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White Chocolate & Fresh Ginger Ice Cream Recipe with Nectarines and Cherries »
Meet Your Maker: Ice Cream Machines

July 1, 2006
It's that time of year, when the weather heats up and a young-man's fancy (well, at least mine...) turns to ice cream and sorbet-making!
There's lots of options to consider when buying an ice cream maker, and there's certainly one that'll fit within any budget. I've had several readers inquiring about ice cream makers, so I've written up a little bit about each kind that's available to help you out:
You can also find more of my recommendations for machines and ice cream making equipment at Let's Make Ice Cream!
Happy Churning!...
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Comments

There's a time of year at which one doesn't make sorbets and ice creams??? As you francophiles might say, "Mon Dieux!" or however one spells it. I'll stay in South America and keep churning year round! I use a Krups that I have to prefreeze the canister... hmmm... a self freezing unit...
Posted by Dan at July 1, 2006 9:15 AM
David, I've never understood how the KitchenAid one works - does it have a pre-frozen canister too?
BTW, I love my low-budget Donvier ice cream maker. I've had it for nearly 20 years (!) and although I don't make the same volume of ice cream as you it has stood me well. I had to replace the paddle a couple of years ago, but that was relatively cheap.
Thanks for the low-down though - I've had people ask me about ice cream makers and now I know where to send them!!
Posted by Meg at July 1, 2006 9:54 AM
Dan: I think they discontinued the Krups unit, at least in the US. I had one here, but it started leaking and saw a newer model at the store. But a brief search turned up 'unavailable' at Amazon. I think the Cuisinart has taken its mantle...and now that I have the self-refrigerating one, I ain't going back!
...now go make some Dulce de Leche ice cream!
Meg: Yes, the KitchenAid unit needs to be pre-frozen as well. I wanted to test the Donvier, but in spite of the fancy-sounding French name, they're not available in France. I know some people like them, but with the other units having come down in price, I don't see that many Donviers around. Perhaps I'll see yours soon on eBay.fr...but I won't hold my breath.
Posted by David at July 1, 2006 10:11 AM
the heat is on, and although I would love to make my own, here in Italy it is so easy to jut walk down the street and get some...
and when you have a fabulous artisan Ice Cream/chocolate boy... I can't resist.
you can go for jeans.. I am going for Gelato!
Hungry?
Posted by Diva at July 1, 2006 10:49 AM
David,
I don't understand why the KA maker is so damned expensive. Any idea?
Posted by Kevin at July 1, 2006 5:29 PM
Although I'd kill to have ICE-50BC, until I do I prefer an actual ice-packed churn to the frozen insert type. I feel lucky to have quite an ancient Waring which uses a couple trays of ice and half a box of conventional table salt and can still make 2 quarts of something yummy. With this tiny treasure I can make ice cream without making sure anything is frozen a day in advance, without giving up valuable freezer space to something empty, AND (big "and") I can turn around and make a second flavor immediately. Besides that, it's sooo much easier to empty the churned cream into a freezer storage container because it doesn't continue to freeze to the side of the bowl after the dasher has stopped scraping it free.
Posted by rainey at July 1, 2006 7:28 PM
I bought the Kitchenaid attachment a month ago and have been really happy with it. It does require pre-freezing but it stays really cold and hardly thaws when the batch is complete. It also makes 2 quarts, which a lot of the 'prefreeze' types can't do.
I will be trying the ginger and white chocolate one next weekend, definately. Can you give some information on why the "pre-boil" is neccessary? I made mango sorbet last weekend and just grated in a little knob of fresh ginger and you could really taste it.
--Lisa
Posted by --Lisa at July 1, 2006 10:23 PM
Lisa: Fresh ginger has an enzyme in it that can prevent proteins (like custards) from setting up, and cooking kills it. If you add a little ginger often it's ok, but I pre-blanche as insurance.
Kevin: I don't know the pricing policy for KitchenAid, but maybe the canister is made in America. Or those kids in China wised up and have learned how to hold out for more $$$.
Still, it's cheaper than a new pair of Levi's. At least in Paris.
Rainey: Yes, it's frustrating those machines that only freeze 1 qt, since I've seen so many recipes lately for 2 qts (why do people do that?) I used to use and ice-and-rock-salt machine, and they do a great job, but the only one made is the White Mountain and most people don't want to spend that kind of money as they cost somewhere around $200, I think.
(That you be 2 pairs of Levi's!)
Judy: Can't a boy have both??
Posted by David at July 2, 2006 3:22 AM
David- I just gave one of those old White Mountain machines away. It was just too bid and messy to use indoors. I wish someone could get Waring (do they even exist still?) to remanufacture their machine which is only about 1/3 larger than my Cuisinart ICE25-WS. Or that someone else would pick up the gauntlet and make such a machine.
It doesn't require rock salt and uses less than half the ice that the White machines do. It also works so fast there isn't any messy runoff and yet, at 20 minutes or so per batch, the crystals are still nice and small for lovely texture.
I pursue this hoping someone who could offer this third option over the compressor-included machines and the sealed coolant type is reading your blog.
Posted by rainey at July 2, 2006 2:07 PM
Hi David, this is my first commentary! Very nice and interesting blog!
OK, here's my question : don't you think the KA attachment sold in the US works for our European models? It's not that expensive when compared to top of the range machines...
Posted by julie at July 3, 2006 3:48 PM
Hi Julie: Thanks! The US attachment, unfortunately, does not work on European KitchenAid mixers due to EU-required modifcations they do to the mixers sold in Europe. I believe they are planning to come out with an attachment for the European market in the fall, but I'm not certain. You can contact KitchenAid in the US and they may be able to help.
Posted by David at July 3, 2006 4:22 PM
Thanks for your answer, David:)
Posted by julie at July 4, 2006 3:41 AM
David,
do you know if the Cuisinart is available in Europe?
The only machines I've seen here in Spain are either not too good looking, or incredibly expensive.
Posted by Silly Disciple at July 10, 2006 6:52 AM
If only I have read this before I went into the trouble of ordering the Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment only to find out it was only compatible with American mixers. They should have noted this in their Amazon listing. Well I guess I have to mix with hand until they come up with the European attachment!
Posted by Cenk at December 20, 2006 9:56 AM
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