I know that making your own ice cream is not something that everyone does each day. However, I found that during the pandemic and when everyone seemed to be on a lock down or were unable to get out of their house except for shopping the frozen food section looked very bare in my area. Yes, the bare shelves even included the ice cream shelves and it was definitely disappointing when the warmer weather started to hit and the shelves were still sparse. With that being said, I decided it was time to look and rank the 5 best ice cream makers so I could finally find the best ice cream maker to use at home.
How Did I Find The Best Ice Cream Makers
Well, I know making your own ice cream is not something that everyone seems to do. However, I have found if you have an ice cream maker that is able to make the ice cream for you then the chances of you making your own ice cream is increased dramatically. What else increased the chance of making your own ice cream went up when the supply in the grocery store dropped quite a bit and people started missing out on their ice cream. So that led me to thinking about ice cream makers and looking for the best ones on the market so you can get the ice cream made right the first time.
What Factors Did I Use
I had to think about this quite a bit as I did not want to just pull out any list and share it here. Instead, I decided to look at the type of ice cream made first. I know some people enjoy soft serve and others like the traditional style of ice cream. Please note if you are in the soft serve ice cream mood, then you may like our upcoming article on the 5 best soft serve ice cream machines.
Then after checking out the type of ice cream the maker would make, I decided to look at how much ice cream it would make. I mean seriously, who would want to go through all the hassle of making your own sweet treat only to find out it makes 2 spoonfuls?
The biggest factor, though, that I looked at was the ease of use or use of outside equipment. For example, the KitchenAid Ice Cream maker attachment which requires a KitchenAid mixer is on the list, but only because it is very easy to use if you have the mixer. However, the others tend to be very easy to use.
Now, one other factor that I did use, but did not keep it really as a deciding factor is the size of the machine. Yes, I know that is a trivial point, but seriously if the machine is too large then I cannot fit it on my counter let alone store it! So I tried to keep that in mind as I know people live in apartments, small homes, or in large mansions, but finding the counter space for everything can be a challenge which is why I took the size into consideration as well.
Cuisinart ICE-30BCP1 2-Quart Ice Cream Maker
With the Cuisinart ice cream maker it is going to make 2 quarts of ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, or even sherbet. What is even better is it does not take a long time to get the product together and ready for you to eat.
The Cuisinart ice cream maker has a double insulation feature which is going to help in keeping the ice cream or other items you have inside of the maker cold and ready to be used anytime you need to have them ready to go. Now, if you are like me it may not last long, but it is definitely nice seeing the double insulation to keep the ice cream cold.
Now, a feature I really like with the ICE-30BCP1 ice cream maker is actually the fully automatic motor. This makes it easier for you to set the machine and go away while it handles all of the work that you need to have completed.
What else is great about the model is the pour spout for your ingredients. How often have you made any dish and realize you forgot to add in an ingredient? Well, for me that is fairly common and I hate having to open my cookers to add in the ingredients. With the ice cream maker by Cuisinart it is easy to add in the ingredients with the pour spout.
Read the Cuisinart ICE-30BCP1 2-Quart Ice Cream Maker Review.
Cuisinart ICE-45P1 Mix Serve 1.5-Quart Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker
With the soft serve ice cream maker here it will allow you to mix together several different flavors all at once. At the same time, though, you can have only a single flavor as well. This feature reminds me of the type that you see at the all you can eat buffets.
Now, I know that for me I tend to forget until the last minute that I want to have some ice cream. Well, with the soft serve ice cream maker here it is very easy to forget and still enjoy ice cream. Once you have added in the ingredients and started the cooking process it takes about 20 minutes until you have 1.5 quarts of ice cream.
The bowl that is used in the Cuisinart ICE-45P1 is a double insulated bowl. This allows you to make the ice cream and know it stays cold for a long period of time. At the same time, though, it does make it easier for you to know if you only eat a little bit at a time it will not turn into a runny mess.
A great feature with the soft serve maker here is the fact that it does not require any salt, chemicals or ice to work. This makes it easier for you to get the ice cream made and worry about running out of an ingredient. I know even at my local Walmart they do not always have the ice cream salt on hand, so this is one less headache to deal with.
One of my major downfalls is snacking on candy that is laying around the house. Yes, that does include my toppings for ice cream. Well, the soft serve ice cream maker here has the topping containers at the top, which does not keep me from snacking on the toppings, but it does remind me that the topping is meant for my ice cream.
As a drawback the machine is bulky and will take up quite a bit of your counter space. So if you are limited on counter space the soft serve ice cream maker may not work for you. However, if you do have some counter space and do not mind doing some scrubbing to clean it up it is not that bad of an option.
