Whynter ICM 15-LS Automatic Ice Cream Maker: This self-freezing machine works and looks much like the Cuisinart ICE-100 we named our best compressor model. It also has the same capacity and is roughly the same price. Taste-testing gave the Cuisinart the edge, but it's only a slight edge. The best part about Cuisinart’s ice cream maker is its simplicity. All you have to do is turn it on to start making frozen yogurt, ice cream, and more—there are no extra settings to deal with. You do have to take the extra step of pre-freezing the bowl the day before, but we think the simple design makes it a fantastic choice for beginners who’ve never made homemade ice cream before. In our tests, we were able to make delicious ice cream and sorbet in around 20 minutes each from start to finish. For both recipes, the frozen desserts held their shape well for scooping and yielded denser textures compared to other ice cream makers we tested.

If you’re ready to get serious about making ice cream, the Smart Scoop offers lots of functionality for its steep price tag. Most importantly, it has its own compressor—just like a full-size freezer or air conditioner—and chills the bowl while it churns. After the ice cream is done, it'll even hold it at the perfect scooping temperature for up to three hours. You can pre-freeze the bowl just like with other models, but you can also set the machine to chill the bowl for you while you prepare your ice cream or sorbet base. You also don't have to worry about refreezing the bowl between batches, which is a boon as the machine can only make about a quart at a time, and a batch can take nearly an hour to freeze. Before we got started testing ice cream makers, we interviewed Ryan O’Hara, co-owner of Big Spoon Creamery in Birmingham, Alabama. O’Hara gave us expert tips on what to look for in an at-home ice cream maker, as well as advice on how to produce high-quality desserts with these machines. I always recommend mastering vanilla ice cream before moving on to more complicated flavors," says Ellen Coatney, creator and owner of Fifth Scoop, a plant-based ice cream brand based in Madison, Wisconsin. "This helps you get the technique down without worrying about your chocolate breaking or your fruit swirl getting icy. Once you're confident, you can mix and churn a delicious vanilla ice cream, start adding some basic mix-ins—cookie pieces or chocolate chips are easy ones to start with—and then you can get more creative." Overall, we like this compressor machine because it’s easy to use and has an LED screen that takes the guesswork out of making ice cream. Instead of an electric motor, the Chef'nSweet Spot Ice Cream Maker only requires a flat pan and two plastic spatulas to make ice cream, gelato, slushies, and rolled ice cream—similar to what you would find in a Cold Stone ice cream parlor. Since this is a manual ice cream maker, you would think it would be slower than electric machines—but our tests surprisingly found that to be untrue. We made fluffy ice cream in just under 2 minutes, which is much faster than it took the electric models on our list. (But you have to freeze the bowl for 24 hours in advance.)Yes! Much of the difference in texture and flavor between ice cream, gelato, and frozen yogurt is due to their different recipes, any of which will freeze in most any kind of ice cream maker. However, the amount and speed of churning also affect the finished product, and not every ice cream maker lets you adjust those. You might get the best results with an ice cream maker that has specific settings for different recipes, but you can also fine-turn your recipe and procedure for your particular machine. While most ice cream makers freeze the liquid base while whipping in air at the same time, the Ninja Creami starts with a jar of frozen base and uses a special blender-blade-like "Creamerizer Paddle" to give it proper smooth and velvety texture. The unusual method made our Lab's team of trained chefs and experienced home cooks suspicious, but in the end, the TikTok-famous gadget turned out to be the best ice cream machine we've ever used. The amount an ice cream maker can freeze in a single batch varies widely. The machines we tested range from about half a cup to a full gallon. Keep in mind that homemade ice cream doesn't store as well in the freezer as commercial brands, so it's best not to make much more than you plan to use within a day or two. The FDA considers 6 ounces to be a serving of ice cream, which means a quart is (in theory) enough for six people. With both sorbet and ice cream, the Creami Deluxe produced a firm and consistently textured product, with no ice crystals or un-spun base built up in the corners of the container. Both were ready to eat and perfect straight out of the machine. After two hours of re-freezing, the ice cream maintained its texture exactly, and the sorbet was still pretty good—a bit denser than we'd like, with a few ice crystals on top.

We were honestly blown away by the sorbet this thing made. The recipe we used is vegan, with only strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt, but the scraping and mixing technique made for a light but creamy texture that was far better than we expected. The constant motion prevents ice crystals from forming while working in a lot of air, and the resulting sorbet melts on the tongue like cotton candy. For ice cream, adding mix-ins in the last few seconds of the process is easy, the pieces work in evenly, and you have lots of control over how much you chop things into smaller bits. Cleanup is also really easy, thanks to a high lip that keeps everything fairly well-contained. The pan isn't dishwasher-safe, but washing by hand is quite simple. Over the years, we’ve put more than 18 different ice cream makers to the test in the Good Housekeeping Institute's Kitchen Appliances Lab . Freezer bowl: A freezer-bowl-style ice cream maker is a common and easy-to-use style of ice cream maker, though you have to ensure that you have the space in your home freezer to store the bowl for up to 24 hours before you intend to make ice cream. (If the bowl isn't truly frozen, you'll struggle to make ice cream.) You likely won’t be able to make multiple batches at a time with this style, because the bowl needs to refreeze between batches. It depends on the ingredients you use. The main ingredients for ice cream are cream, milk, sugar, and sometimes eggs, all of which come in inexpensive and pricier versions. Fresh and local ingredients, grass-fed dairy, and cage free eggs can be costly but can also make a difference in flavor. The same is true for non-dairy ice cream. Base ingredients like soy milk or canned coconut milk are more affordable, while something like cashew milk can be quite expensive.Hello everyone! In preparation for summer I thought it appropriate to put together this DIY ice cream cold plate project which turned out surprisingly easy and effective. The whole process is demonstrated in the embedded video above, and a written description will follow. If the embedded video does not work for you on mobile here is a direct link to the video on YouTube. When it comes to settings, the Smart Scoop offers pinpoint control. There are 12 different hardness settings calibrated for different types of frozen desserts, whether you need a scoop of vanilla that will hold up in a root beer float or a softer sorbet to quenelle atop a slice of pie. Internal thermometers measure the mixture, with the internal compressor adjusting to make sure the temperature stays just right. (Unfortunately, there aren't speed settings and no slower churn for gelato.)