Very easy to use, but keep these things in mind. 1. Follow directions to have everything ready, then pull container from freezer, assemble and turn on machine, then pour in the prepared "soup". 2. after 10 minutes keep an eye on it, sometimes as it is thickening up the top half of the batch is not doing anything and you need to use a spoon to get it moving so batch is consistent. 3. Be sure you have your containers and a scoop and spatula ready before it finishes, otherwise you might face melted ice cream and stuck on ice cream in the bowl as once you stop it freezes to the side. 4. I bought the Tovolo round ice cream container, it is great as it fits nicely inside the freezer container for the machine so can store it in freezer without loosing too much space. Tried ... MoreVery easy to use, but keep these things in mind. 1. Follow directions to have everything ready, then pull container from freezer, assemble and turn on machine, then pour in the prepared "soup". 2. after 10 minutes keep an eye on it, sometimes as it is thickening up the top half of the batch is not doing anything and you need to use a spoon to get it moving so batch is consistent. 3. Be sure you have your containers and a scoop and spatula ready before it finishes, otherwise you might face melted ice cream and stuck on ice cream in the bowl as once you stop it freezes to the side. 4. I bought the Tovolo round ice cream container, it is great as it fits nicely inside the freezer container for the machine so can store it in freezer without loosing too much space. Tried the cheesecake ice cream recipe in booklet, delicious but way too sweet and rich, also tried the mint with our own chocolate mint leaves, yummy. The recipes with milk are a bit icy and taste best freshly made. The cheesecake one was great no matter when we had it but could only eat 1 or 2 spoonfuls it was so rich.

Easy to Use, Excellent Output

I bought this machine to make frozen yogurt. I don't use many power tools or high tech gadgets in my kitchen, so I was skeptical. But much as I loved the ice cream from the old hand-crank bucket we had when I was a kid, I have better things to do than organize the production number of a whole family party and clean up the mess, just to make a healthy treat from my home made yogurt. Cuisinart knocked it out of the ballpark. This machine does not take up a lot of space for storage, is intuitive to use, and churned perfect frozen yogurt in under 20 minutes. Working without a recipe at all, the yogurt was a silky texture, rich, yet still fluffy. My spouse usually will not eat frozen yogurt, but has been binging on the first batch. And I did it during my lunch break, ... MoreI bought this machine to make frozen yogurt. I don't use many power tools or high tech gadgets in my kitchen, so I was skeptical. But much as I loved the ice cream from the old hand-crank bucket we had when I was a kid, I have better things to do than organize the production number of a whole family party and clean up the mess, just to make a healthy treat from my home made yogurt. Cuisinart knocked it out of the ballpark. This machine does not take up a lot of space for storage, is intuitive to use, and churned perfect frozen yogurt in under 20 minutes. Working without a recipe at all, the yogurt was a silky texture, rich, yet still fluffy. My spouse usually will not eat frozen yogurt, but has been binging on the first batch. And I did it during my lunch break, including the cleanup.

Excellent Ice Cream Maker

Amazingly good homemade ice cream with absolutely no mess. I read lots of reviews before choosing this ice cream maker and am happy with my choice. I've made ice cream four times in the last 2 weeks. I have been eating low carb for over a year and wanted to make low carb ice cream. There are lots of recipes on the internet and I've tried three different ones. One of the three was just ok and the other two were excellent. My husband who is not following a low carb diet liked all three. You DO need room in your freezer to keep the tub frozen overnight. But that is the only possible difficulty. Everything else is easy. It's also surprisingly quiet. I have it running in the kitchen with a TV on and can hear what is being said on the TV without difficulty. I figured it ... MoreAmazingly good homemade ice cream with absolutely no mess. I read lots of reviews before choosing this ice cream maker and am happy with my choice. I've made ice cream four times in the last 2 weeks. I have been eating low carb for over a year and wanted to make low carb ice cream. There are lots of recipes on the internet and I've tried three different ones. One of the three was just ok and the other two were excellent. My husband who is not following a low carb diet liked all three. You DO need room in your freezer to keep the tub frozen overnight. But that is the only possible difficulty. Everything else is easy. It's also surprisingly quiet. I have it running in the kitchen with a TV on and can hear what is being said on the TV without difficulty. I figured it would be much noisier. One other note which shouldn't be a surprise - the ice cream is like soft serve when done, but putting it in the freezer for an hour or two makes is much stiffer. I put the ice cream on the counter an hour before we're going to eat it to soften up when it's been in the freezer overnight.

