I may have said I have favorites in the ice cream maker department, but I now have a new favorite. The cuisinart mix it in soft serve ice cream maker is the most fun and amazing thing I've ever bought that the whole family goes crazy for. I keep it cold so it's on hand to use. Don't be fooled about the plastic pieces to it, they are held together very well and the machine itself is easy to take apart and clean. We used it recently for a birthday party at my house and all the kids were so excited because it was like they were making their own soft serve ice cream cones themselves. It was a great purchase and I'm extremely happy with how well it works and how inexpensive it was. I love having the little cone holders and the sprinkles on the side. This little machine is wonderful and I would definitely recommend buying this brand, especially if you love ice cream and convenience.

mrshunkler417

USA

I bought the Cuisinart Mix-it-in Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker ICE-45 / ICE-45PK because my kids wanted an ice cream maker, and this one was being sold at a reasonable price. I also liked the design of it and it fit well with the rest of the kitchen gadgets I have. I love that it has storage spaces for you to put things such as ice cream cones or toppings for your ice cream. Using the machine isn't hard. My kids and I read the instructions, which were very clear to follow, and we made the ice cream right from the first time. After a few times of making it with my kids, my oldest son got the hang of it and began using it on his own. The ice cream comes out delicious, but you have to eat it right away because freezing it will turn it into frozen ice cream. It gets hard and will no longer be soft. The machine takes some time to make the ice cream, but it is definitely worth the wait for it. The ice cream comes out delicious and much better than any store bought brands. It must be cleaned after each use, and because cleaning it is hard, I only allow my kids to use it ever so often. It is worth the price I paid for making my kids happy and for getting delicious ice cream, but if I knew that cleaning it was so hard, I would have never purchased it.

Birkawia

USA

This is a fun little gadget for making treats.One of my favorite parts is the condiment storage attachment.It was a very clever idea.That's what convinced me to buy this one.I store candy and cookie crumbles in them.If I fill the compartments up,the candy toppings last for one month.I make dessert with this just about every night so it doesn't last me long. I adore the versatility of this device.The ice cream it makes is rich and thick.It is soft and just firm enough to taste like store bought.It is still creamy so scooping it out is easy.The ice cream holds toppings nicely and does not melt into them. The sorbet is velvety and fluffy.It melts in my mouth.The flavor is delicate and combines perfectly with the fluffy texture of the sorbet.It pairs perfectly with fruit. I would not recommend using this to make yogurt.That was my only disappointment. It came out too watery and the flavor was bland.

honeybee1234

Springdale, UT

I would recommend this to anyone, especially children, who love soft-serve ice cream. It's like having your own personal little ice cream stand in your kitchen. Performance The ice cream comes out delicious every time. Durability I have owned this machine for a little over a year now, and it is still in great shape. No complaints. Ease of Use This ice cream maker is pretty standard. The machine comes with instructions, so as long as you follow them thoroughly, you'll be fine. Ease of Cleaning This is the only drawback of this ice cream maker. There are a lot of different components that need to be cleaned. I have never tried washing them in the dishwasher, so I am unsure if you are able to. Capacity This ice cream maker can produce up to one and a half quarts of ice cream at a time which is a pretty decent amount. It would be nice if it made two full quarts at once though. Design I absolutely adore the design of this soft-serve ice cream maker. I love how it comes with the little mix-in component; very cute.

hollywalsh

USA

The pictures and the premise are compelling: your very own soft serve ice cream station! You can add "mix-ins"! The little cones sit right there! Once we got it home, though, I felt deceived. First, the side containers that show sprinkles and other toppings are just that -- they are not really mixed in the ice cream at all. The ice cream is made in a separate drum that you must first freeze -- we only have one freezer, in our side by side refrigerator, and honestly, the thing took up way too much precious space. Once we got it made, the first dish or so was always very runny, and we only got maybe three or four dishes total out of the thing. The storage containers for sprinkles were cute, but it was difficult to control how much you got at once. Then, some of the parts, like the levers and the lids, broke. It is so much easier to just to sprinkle sprinkles from the sprinkle container. If that is what you are into. And get the cones from the cone package, instead of dropping cone crumbs into the bin, just so you can take them right out again. Performance Ice cream too runny, not easy to re-freeze extra ice cream or stiffen up a softer batch Durability Too many moving parts, many of which broke within just a few uses. Ease of Use Not easy to clean. Takes several days to freeze the inner drum. Ease of Cleaning Crumb-maker; too many separate parts and compartments, and each must be washed separately Capacity Only makes three or four dishes Design Looks cute -- maybe you could "stage" it on your counter with fake stuff?

