Believe it or not I like the small one better

Author's Rating:

Pros: By far the best kitchen tool for an ice cream lover.

Cons:  A bit loud. A bit bulky. Takes up counter space.

The Bottom Line: 
Ice cream lovers will love this clunky machine. I am not sure how it will last, but for the price its a deal.

Author's Review
I had the smaller version of the Cuisinart Ice Cream maker (see review) that you have to freeze the bowl overnight before making ice cream. I would seriously say based on making ice cream for parties and dates and family members that this ice cream maker was one of the best things I've purchased for the kitchen in quite some time. It really does pay for itself and amaze people when you are hosting a dinner party, etc. After using the small unit for a while with such success, I thought it would be wise to put the extra $150 towards getting the ICE-50BC because it would give me more ice cream per batch and also would clear out some space in my freezer because you don't have to put a bucket in there overnight in order to make ice cream. (or gelato or sorbet).

In terms of this machine ... it does take up a LOT more storage space than the smaller machine does. If you have a small kitchen or not a lot of cupboard or shelf space, you may want to think twice about buying this. While you don't need to put it in the freezer due to the fact that it has a self cooling area, it will take up some storage space because of its length. It is also fairly heavy for someone to lift and bulky.

I will agree with some of the other reviewers that the parts can feel flimsy. The mixing arm does not give me the most confidence in terms of not breaking a year or two down the road. And to be honest, based on past Cuisinart items I have bought I really do wonder how long the electrical componants, especially the freezing part will last. It is quite amazing I even bought this at all considering how useless my Cuisinart wine chiller is. However, the only way around this is to buy the next step up in terms of ice cream and gelato makers which cost $500 or at least $350 reconditioned on Amazon. I think the price point for this is in between the smaller self freeze Cuisinart at $50 and the more expensive professional type of Ice Cream makers for $500. Of course, real professional machines can go past $1,000 easily but I doubt anyone reading this review has any dilusions about using the Cuisinart Ice-50BC for anything but personal use.

I will say that the freezing doesn't take as much time as I thought it would. It takes about as much time to make ice cream as it does with the smaller one you have to put in the freezer overnight first. There is no spontaneously whipping up a batch of ice cream with that unit for sure! Unless you have the space to leave the bowl in the freezer at all times. I do notice however, that this unit doesn't seem to get as cold as the self freeze unit which means the ice cream is a little bit softer. Even with the self freeze unit, I find unless you want very creamy and almost a soft serve consistancy, you have to put the unit in the freezer for an additional 20-30 minutes past the prep. time, which is contrary to the marketing. I feel as though you are sort of stuck with a creamier ice cream (a non-scoopable) ice cream with this because it doesnt mix it as much when it is hard and it has to be left in the freezer for a bit.

Making ice cream is very easy with this/these machines. No ice or salt is needed. However, I will say that the ingredients for ice cream are EXPENSIVE! There is a book included with a few ice cream recipies. However I have found numerous books on Amazon or at Williams Sonoma such as 'Ciao Baby Gelato and Ice Cream' and 'Sweet Treats Ice Cream Recipies' which offer great flavors such as my favorite, salted caramel. But, most ice creams require you to buy heavy cream (I substitute light cream because of cost and health) and whole milk. A few cups of sugar. Chocolate powder does tend to get expensive as well. As does the vanilla extract. I would say the average batch of ice cream, if you bought good ingredients would cost around $5 - 10 for a simple vanilla. $7 - 12 for chocolate. The more you add, the more the price goes up. Pistachio gets expensive and requires you to add egg yolks ... as do most gelato recipies. Which means you will have to cook part of the recipe and cool it. To make a simple batch of vanilla ice cream will take about 20 minutes (not including the 20 - 40 minutes it takes to churn). To make gelato or a caramel ice cream, you are talking more like 30 minutes to an hour by the time it cools, etc. not including the churn time.

A few suggestions ... Alchohol ice creams are great and you can add guiness, limoncello, rum, etc. but keep in mind that alchohol and freezing do not go great together, so the ice cream will have a creamier consistancy. Also, do not fill the ice cream maker too full. Usually the recipe even the book gives you will make enough where, when the air is folded in, the ingredients get bigger. If you make too much in one batch (as another reviewer said) the ice cream will go all the way to the top of the maker and stop from churning it and get stuck. This could not only make the mix bad, but it can break the churning device. Also, if you are making ice creams with cookie dough, reeses peanut butter cups or cookies, etc. ... you will want to wait until the very end to gradually add the harder ingredients. If you put them in all at once, or towards the beginning, it will clog the machine from churning and once again, you won't be able to churn or it may break the device because it gets stuck. Sometimes I mix light and heavy cream together to save money and it makes the ice cream taste good. Obviously heavy cream is best, but its so bad for you. I do tend to notice Cuisenart goes a little heavy on the sugar in its recipe book and I cut it back by 1/2 a cup or 1/4 of a cup. Same with the lemon juice for the strawberry ice cream. 4 TBSP seems like a lot, so I just cut a lemon in half and squeeze in one half a lemon.

For the pricepoint, someone who doesn't want to deal with freezing a bowl the night before or wants a little more ice cream to serve, this would be a good purchase given the low price compared to similar sized machines with freezing units. I would honestly recommend getting the smaller, less expensive machine, which will still make enough ice cream for 4 cones. If you have a big family or have lots of people over, the bigger unit would be better. Unless you bought 2-3 more spare bowls for the smaller unit and just switched them out to make different flavors. However, that could get expensive and take up all your freezer space.

In terms of cleaning, this is pretty easy to clean. The hard part is if you make too much and it oozes over the top ... or if you drip on parts of the machine. Then, you might have some time consuming cleaning of the actual unit. But, if you make this the correct way, it is pretty much just hand washing a bowl pretty quickly and you are set. The noise level is pretty loud, but come on ... you have to expect that. You have to churn the ice cream in order to freeze it and no small machine that spins a heavy bowl around and has a mixing device is going to be quiet. Still, don't think you will be able to have this running and be able to have conversation in the next room without hearing the motor. It is loud. But most ice cream makers are.

Whichever machine you choose, big or small ... you will be in for a treat. Homemade ice cream is a nice treat. People really love it and you can also add organic cane sugar, organic fruit or free range milk or cream so you aren't getting the nasty chemicals in the store bought stuff. I would say that I prefer the smaller machine to this one, but if I had only this one to choose from, this would be one of the best buys you can make. Especially if you like to cook or host parties. For under $250 - $200, this is a good deal. If you can find it for $100 - $150 its even better, but watch out because some people are selling factory reconditioned units as brand new on the internet.