Fun For Everyone

The Cuisinart ice cream maker is not just beautifully made, it makes delicious ice cream. Since I'd never made ice cream, I used an ice cream mix to make my first batch and it was delicious. For my second batch I followed a recipe in the book, that the ice cream machine came with. Which was the cheesecake ice cream recipe. I gotta say that it was even better than the first batch! What I loved about the recipe, is that it was so easy to follow. I read through all of the recipes and their really simple and easy to do. Plus your making homemade ice cream. Since I've made this purchase, it's a really good feeling knowing that I have something, that's so valuable and useful to me and my family! Thanks Cuisinart.

Great with a few precautions

Very easy to use, but keep these things in mind. 1. Follow directions to have everything ready, then pull container from freezer, assemble and turn on machine, then pour in the prepared "soup". 2. after 10 minutes keep an eye on it, sometimes as it is thickening up the top half of the batch is not doing anything and you need to use a spoon to get it moving so batch is consistent. 3. Be sure you have your containers and a scoop and spatula ready before it finishes, otherwise you might face melted ice cream and stuck on ice cream in the bowl as once you stop it freezes to the side. 4. I bought the Tovolo round ice cream container, it is great as it fits nicely inside the freezer container for the machine so can store it in freezer without loosing too much space.Tried ... MoreVery easy to use, but keep these things in mind. 1. Follow directions to have everything ready, then pull container from freezer, assemble and turn on machine, then pour in the prepared "soup". 2. after 10 minutes keep an eye on it, sometimes as it is thickening up the top half of the batch is not doing anything and you need to use a spoon to get it moving so batch is consistent. 3. Be sure you have your containers and a scoop and spatula ready before it finishes, otherwise you might face melted ice cream and stuck on ice cream in the bowl as once you stop it freezes to the side. 4. I bought the Tovolo round ice cream container, it is great as it fits nicely inside the freezer container for the machine so can store it in freezer without loosing too much space.Tried the cheesecake ice cream recipe in booklet, delicious but way too sweet and rich, also tried the mint with our own chocolate mint leaves, yummy.The recipes with milk are a bit icy and taste best freshly made. The cheesecake one was great no matter when we had it but could only eat 1 or 2 spoonfuls it was so rich.

Mistakes are eatable!!

I have made 3 vanilla batches so far. All a bit different. One as recipe states and thought the vanilla was a bit much. 2nd same cut vanilla in half and still a bit much for our liking. Using a vanilla from Mexico FYI. 3rd I attempted using dry milk instead of milk and halfed the half of vanilla and it was still a bit over vanilla. Now saying that, 3 batches have disappeared in record time. I am going to repeat the 3rd batch and use a different vanilla extract to see if that is the denominator. Once I get the base to my desired flavor I will attempt to do other flavors. Just enjoying making my own ice cream and knowing what is in it! I want to attempt fruit ices as well. Looking forward to a rewarding relationship with this machine...

My New Best Dessert Friend

This ice cream maker is a dream! I was wary because I had one years ago and the freezer container never worked properly.This one does! It's easy to clean up, easy to use and the freezer container freezes for me in less than the required 24 hours. Although the paddle is a delicate plastic, it actually works just fine. It doesn't always scrape the sides of the container so I usually end up with a bit of frozen ice cream on the container but leaving it for a few minutes will make it easy to remove and add to my Beautiful ice cream! So far I have made French vanilla, butter pecan, dark chocolate, dark chocolate with a raspberry swirl, peach, and dark cherry which is similar to a well-known Vermont based company. All for a lot less than I'm used to paying for good ice ... MoreThis ice cream maker is a dream! I was wary because I had one years ago and the freezer container never worked properly.This one does! It's easy to clean up, easy to use and the freezer container freezes for me in less than the required 24 hours. Although the paddle is a delicate plastic, it actually works just fine. It doesn't always scrape the sides of the container so I usually end up with a bit of frozen ice cream on the container but leaving it for a few minutes will make it easy to remove and add to my Beautiful ice cream! So far I have made French vanilla, butter pecan, dark chocolate, dark chocolate with a raspberry swirl, peach, and dark cherry which is similar to a well-known Vermont based company. All for a lot less than I'm used to paying for good ice cream. I have found that using half-and-half instead of cream and the required milk works just fine. I always add a bit of alcohol-flavoring because some experts online advised that half teaspoon helps the ice cream become less icy. I don't know if that's true but it works for me! King Arthur offers delicious Madagascar vanilla flavoring that works perfectly for any ice cream base.I debated getting the more expensive one that they offer but I am so happy with this one since I have a small family. I would definitely buy it again and have her recommended it to others!

Serious foodies are delighted!

