Customer Reviews

Cuisinart ICE-40 Flavor Duo Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was so excited to finally receive this ice cream maker in the mail that I did it all: I make sorbet, frozen yogurt and ice cream. All came out very well. Note: eat the frozen yogurt immediately as it becomes very hard in the freezer and looses the smoothness commonly associated with frozen yogurt. I really enjoy having the two bowls. I've made two separate batches of desserts as well as a double batch. My freezer is stocked and I've never had so many wonderful choices of frozen dessert!

This machine is PERFECT, it makes ice cream perfectly. I've tried other brands of ice cream machines,but this by far is the best. Right out of the box it made perfect ice cream, I am impressed. The quality of Cuisinart is superb. The cost of this ice cream maker is quite a value.
Thank you for producing a quality product that does EXACTLY as you state that it will. I will try making yogurt and sorbet next. Thank you

This appliance was larger than I visualized but it has worked great, is easy to use. I wish I had more recipes to try for the holidays! It has a sleek attractive look and is very well made. The concept of freezing the tubs compared to the old crank and salt method is so convenient. Don't touch the tubs with bare hands or you will get freezer burn!

After reading some of the reviews stating that the ice cream turned out like liquid instead of freezing I was worried if I had made a mistake purchasing this machine. Unfortunately our first batch turned out like a thick creamy liquid (our first recipe we tried was the premium vanilla) it froze after being put in a container in the freezer but would have been better if it had the right consistency when it was being churned. We had only put the bowls in the freezer for about 22 hours. This was not long enough, I would like to emphasize that it is very important that the bowls be well frozen before using. Last night we made the lime sherbert after the bowls had been in the freezer for a week and it turned out perfect! For those who had bad experiences I think your bowls were not frozen long enough or not thoroughly frozen. That would be the only way your ice cream would not turn out if you are following the recipe correctly. I would recommend this ice cream maker to anyone looking for a machine that makes good ice cream quickly. We'll be trying the frozen yogurt recipe next and can't wait!

I worked in a gelato shop before and I am impressed that a machine of this price can create ice cream that almost rivals machines that cost a few thousand dollars.

I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because of the space the product takes up. It is as big as a toaster oven - just the motor stand - and the bowls take up a good part of your freezer. You have to be dedicated to making ice cream on a regular basis to get a 2 bowl model. However, on the upside, you can create 2 flavors simultaneously and it does make it easier to make ice cream in batches.


This product works as advertised. It will create ice cream, albeit, soft serve or gelato consistency ice cream in about 20-25 minutes. It is noisier than I thought (another reason for the 4 stars) - it's about as loud as your typical dishwasher (in terms of decibels). It sounds like a grinder when it works. I don't understand why it makes so much noise though, it must be the way the motor is designed.

Using this machine requires a little bit of planning. First, you must have the bowls frozen for at least 12 hours. I keep them in the freezer for 24 hours between batches. You must also use chilled ingredients. If you are going to heat up an ice cream mix, say, a custard style ice cream, make sure to chill those ingredients.

Don't overfill the container. If you plan on mixing in ingredients, I recommend leaving at least 3 inches of space from the top because ice cream liquids will expand when frozen. The fattiest parts of the ice cream (and the creamiest) stay at the bottom of the tub. The softer part of the ice cream stays at the top.

We bought 3 great ice cream making books with recipes, recipe ideas and ice cream making tips, the Ben & Jerry's one, the Ice cream bible and the perfect scoop, which would be very helpful for those who had less than fortunate results. We read the manual that came with the machine and general advice in the books and followed all the instructions carefully. It clearly does state in the product manual that the temperature of your freezer needs to be 0c and the longer the bowls are out of the freezer the faster it would thaw so you only need to get it out when you're ready to pour in the cooled mixture you've prepared. So pay attention to the tiny details and you'll get great results. If you live in hot climate or have the machine in a warmer room/kitchen, like we did, you cant really expect the machine to create ice cream ready to eat once done, it doesn't say that anywhere!

