Having an ice maker at home is a must investment when you are having a house party and to entertain or if you have a large family. Yes, there are refrigerators galore which will suffice you with ice cubes, but still they do not win close when it comes to an efficient ice maker. Only decades ago, ice was a scare commodity to come by in most parts of the world. In hot and humid places, ice had to be bought from a store or delivery service, which imported heavy blocks of ice from colder areas or an industrial refrigeration plant. This made the price of ice steep up, but you do not have much of a choice when you want to keep your food cold and fresh. In places where average temperatures go as high as 30°C, ice comes across as a rare commodity. In deserts across the world, people might have not even seen an ice cube.
[tcb-script src=”//z-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/onejs?MarketPlace=US&adInstanceId=bc1cf103-1e70-4399-8746-281c86c0010d”][/tcb-script]To be more precise, this article will provide a list with a detailed comparison of what goes on inside an ice maker and how we can create a list of the best ice makers in the business by compiling their properties. As you will read along, the basic process of making ice is pretty simple – you just freeze water and trying to create perfect cubes of ice with utmost dedication.
The present ice maker is the successor of the conventional plastic ice tray. With the name being pretty obvious, this is how the device works – you fill the mold with water and leave it in the freezer for it to completely turn into solids and then extract the ice cubes as per use. The modern ice maker follows the exact same procedure, just that the filling of the water and the extraction of ice cubes is completely automatic.
Image » | Product Name » | Color » | Weight » | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cuisinart ICE-21 1.5 Quart Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream Maker | White | 9 pounds | ||
Whynter ICM-200LS Stainless Steel Ice Cream Maker | Silver | 24.2 pounds | ||
Whynter ICM-201SB 2.1 Quart Upright Stainless Steel Bowl Ice Cream Maker | Silver | 25 pounds | ||
Cuisinart ICE-30R Pure Indulgence Frozen Yogurt Sorbet & Ice Cream Maker | Metal/Red | 2.3 pounds | ||
DeLonghi GM600 Gelato Maker with Self-refrigerating Compressor | Silver | 34 pounds | ||
Cuisinart ICE- 60W Cool Creations Ice Cream Maker | White | 10.6 pounds | ||
Lello 4080 Musso Lussino 1.5-Quart Ice Cream Maker | Silver | 40 pounds | ||
Breville BCI600XL Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker | Silver | 30 pounds | ||
White Mountain Electric Ice Cream Maker | Brown | 19.2 pounds | ||
Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker | Silver | 23.7 pounds |
Best Ice Cream Maker over dozens of competitive models from different brands listed below:
More photo & price on Amazon.com
Though there is a newer model of this ice maker, its customer loyalty base is quite large. Priced at $42 on Amazon, this ice maker is a steal. This has a heavy-duty motor that helps in preparing ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet and even frozen drinks in lesser than 20 minutes.
The process is very simple and easy for first timers. You just need to add the ingredients to the mixing bowl and turn on the machine to watch your dish being prepared. Being a fully automatic machine, cleanup is a breeze. The bowl has a large capacity of holding 1-1/2 quarts of say, your favorite smoothie or frozen treats. The transparent lid comes with an easy lock to base that allows you to watch freezing procedure as it progresses.
While the process is one, you can also pour in the recipe ingredients and toppings like nuts and chips through the ingredient sprout so that the freezing cycle does not get interrupted. There is a mixing paddle in the bowl that mixes and aerates the ingredients and the freezer bowl comes with a cooling liquid contained within a double insulated wall that makes the freezing process faster.
More photo & price on Amazon.com
The formidable Whynter ICM-200LS boosts of many unique features that help you to prepare homemade ice cream completely customized to your taste buds. It has an extended cooling function that prevents the mixture from melting alongside a motor protection function that prevents the motor from overheating or damage of any kind when the mixture gets solid. Ideal for house parties, this has a high capacity unit that can make up to two quarts of your favorite ice creams in a single batch. There are some premium features in the Whynter ICM 200-LS that are not present in any other budget ice cream makers.
It has a removable bowl and churn blade for easy storage and effortless cleaning. A powerful in- built compressor freezer allows for relentless use with the hassle of having to pre-freeze the mixing bowl. This feature helps in enhancing the complete taste of the dish. The sleek and sharp design, accompanied with a stainless steel exterior and the delicate soft touch LCD control panel makes a pretty picture on any kitchen counter. This ice cream maker comes with an electronic timer and an efficient temperature display.
More photo & price on Amazon.com
An ice cream maker as good as its counterparts, the Whynter ICM-201SB has a removable stainless steel mixing bowl and a BPA (bisphenol A) – free churn blade for easy storage and hassle-free cleaning. It is also equipped with a motor protection function that shuts off to prevent damage if the mixture freezes into a solid. With an efficient in-built LCD timer control system, it contains a high efficiency CFC- compressor.
