Good

August 9, 2006 7:27 AM

Know of any <$350 self-freezing ice cream makers that are good?

I have a decent ice cream maker that has one of those cylinders that you keep in your fridge. I'd like to upgrade though. I'm looking at this self freezing Cuisinart machine, but I'm having trouble finding useful reviews of it. I'd also like to find other machines like it in the same price range. I found a few on amazon, but would like to hear some actual feedback from people here. Thanks!

posted by soplerfo to shopping (5 comments total)

There is a review article on Slate of several canister and compressor models. It looks like the Cuisnart you mention is one of them.
posted by cabingirl at 7:32 AM on August 9, 2006

Reviews of several different types at Epinions.

Are you completely opposed to the old-school freezers?
posted by Thorzdad at 8:34 AM on August 9, 2006

If old-school means cylinder-in-the-freezer, then yeah, I've got one of those, it works well, but I'd like to free up freezer space and also be able to make more than one batch in a night.

If by old-school you mean ice and rock-salt, then yeah, that's much more hassle than I'm looking for - I understand you can get great results with it, but I'm not convinced you can't get nearly the same out of a decent self-freezing machine.

The reviews at epinions for the Cuisinart I linked to aren't very helpful in that there are only two reviews: one glowing and one angry. There are even fewer reviews for the other compressor models. I'm hoping someone here will have some first-hand experience with one of these.

Thanks for the Slate article - very helpful!
posted by soplerfo at 8:44 AM on August 9, 2006

I own the Cuisinart machine and like it pretty well. I would not give it a "glowing" recommendation, but I would give it, say, four stars out of five.
posted by briank at 9:08 AM on August 9, 2006

I'm also in the market for one and looked at that exact model. I don't have any reviews but suggest that if you're going to buy, you don't do so fro W-S. In Canada, W-S sells that model for C$365. However, other retailers here sell it for C$250. There's probably someone in the USA selling it equally discounted.
posted by dobbs at 9:53 AM on August 9, 2006