My niece had gotten another popular electric, stand alone ice cream maker, but when I looked it up and saw the price tag was over $200, I realized quickly for the 2 of us ( older folks too, so eating less quantities), that the one she had, wasn't the answer to my sweet treat dreams! But, after finding myself continuing to think about homemade ice cream, I started internet searching and up popped this Cusinart Automatic Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt & Sorbet Maker for less than $70! Since Cusinart has a solid reputation, I decided to go for it! Boy am I happy I did! From Amazon, it came quickly and was packaged safely. I washed it good, and put the cannister in the freezer as directed ( for 24 hrs before making). The unit is solid and the 3 pieces go together extremely ... MoreMy niece had gotten another popular electric, stand alone ice cream maker, but when I looked it up and saw the price tag was over $200, I realized quickly for the 2 of us ( older folks too, so eating less quantities), that the one she had, wasn't the answer to my sweet treat dreams! But, after finding myself continuing to think about homemade ice cream, I started internet searching and up popped this Cusinart Automatic Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt & Sorbet Maker for less than $70! Since Cusinart has a solid reputation, I decided to go for it! Boy am I happy I did! From Amazon, it came quickly and was packaged safely. I washed it good, and put the cannister in the freezer as directed ( for 24 hrs before making). The unit is solid and the 3 pieces go together extremely easy, and very intuitively. The first batch I tried was frozen strawberry/banana yogurt ( using my own homemade yogurt from my Insrant Pot). In less than 20 minutes, as advertised, we had amazing frozen yogurt! Next try was rich chocolate ice cream. That also turned out incredibly well with the machine working effortlessly! My next delight will be some frozen sorbet, but I haven't figured out the fruit I want to use. Besides the ease of use, cleaning and rapidity of finished product, what thrills me is knowing I am treating us to very clean products! We are serious foodies, growing our own organic fruits (and veggies),and the rest of the food I buy is 90% organic and local! So making my own "healthy" frozen deserts is great!

So much fun and so delicious!

I love my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker! So easy to operate: from the first, every batch I made was a success. Because I make my own yogurt, I decided to start with frozen yogurt (no eggs) and, after my first success (plain vanilla frozen yogurt), I began to play with ingredient ratios (how little sugar can I use and still get quality frozen yogurt?) and flavorings. So much fun and so delicious! My favorite so far is my "egg nog" frozen yogurt (frozen yogurt with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice added). I keep the churner tub in the freezer at all times and when I create the frozen yogurt mixture, I put it in the refrigerator overnight so it's very cold when I pour it into the churner tub the next day. Be sure to assemble the unit and turn it on *before* adding ... MoreI love my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker! So easy to operate: from the first, every batch I made was a success. Because I make my own yogurt, I decided to start with frozen yogurt (no eggs) and, after my first success (plain vanilla frozen yogurt), I began to play with ingredient ratios (how little sugar can I use and still get quality frozen yogurt?) and flavorings. So much fun and so delicious! My favorite so far is my "egg nog" frozen yogurt (frozen yogurt with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice added). I keep the churner tub in the freezer at all times and when I create the frozen yogurt mixture, I put it in the refrigerator overnight so it's very cold when I pour it into the churner tub the next day. Be sure to assemble the unit and turn it on *before* adding the mixture, and be sure once it's done and the frozen yogurt is scooped into a plastic container, to wash the tub and be sure it's completely dry before returning it to the freezer. Can't speak to its durability since I've only had it a few weeks but it seems solid enough so far. Highly recommended!

Who doesn't scream for Ice Cream?!?

Works quite well. I have so far made three batches of the vanilla recipe that comes with it, as well as ten of the chocolate recipe. I just did a strawberry one yesterday. As far as the recipes that come with it, they are so creamy and delicious but I could seriously taste the fat on the roof of my mouth. My husband and I decided to try a different 1/2 and 1/2, cream and whole milk ratio of 1:1:1. We opted to stick to store 1/2 and 1/2 because of the fat content, but I imagine in the future we'll just go 1:1 with cream and whole milk. Just be sure to really let the container freeze before use. We have a subzero freezer and can make a batch after it has been in the freezer a good 12 hours. If we go 16, we can eke out two batches. Three was a no go: you could hear the ... MoreWorks quite well. I have so far made three batches of the vanilla recipe that comes with it, as well as ten of the chocolate recipe. I just did a strawberry one yesterday. As far as the recipes that come with it, they are so creamy and delicious but I could seriously taste the fat on the roof of my mouth. My husband and I decided to try a different 1/2 and 1/2, cream and whole milk ratio of 1:1:1. We opted to stick to store 1/2 and 1/2 because of the fat content, but I imagine in the future we'll just go 1:1 with cream and whole milk. Just be sure to really let the container freeze before use. We have a subzero freezer and can make a batch after it has been in the freezer a good 12 hours. If we go 16, we can eke out two batches. Three was a no go: you could hear the gel sloshing. I will probably buy a second container. Although we are only two people, we eat ice cream every evening with peppermint tea. I measure out 85 grams and try to stick to one serving, but often, we have two. And not a bad idea to have back up ice cream stocking the freezer! We have awesome containers off of Amazon that I plan to keep full!