The Whynter ICM-201SB has a capacity of about 2 liters and a cooling temperature ranging from -0.4 F to -31 F. Priced at a reasonable $255 on Amazon, this ice cream maker is any extremely easy-to-use unit that helps you to prepare delicious ice cream and rich creamy gelato within the comfort of your home. Designed with an upright, small footprint profile, this space efficient ice cream maker fits easily on any kitchen countertop. This too, contains a self-contained frozen desert maker that does not require pre-freezing.
The Whynter ICM 201SB can be operated in three convenient modes: Ice Cream mode, and mixing only blade. Also, if you need to add your favorite fruits for flavor, or check the consistency of your ice cream, you can simply use the Pause button to pause the cycle.
More photo & price on Amazon.com
What is more refreshing than one quart of rich homemade gelato? Two quarts! The completely automatic Cuisinart ICE-30R Pure Indulgence can make up to two quarts of your favorite ice creams or drinks in lesser than 20 minutes. Their easy-to-use interfaces has an integrated motor, along with an integrated motor, double-insulated freezer bowl and automatic mixing paddle doing all the work while you sit in the comfort of your home and watch the complete freezing process as it progresses. While the dishes prepared every time are consistently smooth, the cleanup procedure is easy and the delicate and smoothly brushed metal styling with the embossed logo adds a sensational look to the item.
The Cuisinart ICE-30R Pure Indulgence Frozen Yogurt Sorbet & Ice Cream Maker has a double insulated freezer bowl and a large ingredient sprout for adding mix-ins like chips and crunches so that the freezing cycle continues to go on uninterrupted. This ice cream maker is completely BPA free and comes with a limited 3- year warranty. If you’ve never had any type of ice cream makers before, here’s an overview. There are two main parts as far as what makes the ice cream. There is a drum, aka the freezer bowl and a paddle. The night before you intend to make ice cream (or earlier) you can opt to park your clean freezer bowl in the coldest part of your freezer overnight. It is important to see to it that the bowl is frozen throughout with no sloshing sound because this drum is what chills the ice cream.
More photo & price on Amazon.com
Treat yourself to cold, creamy authentic Italian gelato with the De’Longhi GM6000 Gelato Maker. A mixing paddle incorporates all the ingredients in a stainless steel bowl with hermetic lid. Meanwhile, the built-in compressor with refrigerant helps in the immediate freezing of the ingredients.
Built-in compressor helps in bringing the ingredients to be mixed below the freezing temperature, which the conventional frozen bowl ice cream makers cannot do. Much faster than traditional ice cream makers, this machine creates rich, flavorful gelato from fresh ingredients in less than 30 minutes. Unlike other frozen bowl ice cream makers, DeLonghi GM600 Gelato Maker uses a self-refrigerating compressor to immediately bring the ingredients to below freezing temperatures. You can create multiple servings in different flavors for your friends and family. Without needing to refreeze an ice cream bowl between batches, you can prepare multiple batches continuously without the wait. A transparent, hermetic closure ensures an ideal gelato consistency.
It helps maintain the ideal temperature inside the bowl and prevents air from entering and blending with the gelato. The mixing paddle effectively mixes ingredients from top to bottom for perfect and the consistency removable stainless steel bowl makes for easy serving and cleanup. And they’re dishwasher safe for fast, convenient cleanup. This unit uses R410A refrigerant gas, which operates more efficiently and does not contribute to ozone depletion.
More photo & price on Amazon.com
The Cuisinart ICE- 60W Cool Creations Ice Cream Maker has all the frozen delights covered – ice cream, gelato, frozen yoghurt, and sorbet. The innovative paddle speeds the processing time so that you can be enjoying two quarts of frozen treats faster. The unit has a large capacity unit that helps in making 2 quarts of ice cream in one single go. It also has an ingredient spout with an integrated measuring cup and a highly efficient control panel having three settings with multiple speeds. Sleek housing makes it look as good as the treats it creates.
The timer is a nice addition on the higher-end model. If you wait 15-20 min while it’s doing its magic, you will hear the beeps and know when to stop it.
More photo & price on Amazon.com
With the Musso Lussino frozen dessert maker, you can have rich cream fresh desserts within minutes. These desserts not only include rich ice cream, but, refreshing frozen drinks, frozen yogurts, Italian gelato and silky sorbets.
Fully automatic and delicately managed by a timer, this machine takes the trouble and guesswork out of making frozen yogurt, gelato, ice cream, frozen drinks and sorbet at home. Ingredients go into the bowl, the timer is set, two buttons are pressed and about 30 minutes later 1-1/2 quarts of a frozen confection are ready for delighting your taste buds and fulfilling your appetite. The machine can immediately begin making another batch because it does not require the freezer bowl to be frozen in a refrigerator for hours. If a batch of mixture turns into a hard solid, the machine shuts off automatically.
