Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Machine, 1.5 Quart Mix It In Soft Serve, Yogurt, Sorbet, Sherbet Maker, White, ICE-45P1

We just used this machine tonight, and we are VERY pleased with it. I read through all the 48 other comments on this page before buying, and was a little daunted by the negatives, but we promised the kids to get the machine, so we took the plunge. Thought we would need a second bowl since we have 7 kids, but found it not so. We used regular sized Keebler Waffle Cones, piled to the top but not beyond, and everyone got one (even Mom and Dad) with a couple of the bigger eaters getting seconds. Here are my observations: 1) The bowl gets plenty cold if your freezer is plenty cold. Folks down below who claim they had cold freezers and their bowls didn't get cold enough ... don't know what to say about 'em. 'Cold' is one of those things that either it is, or it ain't. Enough said. I started dispensing after 15 minutes, because I was afraid the bowl would start warming up, but as I got to the last cones, I noticed the ice cream continued to harden and look more "professional" as it dispensed. Next time I'll wait until 20. After the bowl had been out of the deep freeze for 40 minutes, we rinsed it in HOT water, and the water froze solid to the bowl. That's cold. 2) The mix in thingy worked perfectly. I couldn't believe how neat-o that was. Follow the directions on sizes, and you won't go wrong. 3) I took the advice downstream and avoided the Cuisinart recipes. We just used our family favorite old fashined vanilla, with the raw eggs, flour, salt, sugar, milk, and cream. No problems. I made our usual 6 or so quarts that we put in the full-sized ice cream freezer, so we have left-overs for tomorrow. Final analysis: Cold freezer, follow directions. That simple. Sucker works like a charm. I had kids hugging me and thanking me for buying the machine - it doesn't get much better than that.

I had to wait til 1 am, so my picture is a little dark. But I specifically bought this machine to make dolw whips using the mix sold here on amazon. the machine worked great. I honestly don't care at all about the sprinkles, probably won't ever use that feature. But it was quick to assemble, came fast, froze the bowl for 12 hours and viola I had dole whip at nearly 2 am LOL. it's a definite win! *update 1-15-20* I've used this machine many many times now with different recipes, if you follow the directions it is an amazing machine. Some people complain that it is difficult to clean, this is BS it's like anything else, you take a few parts off wash and done. My Dad LOVES the vanilla recipe from the book, it's creamy, and sweet but not overly sweet. We've done chocolate, vanilla, dole whip powder mix, and I've made a few of my own concoctions like caramel macchiato, strawberry, and once the bases are made I've scooped the ice cream out and made homemade rocky road, and tin roof sundae to name a few. I honestly have never had a problem with my machine. The negative reviews sound to me like people who didn't bother to fully read and understand the capacity, cleaning instructions, or try to follow the directions to make the ice cream as intended. To be honest if you want fast cheap ice cream then yeah go pay a buttload at DQ or somewhere else. But if you want fresh, homemade, with your own ingredients and ice cream that you can freeze and make any variety at home from scratch, this machine is a dream if you follow the directions. My Dad, Niece, Nephew, and several guests will attest to that, they've all enjoyed ice cream from my machine. Still loving my machine after almost a year now. :)

We absolutely love this at-home ice cream machine! Every time we have family over or throw a party, this becomes the highlight—especially for the kids! It’s fun, easy to use, and makes soft serve with great texture that rivals the real thing. The bowl needs to be frozen before use, so we keep it stored in the freezer and ready to go at all times. I also love that it comes with homemade recipe suggestions and a built-in side compartment for toppings—such a fun touch! ⛔️ Heads-up: It’s a bit bulky, so we store it away between uses to save counter space. Only one mix can be preparred Cleaning requires disassembly, but it’s easy to take apart and reassemble. The churning takes some time, so make sure your mix is well-chilled before starting to get the best results. Overall, this is a great homemade ice cream machine and I highly suggest for the price.

