Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker
Customer Review: yes it makes ice cream, but...
Summary: 2 Stars
The claim that it churns out ice cream in 35 minutes will probably disappoint you.
I feel the product is overpriced at $80. Should be around $49 for this Chinese unit. Nice stainless steel finish for the Martha Stewart crowd.
The unit is very noisy. (I'm no wussy - I work with chain saws and string cutters all day - so I know noise.)
It gives off loads of EMF. Don't stand near it and watch it churn...I mean high amounts even at 5 feet away.
Here is the basic recipe if you wish to make decent ice vanilla cream.
24 oz 1/2 1/2
200 ml or 7/8 cup of sugar
1-1/2 ts vanilla.
You don't need to make custard / French Van. But the mixture MUST be aged to allow a blending. I age my mix for 4 or 5 hours. Never tested the min aging needed, but you figure out what suites you best.
And you MUST churn for 60 to 70 minutes for the air to be processed into the product, not the claimed 30 minutes.
One other important factor is the room temp. If it is 65 degrees in the house I just chill the mix and age for a few hours. If the house is 80 degrees the mix MUST be aged then pre chilled to 28 degrees in the freezer (about an hour) Stir the mix while aging or pre freezing once in a while.
Also makes a nice orange sherbet style IC with 1/2 and 1/2, frozen OJ and sugar. And if you lucky to have a mulberry tree nearby you can't get much better than fresh vanilla ice cream with mulberries.
Sad thing is nowadays it is harder and harder to get natural 1/2 and 1/2 and impossible to get natural heavy cream. (at least in my local) The ice cream in the store is half melted and then refrozen, overpriced, over processed and lots of times may contain bacteria from sitting out too long un refrigerated (look for leaks around the rim and un even ice cream settling that you can feel if you give the carton a squeeze.
"When the sun rises I go to work,
When the sun goes down, I take my rest,
I dig the well from which I drink,
I farm the soil that yields my food,
I share creation, Kings can do no more."
Ancient Chinese, 2500 BC
Customer Review: Nothing better than homemade ice cream made in our Cuisinart
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not sure where to start when gushing about this product. I have become a lover of all things Cuisinart after purchasing and enjoying a couple different Cuisinart products this year.
Here's why we love this product:
- Simplicity of use: just keep the bowl in the freezer and it's ready for use anytime you want ice cream.
- Control the ingredients: after FOOD, INC. changed our perspective on eating local and organic whenever possible, I now consciously control what goes into every batch.
- Put in as much or as little fat as you want: we've been playing with the recipes provided in the book that came with this product, as well as from the excellent Ben & Jerry's book (which I also recommend you purchase). Over the course of the past few months, we now have a tried and true French vanilla and a chocolate recipe that are each as low in fat as we can possibly go without losing texture and taste in the process.
- No more store-bought ice cream: While it probably costs about the same to make our own ice cream at home as it does to buy it already prepared, the other night when an impulse buy resulted in a half-gallon of a previously favorite ice cream, we discovered that we don't like store ice cream. Even the expensive, name brand kind.
- Easy clean up: it just is. Rinse the top, lick the beater then clean it immediately, and once all the ice cream is scooped out, wash the bowl and place it back in the freezer.
- Ice cream whenever we want it. Well, 20 to 25-minutes later, at least. But whereas we can not keep a carton of ice cream in our house for more than 24 hours (we have teens, and they frequently have friends to the house), we can keep the milks and the ingredients for a couple weeks or more in our fridge, so we have the makings whenever we have the hankering.
Okay, I'll confess: this product is not PERFECT. It is loud. But I read a review where a family simply put the maker in another room and shut the door during its cycling process. And so that is what we do too. Problem easily solved. And the ice cream at the end of the noisy cycle is well-worth a little churning noise.
Enjoy!
Customer Review: Simply delicious
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently purchased this item after wanting it for a while. When I logged on to Amazon one day and saw it for only $64.00 I decided it was time.
I was pleasantly surprised at the size of it. I have a large family (6 children) and had worried that 2Q wouldn't be enough for a family dessert. No worries there!
I placed the freezer bowl in the freezer immediately so we could make Ice cream the next day. In total the bowl was in the freezer for about 12 hours and was completely frozen.
I was also suprised at the simplicity of the recipes. I had imagined the recipes would be ingredient heavy. They are not at all! And I like that the recipes in the book are precisely for the 2 qt maker so there is no adjusting involved.