Our first time we tried two types of French vanilla based ice cream, starting out easy and everything starts with vanilla anyway, we added oreos to one and left the other as is. After 35mins, we poured the two into airtight containers and let them continue setting in the freezer for a couple of hours and yum-my were the results, homemade and without the additives. I must also add that we did stray slightly by using skimmed milk and low fat ingredients, which as all books indicate will factor in the freezing process but not the taste for sure, hee hee.

So again follow the instructions and be ready to keep the ice cream in the freezer a couple of hours if you prefer the thicker consistency and don't live in Alaska or have the coolest kitchen ever. Also, remember, this has no additives so it will take more than just a 50$ machine and 30mins to get it to taste like the artificial store bought stuff. The results will be worthwhile for sure and feel free to send me a message for recipe ideas and i will try to return with recipes and results as we try them out.

One thing i have to note, and not something against the manufacturer, but be careful cause if you fill up the bowls too much and wanna add anything during the process it will spill over the sides and the cleaning up portion will take longer than needed which is what happened on the side where we added the oreos while the other side was spotless. Also, the label on one bowl somehow came loose and we thought the bowl wasn't rotating anymore, but it was only the silly label so no harm really just keep that in mind in case you notice one side may not be rotating.

Ok thats all i can add for now, hope you found this review more helpful that the lesser informative ones, again, reading the manual and preparing is your best bet for great results and have fun, once you have the first batch out of the way I'm sure you'll think of more experimental ideas to try out next time like we have. Enjoy!

I was a little skeptical when this came home because we have used the salt style machines with not great success. With in 20 minutes we had some tasty strawberry and mint chocolate chip ice cream. It's great you can make 2 different flavors at once. We cut the recommended sugar in half to make it even healthier, and the recipe was still great! Simple, easy to find ingredients makes this easy for anybody. Also tweaking the receipes a little to your individual taste has been fun too. When it was finished it wasn't liquid like at all, but a nice consistency. This is an amazing product and I highly recommend it. Kids love helping, and clean up is super easy. Cant wait to try some summer time drinks.

I have never made ice cream before I bought this. It is awesome! I love that it has 2 bowls and so you can make 2 different flavours at the same time.
I made some pistachio ice cream from Jeni's Splendid Artisan Ice cream recipe which uses no eggs for the custard base but is thickened with cornstarch from here:

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It came out really delicious! Will never buy store bought ice cream again!

Like lots of others, I too had a tough time deciding between this one and the kitchen aid attachment. Why this is better:
1) The freezer bowl is smaller so it doesn't take up too much room in my tiny and already overcrowded freezer
2) The freezer bowl has a stable base unlike the KA one so you can set it on the counter and it's not as difficult to handle esp when cold and slippery
3) I can make 2 flavours at the same time
4) While it is an extra appliance on my counter, I find that I can store it in the wasted space right behind my Kitchen aid so it doesn't really take up THAT much more room.

Cons:
1) It is a little louder than I expected but not overpoweringly so.
2) the casing is made of plastic and not metal as suggested by the metallic silver colour. Hence it does not seem very durable.

My family used this for the first time last night. We followed all the instructions and the recipes for basic vanilla (with choc. chips) and the alternate vanilla recipe for mint chip. We had the bowls in the freezer overnight as instructed. Both flavors turned out great! Softserve consistency when done, then a few hours in the freezer and they were normal consistency.

My wife gave this to me for my birthday a few weeks ago to replace our old salt-and-ice ice cream maker and we are well pleased with it. The ice cream is smooth, freezes as promised (soft serve) and is fun to do 2 flavors at once (or a double batch of the same flavor). I especially like the quick and simple vanila recipes in the book (chocolate is considerably harder to do right at home). While it's true that it is a little noisy, it is quieter than our old one. We've already made 6 flavors. It is great!