ice cream... again with the understanding that commercial units like Emery Thompson units generate RPMS closer to 200 with the intent of aerating ice cream. Gelatos are meant to be spun at low RPMs regardless so all these home units are excellent for gelato. The warranty is a whopping 3 years though I have never dealt with Cuisinart on a warranty claim.How about the Breville? It is proprietary and of good Australian Quality with it's own unique interface and software. The aluminum mixing tub is a proprietary size and is tall and narrow. It is on the smaller size of 1.5 quarts. The warranty is 1 year. The design premise is the same as the others mentioned. The proprietary motor is faster though... spinning at about 50 RPMs, so it should be able to aerate ice cream more if that's something you desire. Unfortunately there is no way to toggle the speed downward or play with the temperature... not that there is with any of these home units. The Auto interface on the Breville is really just able to reduce the time and slap a name on the adjusted time. gelato = less time; ice cream = more time. This could be such a great unit and would be worth the additional money if you could adjust the RPMs and cooling temp, but again none of these models can do that.The Lello is interesting as their design is based on a setup where there is no removable bowl. This inherently is similar to a sealed commercial setup that should allow the compressor to work more efficiently. -And in theory if you can freeze your mix more quickly, you should have less crystals and creamier ice cream. Of course commercial units also use the efficiency of gravity like front load commercial washing machines. The Lello is small and more of a pain to clean as a result and it does have an issue where the spinning pin can get fouled near the top if not cleaned very well. It is very well made in Italy with mostly metal components including the paddle and has a one year warranty.For my money, I think I would lean on the Ariete - Delonghi or Gourmia as they can be had for $199.99 at the time of this review. If the Whynter would be the same price, then it would be a toss up in my opinion. The Whynter has oscillated in price between $260 and $350 over the past year and the Cuisinart is a little more expensive with less features and smaller capacity though a better warranty. Except for the mystery brand Knox and unavailable warranty information, I do not think you can go wrong with any of the machines listed above. The machines are identical enough that your recipes will have the biggest impact, so you may be better served by being price conscious. To me the Lello is cost prohibitive at $700 and I don't care for the design overall as the efficiency doesn't do much to the end result. Similarly, I do not think the Breville which is $380 as of this writing has any advantages that warrant the price. Understand that all of these machines will make excellent tasting ice cream or gelato. You'd be hard pressed to tell a difference using the same recipe on any of the machines except in a side by side taste test where you're really trying to be picky about the perfect creaminess, aeration, lack of ice crystals, etc. Good luck on your purchasing decision.

This is a fairly expensive appliance. You can make ice cream more cheaply than this. I have the kind that requires you to freeze the bowl. It sort of works. Usually. I have one that uses a semiconductor called a Peltier element to provide its own cooling. It's ok, and if you can't fit this one into your budget, that one is a whole lot better than the frozen bowl method. Then I got this one.There are other compressor models on Amazon that are cheaper. I honestly can't tell you anything about them. They may be every bit as good as this one; I simply don't know.What I can tell you about this one without reservation or hesitation is that, based on my experience, this ice cream maker is worth every. single. penny. This ice cream maker is amazing. It will make 2.1 quarts at a time although I'm experimenting with different recipes so I haven't gone for volume yet. I get a quart of ice cream in about 45 minutes and frozen yogurt in about 35 minutes.The machine can detect when the mixture is too thick to churn and then goes into a cooling-only mode. This feature is invaluable. From everything I've read, all of the ice cream makers produce a mixture that is in a "soft serve" state. You can certainly eat it at that point, but if you want it firmer than that you need your freezer to take it the rest of the way. This phase is critical to the texture and finish of the end product. The ice cream already has tiny little ice crystals in it, and if they stay tiny, it's great. You keep them tiny by dropping the temperature as quickly as possible; a slow drop allows them to grow. At best you would wind up with a grainy texture and at worst you end up with a block of flavored ice. That means you have to get the ice cream from the churning bucket into the coldest part of your freezer (at the bottom in the back) as quickly as you can.The Whynter's cool-only mode buys you time. Time to transfer the mixture from the churning bucket into its container - and for the love of Mike don't use cardboard! You still have to work fast, but at least what's in the bucket isn't warming to room temperature.Beyond that, this unit is very solidly made. It has real buttons as opposed to membrane, there's nothing flimsy on it - even the clear plastic cover is sturdy - and both the compressor and churning motor sound like they're working well within their design limits. I know that last may sound a little odd, but you know how some things that you buy have a whiny or hollow sound and you really wonder if it's going to last? This doesn't have that; it just _sounds_ well made. And on that topic I was a little surprised at how quiet it is. Since the churning blade is plastic (actually it's probably some sort of nylon affair but I don't know) I'd ordered an extra one of those. It arrived before the machine did, but once I had it in my hands I was fairly certain that the original would never need to be replaced; it's very sturdy as well.The frozen bowl method is a novel idea but is an iffy process at best. After it failed on me a couple of times, I was very frustrated. The semiconductor machine was a nice little stop-off, and I was familiar with the technology so I was willing to give it a go. It may be exactly what you're looking for, but it still just wasn't what I was looking for. I normally kind of stick to the middle of the road, but I was at the point that I was finished with the nonsense and wanted results. I looked at reviews, looked at the Whynter website, decided they know a thing or two about making things cold, and went for it. Again, I can't tell you about other brands, but I am highly impressed with this machine.In two weeks I've produced over two gallons of ice cream a quart at a time and this machine performed flawlessly each time. I'm not a cook, so while mixing some cream and sugar together is well within my wheelhouse, making a custard for a French style ice cream most definitely is NOT. Having confidence that my stress-laden concoction isn't going to be biffed at the end is quite valuable to me. That's why I can tell you that this device is worth it. Every. single. penny.