Cuisinart ICE-21P1 1.5-Quart Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker, Double Insulated Freezer Bowl elminates the need for Ice and Makes Frozen…

Great little machine. I did A LOT of research before purchasing an ice cream maker. This one is voted #1 time and time again. It works fast and well.

Tip: I emailed the company to find out the difference between ICE-21 and ICE-21C. They told me there is no difference at all. The C stands for Canadian is all. It’s like half the price of the ICE-21!

Tip: Add 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum and 1 tbs of glycerin and you wil have the perfect scoopable batch. It’ll turn out like a brick otherwise. It took me many batches to get to the perfect ratio. Oh, and I make it sugar free and custard based, so these 2 ingredients are essential

Let me disclaim this review by saying that this is the second time I’ve bought this ice cream maker, as the motor on the first one I had gave up after using it with great care only about 5 times over the course of 2 years. However, I did like how lightweight, compact and easy this appliance is to use and I hope that the one I had earlier was an anomaly. Two caveats to using this: the bowl must be 100% frozen in the freezer before using; if it isn’t and if you can still hear the coolant sloshing around inside when you take it out, it’s not cold enough to make hard ice cream. Secondly, there will always be a thin layer of ice cream that freezes into a little wall around the edge of the bowl when you start churning- the ‘scraper’ doesn’t get all the way to the edge and you pretty much have to count this as lost ice cream because you can’t use anything too hard to scrape it off or it will scratch the nonstick coating on the inside of the bowl. The ice cream maker is also a little noisy, it sounds like a bit like an old dishwasher, but nothing too terrible given that it takes approximately ~20min to get from custard to ice cream. Overall I love ice cream too much for these things to deter me. Fingers crossed that this one doesn’t give up on me as easily as the last one did.

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.

My daughter made ice cream with this machine the first time last week. Delicious ice cream was made with it. If there is one negative thing about it is that the bowl needs to be in the freezer for many hours before use. That means I have to eat all the ice cream that were made from the previous batch in order to free up room for the next batch. … hmmm is that a negative thing?????