I tried Cuisinart’s top-of-the-range ice cream maker and now I don’t think I can go back to shop-bought ice cream

Most people like ice cream, but for some it’s a true passion. And if you fall into that camp, then investing in one of the best ice cream makers is a must.

That said, even the biggest ice cream lovers would think twice about dropping £300 on the Cuisinart Ice Cream and Gelato Professional. It’s definitely an indulgent purchase, especially when you consider there are cheap and cheerful ice cream makers available for under £50.

One of the main differences between this and the more budget friendly options, is that it works like a mini freezer that cools and freezes the ice cream while it churns. Whereas cheaper models usually rely on a bowl that you have to pre-freeze in your freezer for several hours before churning.

So whether you want to make ice cream, sorbet, or frozen yoghurt, what you really want to know is if this model is worth the money. That’s where I come in. I set it up in my kitchen at home and had the enviable task of tasting several frozen treats over the course of a few days. My thoughts? If you’ve got the budget, you won’t be disappointed.

Cuisinart Ice Cream and Gelato Professional specs

• Weight: 10.2kg
• Size: 22 x 28.5 x 42cm (H x W x D)
• Timer: 10 - 60 minutes
• Capacity: 1.5 litre bowl with working capacity of approx 1 litre
• Watts: 150W

Unboxing and first impressions

When the box was first delivered, I was surprised by its weightiness. And when I opened it up, I was disappointed to find the ice cream maker encased in polystyrene. However, given its weight and the fact it’s essentially a mini freezer, I do understand the need to make sure it’s properly protected in the box, even if polystyrene is one of my pet peeves.

It does have a large footprint on my worktop, but because it’s not too tall and has a nicely streamlined shape, it doesn’t feel massive. It is heavy though and because it’s essentially a refrigeration unit, you do have to be careful moving it around and make sure it’s kept the right way up at all times.

There’s no assembly to do, it comes with the removable bowl, paddle, and lid already in position. Plus, you get an additional paddle, one for ice cream and one for gelato or sorbet. The main difference between the two is that the gelato paddle incorporates less air for richly textured results.

The controls on top couldn’t be more simple, there are just three buttons. The power button switches it on and the timer button allows you to adjust the time in 1 minute increments from 10 - 60 minutes. Once you’ve selected your time, just press the start/ stop button.

The process can be paused at any time by pressing the start/stop button. You can also adjust the timer while it’s paused. But there are no other settings to worry about, it’s straightforward and to the point.

What is it like to use?

Vanilla Ice Cream

I kept things simple to begin with and simply followed the recipe in the manual for vanilla ice cream. It was super easy to make up the mixture, just whisk the sugar into the milk until it dissolves, and then stir in the cream and vanilla. Though it does advise you to refrigerate the mix for at least 2 hours before churning.

The recipe suggests churning for 40 -50 minutes, so I set the timer to 50 minutes. After 40 minutes though I could see it was clumping, and I didn’t want it to freeze so hard that it would be a nightmare to get out, so I stopped it.

At this point it was frozen enough to serve immediately (if you don’t mind your ice cream on the softer side), but also soft enough to get out of the bowl and into a tub for the freezer. The texture was fabulously smooth and creamy, I couldn’t fault it. But it was also in need of a couple of hours in the freezer to firm up some more.

After a night in the freezer I was expecting it to be too solid to scoop out of the tub. But I was very wrong. It was fluffy and relatively easy to scoop out with my ice cream scoop. And it still had a creamy, silky smooth mouthfeel.

Both the flavour and texture are so moreish, and it was effortlessly easy to make. I honestly don’t think I can go back to buying ice cream at the supermarket, there’s no comparison.

At around 75dB, it’s somewhat noisier than an ice cream maker that simply churns in a pre-frozen bowl. But that’s to be expected, and it’s certainly not a noise level that I found annoying or stressful.

Peach Frozen Yoghurt

For me, peaches are a fruit that epitomise summer, so turning them into a frozen summertime dessert seems like a no-brainer. Even better, this recipe uses tinned peaches, so it’s easy and affordable to make at any time of year.