The machine does not only work like a pro, it also looks the part, as the housing, bowl, and paddles are made of stainless steel for sanitation and easy cleaning. The 100-watt machine measures 12 inches wide, 11 inches high, and 18 inches deep, and it weighs 38 pounds. Manufactured in Italy, it holds a one-year warranty against defects.
More photo & price on Amazon.com
The BCI600XL Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker is Breville’s flagship item. It has very easy-to-use features with automated hardness settings.
The Breville BCI600XL Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker has an impressive twelve hardness settings varying from gelato, frozen yogurt, sorbet and ice cream. It the first ice cream maker of its kind that can sense the hardness of the mixture on its own based on the pre-determined selection by the user and can keep the frozen flavors at perfect temperature up to 3 hours, keeping it absolutely ready till it is time to serve.
The ice cream maker is completely free of BPA materials and has an odd feature- a child lock. It will sound an alert beep or one of the three in-built musical tunes once the dessert is ready. The Smart Scoop transforms the kitchen into your favorite scoop shop.
More photo & price on Amazon.com
The White Mountain ice cream maker is a specifically designed, twin-blade ‘dasher.’ The outer canister rotates clockwise and the blades turn both counter clockwise and clockwise. This together shapes up into a triple-motion movement continuously turns the ingredient mixture from the outer walls back onto itself, creating the smoothest and creamiest down-home ice cream. The White Mountain Electric Ice Cream Maker uses a commercial 12,000 RPM grade motor that gives the churning torque prepared for preparing homemade ice cream.
The patented dasher system is made of heavy-duty cast iron and is electroplated for everlasting durability. It is made to never warp out of shape and the beech wood blades are self-adjusting to make sure that there is uniform scraping of the ice cream mixture on the canisters interior sidewall. The dark wood stained bucket is cut out of chosen pine trees from New England and bound with strong galvanized hoops and electroplated fittings to ensure lasting stability.
Once you make up your preferred ice cream recipe and prepare up the ice cream maker, simply plug it in and you’ll have a delicious batch of ice cream ready to enjoy. The 12,000-rpm motor is made with enough power to make sure every batch comes out perfect. The White Mountain ice cream maker will be the prime source of attention at any occasion, be it a barbecue, family holiday, party or a relaxing summer afternoon with a couple of friends.
More photo & price on Amazon.com
Cuisinart has come up with its latest model in ICE-100 that would help you prepare delicious ice creams, rich creamy gelato and refreshing sorbets- all in the comfort of your own home. It is ver easy to use and a completely automated machine. There are quite a few features that set it apart from the rest of the ice cream makers in the market. The Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker boosts of a commercial-style compressor that allows you to continue making batch after batch without a wait. It also has a 60-minute countdown timer work and two unique mixing paddles that would make sure that the homemade ice cream, sorbet or gelato has the perfect consistency.
There is also a personalized recipe book included with the maker that features a varying range of flavours to create your favorite desserts with the Ice Cream and Gelato Maker. You can also out in your personal touch according to your taste buds by adding ingredients- be it chocolate chunks, fresh fruits or even brownies that you can see mixing process in action through the see-through lid to make an impressive frozen treat.
Ingredients such as chips and nuts should be added about five minutes before the freezing process is complete in order to fully incorporate them into the frozen mixture. To add a chocolate swirl to the mix, it is preferable to slowly drizzle in hot fudge or melted chocolate. Once the countdown is up, the 10-minute Keep Cool cycle begins to keep your ice cream or gelato nice and cool. For optimum consistency, it is recommended to transfer the mixture to an airtight container and chill for a minimum of 2 hours.
The mix-in opening allows you to add your favorite toppings and mix-ins, like chocolate chips or nuts, without interrupting the freezing cycle. Two unique paddles are equipped to mix and aerate the ingredients in the mixing bowl to create your frozen dessert. The gelato and sorbet paddle perfectly incorporates air in the ingredients and creates richly textured results with intense flavor.
The anondized aluminium mixing bowl ensures that there is no need to pre-chill or freeze the bowl prior to use. When the unit is on, the power button is illuminated by a red LED light. The countdown timer can be set from 10 minutes to 60 minutes. The button can be pressed at any point in the Mixing/Cooling cycle to pause the timer and mixing. The very same button can be pressed to continue mixing.
Hopefully , by now, you have created a decent and detailed impression of which ice cream maker suits your needs and works according for your parties or occasions. Though reading these reviews obviously present you with a more detailed understanding of the different kinds of ice cream makers, this alone is not the ultimate way of picking the right product. After hours of thorough research and rigorous and relentless testing, we have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as the best ice cream maker.
What makes one product better or more preferable than the other is completely based on personal choices and how they cater to an individual’s personal needs .There are quite a few factors that must be taken into account that majorly affect the performance of a machine. In this article we have tried to cover everything- from the most generic ice cream makers to the most eloquent or efficient ice cream makers and tested in conditions over time. But as mentioned in the beginning, an investment in an ice cream maker is very likely to pay off in the long run.