ice cream makers -please tell me all about yours

[MrsJohnDeere]

Dh wants an ice cream maker for his birthday. It has to be one of the ones that freezes the ice cream itself rather than the sort you put into the freezer to freeze (the drawers in our freezer are too shallow to fit that type).

I'm sceptical of the need for such a machine (you can buy fab ice cream these days, we should be eating less of the stuff anyway, and the machine will take up space we don't have, blah, blah blah) but am happy to be convinced otherwise.

They're so expensive that I don't want to spend a fortune on something that won't get used more than once.

[Iklboo]

I was considering putting a 'want' ad on Freecyle as DS has beem mithering for one so hope you don't mind if I lurk!

[Chil1234]

Mine's the cheaper sort that you put in the freezer so I can't give any tips on which model to buy. However, we use ours when we want something a little fancier than Tesco Soft Scoop to serve at a dinner. The ice-cream has a lovely soft, ready-to-eat consistency whereas the the premium ready-made ones need a bit of conditioning before you can dig the spoon in. And we have a lot of fun making up interesting flavour combos. Brown Bread and Honey anyone?

[sethstarkaddersmum]

Phillips Delizia - it has the thing you freeze not a freezing element but the thing you freeze is a disc not a bowl so doesn't take much space up in freezer.
Got mine from Lakeland a few years ago.

We actually make a lot of sorbets from fresh fruit rather than ice cream, so health-wise it isn't too bad at all.

[wannaBe]

I would get one that goes in the freezer first tbh, because the ready-freeze ones are very expensive as a gadget that may be used a couple of times and then end up in a cupboard..

I have the cheaper one too and ... it lives in a cupboard... and I am queen of kitchen gadgetry but even I've found that I don't really use it much.

[EasilyConfusedIndith]

WE have a basic magimix that goes inthe freezer. You sure your freezer wouldn't fit one? The bowl is pretty small. It lives int he freezer with the peas inside it so doesn't take up much space and is always ready when we need it. It is great.

[hobnob]

Another vote for the Delizia. I keep the disc-thing permanently in the freezer and find the machine works brilliantly. Like sethstark I make lots of sorbet - really lovely in the summer and much easier than it sounds. Eg I made pomegranate sorbet when our market had a special offer on them - completely delicious. I have a book called Ices by Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir which is wonderful.

[MrsJohnDeere]

Vey helpful, thank you. I'm wondering if the Delizia - which sounds ideal - has been discontinued though. Lakeland don't have it now and a bit of googling hasn't got me anywhere yet.

[Lilymaid]

I looked for the Delizia for a thread a couple of weeks ago - it seems to have been discontinued. Philips now seems to have two models, one of which has what looks like a disc/ring that is frozen before making the ice cream rather than the bowl and the other has a bowl that has to be frozen.

[hobnob]

In which case, I'd go for the 'disc' sort. It sounds like a Delizia by any other name. My original Delizia had a bowl, but my current one with the disc has a much larger capacity.

Not that I'm obsessed with ice cream or anything.

[IMoveTheStars]

Ice cream maker? I made gorgeous ice cream last weekend in a tupperware container!

[uggmum]

I have the Cuisinart one. It churns and freezes at the same time.

It was expensive, (gift from dh) but the ice-cream is lovely. No ice crystals at all. It's also stainless steel and looks lovely on my worktop.

I also bought a Ben & Jerry's recipe book and I have used it alot.

I use the machine regularly. You can also make healthier options, eg frozen yogurt. The ice-cream is lovely though and I use unrefined sugar and natural flavorings. This makes it a really natural product without any artificial ingredients.

[BingumyAndThob]

We have the Panasonic BH941P, as reviewed in the Guardian here... and it is utterly fantastic- it uses batteries, so churns once you've put the mixture into the freezer. It's quite small, so doesn't take up much room, no need for pre-freezing, and makes about 0.9 l - utterly delicious recipes included! I love it. It's really nice to know what is in your ice cream, and was v useful when I was dairy-free (due to baby DS' eczema) and I used coconut milk to make delicious dairy-free ice cream too.

I got it for £18 or so on amazon.

[midnightexpress]

I've got one with the bowl that goes in the freezer. I don't use it much, certainly not enough to upgrade to a 'proper' ice cream maker, but I find that it doesn't completely freeze the ice cream. I usually end up sticking it into the freezer for a little while after it's churned. But it does produce lovely smooth ice cream with no crystals.

[SexyDomesticatedDad]

Had the freezer bowl thing for a while but upgraded a few years ago to a real Italien imported machine so around £2-300 not sure now. Makes very good ice cream, plus if you need to do a couple of batches you can do them one after the other.

Do loads of different flavours and sorbets good too. Probably just about paid for itself after a few years. If you have the space and can afford it would recommend them as they do make the smoothest ice creams out.

[campocaro]

I have the fairly basic Kenwood. Bowl in freezer with peas in like Easilyconfused. Unlike my juicer I use the ice cream maker alot-this weekend made Rose Gray's fresh lemon ice cream -took no time at all and was delish.

[MrsJohnDeere]

Have gone for the Cuisinart one in the end. Have 2 days to find somewhere to put it.

Thank you for al the suggestions.