I love my old delonghi that finall gave out, after almost 20 years. LOVED IT. It was a compressor model and i know this was not. So I purchased two bowl, that amazon recommended to go with it. IT DID NOT, this ice cream maker is newer style and bowl revised, $50 bucks waisted after packaging gone and frozen bowl that did not fit. I think what I do not like is the way this works, messy, too many parts that are unnecessary = hard to really clean and to make it, you really need a very cream based recipe, whole milk, not a way to make a healthy alternative like in a normal compressor nodel, so i made it (after the first bowl disaster) and it was ok, worked, not great, a bit soft and runny (just limp), or it then went too frozen and would not come out. Very little wiggle room, not good. But it worked about 80% of what I expected and have again, experience in making ice cream. I think if i was on a budget, and this was not a budget buy at $179, but if so, i would buy just a simple freezer bowl maker, more options in recipes, you do not need to worry about the soft serve being just right recipe and timing and better experience. I would not buy this again. BUT, i also would really not buy a freezer bowl model again, instead there are new compressor models out there, amazon and magazine recommended I am going to buy, they are about $280, but for the extra money, they do more, no freezing and will use more like my old delonghi. I just do not like this one from Cusinart, it has a limited window of results, take a bit too long, the recipe is really based on heavy cream and milk (not at all healthy and tastes like fatty ice cream) and the texture is only so so. It is way too many parts, messy, big and complicated. Add to this the shoot for kids toppings did not really work, was super messy. This is more of a novelty that was part of a party that I will just never want or like to use again. Waist of money, go better with a compressor if you really make ice cream or a smaller freeser bowl unit - same size both, but smaller machine and not mess and easier, cheaper and you just make ice cream over limp soft serve. I do not recommend this item.

I bought the Cuisinart ICE-45 Mix It In Soft Serve machine for the sole purpose of making my own Disney Dole Whips at home. After some research, I found that the Dole Pineapple Soft Serve mix is the exact stuff that Disney uses in the parks. The only problem is that the bag is intended to be mixed all at once and not in small portions. I used 2 1/3 cups of water and 1 1/3 cup of mix to make a quart of Dole Whip which just fits into this machine. Chill mix for 30 minutes before pouring into the soft serve machine. For optimal freezing, I keep the freezer bowl in my deep freeze and leave it there until I'm ready to make some ice cream. Regular freezer/refrigerators don't get as cold as the deep freezes. After 20-25 minutes in the Cuisinart - I have the perfect texture for soft serve ice cream. I made the mistake of turning it off once and the ice cream got so hard that the machine would not restart. I also have tried the Frostline Chocolate and Vanilla soft serve and was very impressed with those mixes (1 cup mix, 1 3/4 cup water). I should try my own home recipe one of these days but the mixes are cheap and very easy. I don't care to use the "mix it in" feature of this machine. It works, but its easier to just sprinkle toppings by hand and some toppings get too hard to eat.

First of all... - ignore all the reviews that state this machine is hard to clean and has lots of parts. I don't think they are corresponding to the current machine being sold as of May of 2019. I find this unit entirely easy to clean. This machine is very rudimentary. It has no cooling process - you provide this by freezing the bowl. There is also no sensor checking the consistency of the softserve, therefore the freezing process may make it to the desired state, but if you don't serve at that time you will blow right by it to a "too-frozen" state. Tips and tricks and learnings after operating this product: 1. Make your pre-mix and refrigerate it - do not pour warm product into the mixer. If you do this you will probably not reach your desired consistency. 2. Buy two bowls - If you want to dish out more than 5-8 servings, you will need two bowls... with a downtime in-between of 2 days to refreeze each bowl. 3. Do not fill the mixing bowl with your mix - I have found the best option is to go maybe 2/3rds of the way full or less. The mixing bowl cools down too quickly and can't handle a full load, you will never get to the right consistency. 4. Wait wait wait. If your dispensed product is watery, keep waiting. It seriously takes 20+ minutes until it is right... And then, be sure to dispense it within the next 5 minutes or it will thicken up and become frothy. 5. Two bowls - As stated in #4, it takes 20 minutes to prepare this once you start the mixing.... Therefore if you are having a party where you want to dish out 10-16 bowls, keep in mind that the second group of people will get their softserve at least 20 minutes after the first group, due to the slow freezing process. In summary - this is a good product for me to test out flavors for my real machines that cost thousands of dollars and run on 220v.... but this is only a good product for home-users who only ever want 5-8 servings, have patience and have access to softserve mixes or does their own. We have done successfully the Dole Pineapple Whip mix that you can buy on Amazon. It is good, but can get very whippy in the mixer.

