Are ice cream makers any good?

[Pennies]

Thinking of getting one. If they're any good which is a good one to get?

I've got the Gelatiera, which is the best but also the most expensive. It costs about £300 but I think it's good value for money as I have used it a lot and wouldn't have used a less good machine as much. The Gelatiera has its own built-in freezer unit (hence the price) so all you do is make a mixture, pour it in and switch it on. Half an hour later, you have a tub of ice cream!

The cheaper machines require you to pre-freeze a bowl, which means (a) you have to plan at least 24 hours ahead and (b) you need a lot of space in your freezer for the big bowl. I wouldn't be much good at either of these.

Yes - agree - if you can afford the £300 one definitely the one to go for. We have a 'freeze the bowl' type, and it's fine (better now we have a bigger freezer), but does have the drawbacks that TuttiFrutti mentions. Plus you can only make one batch then you have to re-freeze the bowl again. The £300 one can just keep going for as long as you want to make ice cream. Dh is the ice cream maker in this house - it's always delicious. Must go and pick some strawberries to make some strawberry soon. Yum.

I bought a cheap ice cream maker, £34 I think. Wwe do have a huge freezer though. I have found that if i get all the ingredients ready I can make 3 batches of ice cream before re freezing the bowl. I just put the ice cream in containers in the freezer until we need it. I manange to make all the ice cream we eat and we get through a huge amount. I did think of getting the more expensive one but with a small kitchen i could not justify the storage space or worktop space it would take up. Plus I did not want to part with £300 if I had not used it all that much.

£300!!?? :o

might have to wait until Xmas then!

I have cheaper option too from Lakeland - have enough room in freezer tho for the freezer bowl to always be in there- and i do have a spare bowl if required.

Done a fair amount of experimenting with different bases and different flavours... can't wait for our raspberries to grow.

I have cheaper option too from Lakeland - have enough room in freezer tho for the freezer bowl to always be in there- and i do have a spare bowl if required.

Done a fair amount of experimenting with different bases and different flavours... can't wait for our raspberries to grow.

Obviously having 2 bowls i needed to post that twice. Ooops!

check tchibo, they had one at fraction of price. also goods are good qua;ity:) i had one years ago, from argos frreze and go ome.love it.