Check out our Cuisinart ICE-45P1 Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker Review
KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment
As a full disclosure this is one ice cream maker that is not fully automatic and to use it does require an outside item. The item that is required is a KitchenAid stand mixer. This mixer is rather expensive, but I will tell you that it is worth the cost if you plan on doing a lot of baking.
With the mixer here you may notice that it will make 2 quarts of ice cream in about 20 minutes. However, unlike some of the other makers that are fully automated you have to store the bowl in the freezer for several hours if you want a firmer ice cream.
The bowl is double walled and will help you keep the ice cream even longer than what you normally would. At the same time, though, you need to make sure you have the bowl frozen before you use it if you want ice cream right away.
Now, you may look at this bowl and think it is nothing more than plastic, but it is a double walled bowl that is surrounding a metal bowl. Granted, the double walled plastic can be broken it is still going to have the proper amount of insulation that can help you keep the bowl cold for a longer period of time.
Using this ice cream maker it does come with the proper paddle. This makes it easier for you to get the ice cream scraped around like you want to have it. At the same time it does make cleanup very easy as well and that will help you out quit a bit.
As mentioned in the disclosure statement at the start of the KitchenAid Ice Cream mixer attachment segment it is one that can really make it impossible for you to use if you do not have the right mixer. The mixer itself can cost upwards of a hundred bucks or more. So I personally think this could be a major drawback to why you would want this ice cream maker.
Read our full KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment Review
Breville BCI600XL Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker
With the Breville BCI600XL it is the most expensive ice cream maker that I have on the list. Yes, I know it is coming in at over 500 bucks, which is expensive but it is a high quality brand and the maker itself is one that does multiple things. The Breville will make ice cream, gelato, and even yogurt and has plenty of features to help you use the maker to make some great ice cream.
Unlike most of the other ice cream makers I looked at, the Breville maker has what they call a hold feature. What this feature does is allows you to stop the mixing and making of the ice cream at the level you want. Now, I did find that you have to eat this within 3 hours if you want it to be at the same consistency or you could have to find a storage container for your ice cream.
Another feature that sets this off from the other ice cream makers is the different settings. With the Breville you have 12 different settings that run from the super soft to the extra firm. When you start to use these settings I can tell you it makes it easier for you to find the setting that works best for you and lets be honest here, the kids too.
Okay, I have to admit that I like to add in extra ingredients to my ice cream, like chocolate chips or M&M’s. Well, the worst part is when I forget to set the timer to get the ingredients added in. With this ice cream maker, though, it has a beeping sound that reminds you to put the ingredients in and then you do not miss the time frame to add in your ingredients.
I was kind of shocked seeing that this is a maker that has manual or automatic function. Yes, you did read that right it has a manual function as well. I would not recommend using the manual function unless you are experienced as it is easy to get discouraged if it does not turn out. So I would recommend using the automatic functions until you are comfortable.
Read our full Breville BCI600XL Ice Cream Maker Review
Sweet Alice 1.5-Liter Ice Cream Maker
Sweet Alice is an ice cream maker that I honestly did not know much about until I started this article. Well, when I looked for an affordable and basic ice cream maker the Sweet Alice is one that did show up. On the downside with the affordability you do lose quite a few features and to be honest that is why the maker ranks lower in my list.
The size of the bowl you get with the Sweet Alice is only 1.5 liters. While that is enough for some people, if you are trying to give your entire family some ice cream it may not be enough. So the bowl size is one that could give me some doubts to the ability of the ice cream maker to provide me with enough ice cream.
Now, one thing that I did not care for here, but it is common for some ice cream makers is you have to put the bowl in the freezer for 8-12 hours before you make your ice cream. Yes, I know it is common to freeze the bowls in some maker, but I really hate having to do that when other makers are fully automatic including the bowl getting cold.
With the Sweet Alice ice cream maker a major bonus that I have found is once the bowl is frozen you just have to add in your ingredients and then push the start button after setting the timer. The machine will take care of the rest of it for you and then you can sit down and enjoy the rest of the afternoon while waiting.
I know I mentioned before that in some of the recipes you are using you do have to add in your ingredients when you are making your ice cream. Well, you can still add in your ingredients when the mixer is going, but I will warn you it is not as easy as the Cuisinart and that may discourage you from making the ice cream you actually want.
Check out our fill Sweet Alice Ice Cream Maker Review
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Now, I know that I have talked about what I feel are the 5 best ice cream makers for home today. Well, I do plan on covering each one in depth later on to provide you even more information. However, I will tell you that you have to decide on your own which one of these makers you want to buy. All of them have their own positives and just like that they all have their own negatives as well.
The key thing for any of the makers is to figure out what kind of ice cream you want. What’s the point of getting the wrong maker? Once you do that it will make your job a lot easier for you to narrow down which one of the ice cream styles you want then you can start to delve deeper into the models that you want, knowing that we have picked out the 5 best ice cream makers for home.