Again, it’s another recipe from the manual, and another simple one to mix up. You basically chuck a tin of peaches in a blender with greek yoghurt, sugar, and milk. Once blitzed, it gets chilled down for a minimum of two hours.

For frozen yoghurt it advises using the ice cream paddle and to set the timer for 40 - 50 minutes. I set it to 50 minutes and this time I stopped it after 45 minutes. At this point the frozen yoghurt was clumping around the paddle, so it seemed sensible to remove it.

It was softer than it looked though, and while it was perfectly edible, it needed a couple of hours in the freezer. The flavour was creamy, peachy and delicious, with a drizzle of raspberry sauce on top it would be giving real peach melba vibes.

After two hours in the freezer it was a better serving consistency and had a nicely aerated texture. But it did become very hard and difficult to scoop once it had been in the freezer for a day or two, although in my experience, that’s quite typical of a frozen yoghurt.

Chocolate sorbet

There are a couple of fruity sorbet recipes in the manual. But having only recently been introduced to the decadence of chocolate sorbet, I was excited to try making it at home and scoured the internet for a recipe to try. The one I landed on was a combination of sugar, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, espresso, water, vanilla, and a cheeky splash of Kahlua.

Since most of the ingredients are heated together in a pan, I made it the day before to give it ample time to cool and then chill in the fridge overnight. It’s a generic recipe, so it didn’t give an exact churn time, but it did say the mixture will remain quite soft and need freezing for several hours after churning, to firm up.

I set the timer to 50 minutes and kept popping back to have a look at how it was doing. After 45 minutes it was clumping against the paddle, so I stopped it there and scraped it out into tubs for the freezer.

The texture was thick, rich and smooth with no ice crystals or lumps. This is a really indulgent dessert that I'll definitely be making again. The addition of a splash of alcohol helped it to stay soft and easy to scoop even after it had been in the freezer a day or two.

What's it like to clean?

The parts can’t go in the dishwasher, but cleaning them by hand in the sink was no bother at all. Removing all the frozen ice cream from the paddle is more time consuming than the eventual clean up. If you don’t have a good silicone spatula, it’s worth investing in one so that you can scrape everything out of the bowl and off the paddle without wasting a drop.

The stainless steel exterior of the ice cream maker does show greasy finger prints though, so I had to keep buffing it with a microfibre cloth to keep it looking clean and shiny. Otherwise, I found it all very straightforward to clean.

How does it compare to other ice cream makers?

If you want a top-of-the-range ice cream maker that offers even more adjustable settings and functionality, consider looking at the Sage the Smart Scoop. For an extra £60 it offers a much wider range of adjustable settings, including 12 hardness settings. It will even keep your ice cream cold for up to three hours after churning.

Alternatively, if you can’t justify blowing the budget. The Lakeland Digital Ice Cream Maker comes in at under £50. I recently tried it, and it does a decent job at churning ice cream and frozen treats. It’s super compact and easy to use, but the disadvantage is having to pre-freeze the bowl for 12 hours before each batch. That said, it’s a good affordable option when you’re starting out on your ice cream journey.

Should you buy the Cuisinart Ice Cream and Gelato Professional?

If you love ice cream, you won’t regret this purchase. Yes it’s chunky and it’s expensive, but if these two issues aren’t deal breakers, boy does it make delicious ice cream and frozen desserts.

It’s easy to use and because you don’t have to faff about pre-freezing a bowl, meaning you can spontaneously make ice cream whenever the mood takes you. In fact, you can make multiple batches in a day if you like. Which is perfect in advance of a summer garden gathering.

While it does freeze the mix, everything I made still needed at least a couple of hours in my freezer to reach the perfect texture. Nevertheless, the flavours and textures were outstanding, especially given how simple the preparation is. Your friends and family will be mightily impressed by your creations.

About this review, and the reviewer

After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK, where she reviews all sorts of home and garden appliances using her wealth of experience.

Helen put the Cuisinart Ice Cream and Gelato Professional through its paces during a particularly wet and miserable week in July. But she didn’t let the weather stop her enjoying ice cream, sorbet, and frozen yoghurt. She’s now hooked and shop bought ice cream might be a thing of the past.