Leave it to Cuisinart to come up with a new twist on old-fashioned ice-cream making. The Mix It In Soft-Serve Ice Cream Maker ICE-45 uses a double-insulated freezing bowl for extra efficient freezing of homemade treats. It also has a dispensing station with three separate mix-in containers so you can make ice cream, as well as mix in mini chips, sprinkles and other embellishments as you dispense your dessert into cones or cups.

This unit consists of a platform base (18 inches tall by 10 inches wide by 7.5 inches deep) with raised mixing area, 1.5-quart freezer bowl, mixing paddle, three mix-in containers and their associated lids and dispensing levers, an ice-cream dispensing bracket, removable drip tray and cone holder.

For a simple device, it is really rather complex and sophisticated. Once you go through the motions of pre-freezing the bowl and assembling the unit's various components, the rest is automatic.

We made a batch of simple vanilla ice cream. Easy recipes are provided and you'll want to follow them to the letter, particularly the part about checking the consistency every few minutes. The freezer bowl and mixing paddle work together to keep the ice-cream mixture moving in the bowl for quick, efficient freezing. Our ice cream reached a soft-serve consistency in about 15 minutes, which is much faster than we expected.

Before you can prepare ice cream, the freezer bowl must be pre-frozen for a minimum of 12 hours, or until all the liquid has solidified. If you have room in your freezer, store the bowl there until you are ready to use it. The freezer bowl itself is 6 inches tall with a 7-inch diameter.

We encountered a few difficulties the first time around, mainly from not following the instructions exactly as stated. We filled the condiment containers with cookie crumbs, mini chips and very small sprinkles. While the mini chips worked perfectly, the others dispensed too quickly or not at all. We discovered that proper placement in the containers is essential. The smallest items, such as sprinkles, can only be dispensed from the front container. Also, the mix-ins should be uniform in size and small enough to fit through the mix-in gauge provided. Items that are too large will clog the machine.

The other essential step is dispensing. It is important to monitor the ice cream and dispense as soon as the mixture reaches a soft-serve texture -- if you wait too long, the mixture will continue to harden and become impossible to dispense. You pull down on the dispensing bracket and the ice cream flows into your cup or cone. To add mix-ins, simply pull open the tab for the mix-in(s) of your choice and watch as the dispensing gears deliver both ice cream and mix-ins through the opening.

Aside from our user error, we thought this machine was -- excuse the pun -- cool! Kids will love the mix-in capability and enjoy the frozen treats. A number of recipes are given to suit all taste preferences.


Pros: Automatic mixing and dispensing of soft-serve ice cream, three separate mix-in containers, double-insulted freezer bowl
Cons: Ice-cream that has become too hard won't dispense properly

Warranty
3 years, limited