Ice Cream Maker Buying Guide

A few White Mountain ice cream makers come in a large-capacity 4- to 5-quart size; most are 1 or 2 quarts in capacity. Cuisinart ice cream makers range from $25 to hundreds of dollars. Not all hand-crank ice cream makers require salt and ice. However, electric ice cream makers have a hollow inner chamber filled with a coolant, and require no ice and salt. Once ice cream mixture is placed in the Deni ice cream maker, it takes 20 to 40 minutes to reach soft-serve consistency. Additional freezing achieves other desired consistencies.

Ice Cream Maker Options

• Ice cream maker designs vary, depending on whether they are manual or automatic models. High-end self-contained ice cream makers are usually square or rectangular; most other soft serve ice cream makers are circular.
• Manual ice cream makers are no-frill machines; fully automated electric ice cream makers come with timers and stainless steel components that remove easily for cleaning, and they can operate at 300 watts.
• Manual ice cream makers consist of an interior compartment for the ice cream mixture, an exterior bowl to hold ice and salt, and a manual crank that rotates a paddle. A hand crank ice cream maker is inexpensive but messy.
• Electric ice cream makers can be double-walled with a coolant that is pre-frozen in the freezer, and paddles for churning. This electric ice cream maker is inexpensive.
• An electric ice cream maker with interior coolant that can be filled with ice cream mix and put into the freezer to process is another fairly inexpensive alternative.
• Ice cream makers with built-in electric devices require no pre-freezing of the bowl, but these are larger and more expensive.