The first day we made plain vanilla. I did find that the recipe called for a little more vanilla extract than I personally liked but it was easy to just use less next time. I also found the same to be true with the chocolate, the recipe called for a little more cocoa powder than my palate liked, easy fixes.
The machine itself is idiot proof. Put the freezer bowl full of ice cream in, put the mixing arm in circle side up and the lid on and turn it on. That's all. It is quite suprisingly loud as it runs which may bother some.
One thing that's worth mentioning is that I found the "about 25 minutes" they say it takes to make the ice cream to be a bit off. Maybe my house is exceptionally warm so it takes longer, but I found it takes a good 40 minutes to get the ice cream to a consistancy where it can be eaten without turning to liquid before you are done. At 40 minutes it comes out a nice soft serve. If you want a firm ice cream you are never going to get that from the machine, you'll have to finish it off in the freezer.
I knocked off one star for the noise and the extended time but do recommend this product for excellent gourmet tasting ice cream. You'll never sneak off to the store for Ben N Jerry's again!
I haven't tried sorbet's or frozen yogurts yet since my family is more of an ice cream crowd, but maybe soon!
Customer Review: You scream, I'll eat!
Summary: 5 Stars
This machine definately makes ice cream worth screaming for. We're making ice cream almost every night. This baby is a little more expensive than other models especially when you factor in the gym membership you'll need to overcome your new homemade ice cream addiction. It's worth every penny- a good, solid, durabe model.
I keep the bowl in my freezer, so it is ready to go at a moment's notice. When I make ice cream, I wash the bowl right after the ice cream finishes so it doesn't have time to thaw out again. The whole process is really simple. Whip together some milk and sugar, add cream and whatever other ingredients you like to your recipe and 30 minutes later you have the best ice cream you'll ever eat piled in a bowl in front of you.
We've made strawberry ice cream using just fresh strawberries, milk, cream, sugar and some vanilla extract. No one could stop eating the stuff. Tonight we made some pistachio ice cream- took about 5 minutes prep time, 25 minutes of processing and we were in heaven.
The only thing to clean up is the bowl and the paddle and possibly the lid if you slop onto it. I should mention that the lid actuakky has a hole in the center for adding ingredients during the processing. Everything fits easily in the sink, rinses right off and presents no difficulty in cleaning. The unit is a little loud. I would say it is less loud than my kitchenaid blender but louder than my toaster. The noise sort of reminds me of the dishwasher running.
The best part of this is the novelty of it. If you store some basic ingredients in the fridge, you can have ice cream any time and be creative about the kind you make. Left over Halloween candy? Throw it in! Some chopped nuts you didn't need? Throw them in! I think I'm going to try chocolate covered cherries next! Guests think this is fabulous- when they come over for dinner and you can start the ice cream going when everyone sits down to eat knowing there will be a fresh batch of creamy goodness ready at the end of the meal... well, you'll be the favorite hostess on the block.
Customer Review: Glad I got the 2 qt. size
Summary: 5 Stars
I asked for the Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker for my birthday. I'm totally happy with it. So far I've made fresh apricot and blackberry/merlot sorbets. Evidently adding a little booze to the sorbet mixture improves the texture. The apricot froze rock hard after a night in the freezer (maybe next time I'll add a little rum) while the blackberry/merlot stayed just a little softer and easier to scoop. If you'd rather skip the alcohol, 30 seconds in the microwave made the apricot sorbet scoopable without melting it.
Blackberry/Merlot Sorbet
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Chill: 40 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients:
* 8 cups fresh blackberries
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup Merlot
Preparation:
Blend the blackberries and water on high until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the berries to a large saucepan and stir in the sugar. Bring the berry mixture just to a boil and immediately remove it from the heat. Allow the berries to cool at room temperature for 5 minutes, and then press them through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard the berry solids, and mix the puree with the Merlot. Allow the mixture to cool and then freeze it in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
I have to say that this method of removing the blackberry seeds did not work well at all. I ended up pouring the gloppy mess into a collander lined with cheese cloth and then gathered up the ends and squueezed the heck out of it, which was rather messy. I did a little research and ended up purchasing the Roma food strainer and optional screen kit: Roma Food/Veg Strainer,Roma Tomato Strainer 4 Piece Accessory Kit. You can do tons of berries in no time! I guess now I need to learn how to can.