Ice Cream Maker - Convince me I NEED one :)

I really really want to get an ice-cream maker but I'm on an appliance buying ban until we finish building our house.

I know I could wait BUT think one would be great this summer.......so help me convince DH we really need one lol.

Do you use yours? What do you make? Do you think they are worth it?

Thanks :D

I'm not going to be the best help here, LOL!!!

I have one, but don't use it as often as I thought. I LOVE ice cream and love cooking, so thought it would be great. Have made several batches, but am not really happy with the outcomes.

My advice would be to get a fairly expensive one, as I got a cheapie, and it doesn't seem to freeze or mix as well as it should. However, I have seen one in action at a cooking class that looked really good, so they can work well.

You also have to have plenty of freezer space - the bowl normally needs to be stored in the freezer for a couple of days (?) before making a batch to ensure it's cold enough.

Good luck deciding!! (And I hope someone with a better machine comes in to encourage you, LOL!)

I've found you get what you pay for with ice cream makers. I certainly don't use it *all* the time though, only if I want a specific ice cream/sorbet flavour I can't already buy.

Sorry probably not what you wanted to hear, there's just so much good quality ice cream and sorbets on the market now.

You can make lots of delish ice creams and sorbets in them. You can choose from low fat to high fat recipes. Some recipes do take a fair bit of time/effort. And you have to start way in advance mostly - eg. make the egg custard and then let it cool completely.

I found that in Qld heat, the frozen bowl would heat up before I had finished churning my icecream. :wall: So you should try and get one with a big bowl or one that plugs into the wall to cool the bowl (not just to churn the motor). But they are $$$.

Anyway, HTH!

We have a cheap one & Ive used it less than half a dozen times. Having said that we are getting a soft serve machine from Chrisco for DF's Christmas present so hopefully we will use it.