I got this to make our own "ice cream" because my little boy has bad food allergies to just about everything. He is only able to drink almond milk...so basically all icecream, yogurt, "ice milk", etc. are not an option. I received the box from Amazon the next day (LOVE Prime!) and proceeded to put it together. It is very easy to assemble from a few parts. The instructions are super clear. It also includes a substantial recipe book for gourmet ice cream, sorbets, etc. The freezing bowl has to be washed and frozen for 12hr prior to use, so keep that in mind for your planning. You can purchase additional bowls on Amazon for a very reasonable cost, so you can always have one ready while the other(s) are freezing. The actual ice cream only takes about 15 minutes to make! The first batch I made was perfect. I used almond milk, a little sugar, a spot of vanilla extract, and one smashed-up banana. The machine does all the rest of the work. If you are into toppings or mix-in's....the containers on the side hold the sprinkles, chopped nuts, etc., and mix them into the ice cream as it's being dispensed!! Clean up is very easy as well. Just pop off the few parts that contact the icecream, wash them off, and they're ready for next time. All in all this is a very fun, SUPER easy to use and clean ice cream machine. I'd recommend it to anyone with kids or who like to make a quick and easy dessert for themselves from time to time.

I bought this on a whim. We used to have the same type of liquid-filled bowl for our Kitchen Aid stand mixer but misplaced it somewhere along the way. This is the same concept, but it's a full-sized machine with a soft-serve style dispenser. Having owned it for just under a week now, I must say that I absolutely love it. I've made two batches of ice cream so far, one a maple cinnamon vanilla and the other chocolate. Both were as tasty as anything at the ice cream parlor. I definitely read as many Amazon reviews as I could, and it really helped me with my first batch to know what to expect. Pros: - Simple set up. - Great set of initial recipes included. - Makes delicious ice cream. Haven't made frozen yogurt or sorbet yet, but I can't wait. - Easy to clean. Cons: - Large footprint. Even though it's a handsome machine, not exactly something you want to keep on the counter, especially if, like me, you have limited space on your kitchen counter. - The dispenser is cool, but the lack of height makes it sort of challenging. I find myself having to dip my head down near the dispenser to make sure I'm getting it into the bowl correctly. - A fair amount of ice cream gets left over on the mixing paddle, and it's a bit tough to get it all off. - Ice cream comes out pretty soft and melts quickly. But if you leave it in the bowl for too long, it can't come out of the dispenser easily. So why am I giving it five stars? Because it's reasonably easy to use and it makes PHENOMENAL ice cream. I solved the soft and melty problem by putting it in a wide-mouth mason jar and sticking it in the freezer for a few hours. The resulting ice cream is as good or better than anything you can buy in a store. I'm not kidding, the simple combination of milk, cream, sugar and flavoring creates superior ice cream, even better when you realize there are no preservatives or strange ingredients you've never heard of (guar gum, anyone?). And, as a dad with two small kids, the ice cream making process is heaps of fun for the little ones. I feel like our days of buying ice cream from the store are behind us, at least until it breaks! I do recommend reading a handful of the more helpful Amazon reviews, as they give a pretty good idea of what to expect. The main things are to make sure the bowl is completely frozen (we have a chest freezer in the basement which is a perfect place for the bowl to live) and to understand that it takes a minimum of 20-25 minutes to make the ice cream. Enjoy!