BiZMama

Omaha, NE

This by far is the best ice cream maker I have ever used. It is easy to set up, you place the tub in the freezer overnight, next day put it in the machine, add your ingredients, turn it on & within 20 to 40 minutes you have your fresh made ice cream. We put the first few coming out in ice cream cones, then the rest is a container and put in the freezes for later enjoyment,You can make just about any kind of ice cream you like & its all natural, no preservitives. If you want a really good ice cream maker, this is the one to buy. Performance Grewat for ice cream and you can add sprinkles via the 3 condament containers on the machine Ease of Cleaning Cleaning the ice cream off the paddle is tough, but actual cleaning of the paddle is easy .

FrankZ

Pineview, GA

I bought this ice cream maker for my nephews and we couldn't help but take it out of the box and start using it right when I gave it to them. The first time we tried it we did not get the expected results but after a few tries we got the hang of it. I did not realize that the freezer bowl must be completely frozen and the product must be chilled also. I like the capacity of the freezer bowl because it makes just enough ice cream for us. It makes about 10 servings which I like about it because we usually don't have much leftover when we use it. After getting the hang of using this product it is pretty easy and fun to use. My nephews especially liked the mix in dispenser, when I first got it we used sprinkles but now they like trying a lot of different things like cookie crumbs or chocolate chips or anything they can think of. All in all this product worked good for us once we got the hang of it and it is a great product to gift someone with children.

IsraaSumrein

Undisclosed

I LOVE soft serve ice cream, but I don't love having to drive to go get it all the time. I was thrilled when I received this little machine as a birthday gift. It is so simply to use and comes with a bunch of recipes. You can even add your extras right into the ice cream, instead of just putting them on top. My kids LOVE it when I add sprinkles to the ice cream. We keep the bowl in the freezer so it is always ready to go to make ice cream whenever we want it. So we get fresh ice cream, instead of freezer burned ice cream. And one of the greatest features aside from the ease of use - it is dishwasher safe! So a breeze to clean! It's easy to take apart and put back together. There are even compartments to hold your toppings, and a place to hold your ice cream cones! This is such fun for pool parties! I just can't say enough good things about this ice cream maker. I was a little leary of some of the parts being plastic, but they are extremely durable. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves ice cream!

snoopyh77

Stevensville, MI

I was walking in the store and saw this Cuisinart Mix-it-in Soft Serve Ice Cream maker. I must give it an A+ for appearance as it looks amazing. My girls minds were blown. A place for sprinkles and ice cream cones? It's almost like you would never have to go to an ice cream shop again. Here's the downfall. The soft serve ice cream isn't all that great. Sure the machine looks amazing and has lots of color and pizzaz. But the ice cream itself isn't what I was hoping it would be. So that's been disappointing. It's also one of those kitchen gadgets you get and use a lot initially and then never again. Sure, I'll bust it out every now and then. But it takes forethought and planning. It's not fun unless I have ice cream cones, sprinkles, etc. So, to sum up it's great for a party and not so great for everyday life. I'm not sure I would recommend this as it's just more for looking and less for using. But for looks alone it's kind of fun to have it.

colleenmari

Banks, OR

My kids asking for ice cream all the times especially summer. So why not get an ice cream maker, right? So they have their wish came true when grandpa sent them a nice little ice stand from Cuisinart. We were so excited to get started but hold on, you got to properly freeze it in the double insulated freezer bowl first. By the way, the bowl is also included as a package. If you plan to have one, make sure you plan ahead of time. The bowl itself could prepare up to 1 1/2 quart of ice cream. Once freezing is done, the exciting part of preparing the ingredients using the receipe book, which is included in the package. It only take about 20 min to get it served with condiments of your choice. You can add between 1-3 condiments. The condiments are blend in the ice cream. Lastly, the cleaning part, it is pretty hassle just like any water/liquid/non-dry based preparation/appliances, it is always is. Overall, we are still happy with it. Performance Overall, does what it promised. Durability Sturdy. Ease of Use Pretty easy to use as long as follow the right receipe for soft serving ice cream. Ease of Cleaning Lots of parts to clean. Design Like a mini ice cream stand.

sumuch11

Wichita, KS