With Cuisinart’s 30+ years of experience in the home appliance industry, people have come to regard their products as top-notch. So much so that, Cuisinart is a preferred brand name for many kitchen appliances. Their products work and look darn good while doing so.
Their range of ice cream makers, both freezer bowl models and internal compressor models are proof of this. The Cuisinart ICE-50 is no exception and toes their company line of ‘technology with taste’, or does it?
Main Features
The Cuisinart ICE-50BC Supreme Ice Cream Maker is a compressor model ice cream maker that prepares your favourite desserts quickly and efficiently. It manages to pull off a sleek look too while doing this. With standard features that many ice cream makers have, the Cuisinart ICE-50 tries to be on par with other models., but this is where it begins to falter.
Ease of use
It is a 1.5 quart capacity machine with an integrated compressor which eliminates use of ice and salt. Not having to freeze a bowl for 24 hours, either is a welcome plus. Churning is done by a motor housed in the motor arm that connects to the paddle, through the lid via the stem of the mixing paddle.
WHAAAT! I know, I know. I was blown away myself. That is a pretty complicated set of steps. I mean, its OK when you are just putting the machine together and preparing your ice cream. The bummer occurs when you have to take out the dessert either because its finished or the ice cream has frozen the paddles solid.
Errmmm, that’s not all. To begin using this at all, you have to align and fit exactly the stem of the paddle into the bottom of the motor arm at one end, an audible click and non wiggling of the stem will show that it is properly in place.
This is a bit more than I signed up for when I bought an electric, automatic ice cream maker. I would be sceptical about trusting anyone with putting this together. I would be scared that they would break the arm thingy.
This really detracts from its ease of use.
If you can get around the fiddly motor arm, it will make you dessert in back to back batches without any problems. It is usually done in about 30 – 35 minutes.
Clean up
Cleaning up is relatively easy as the parts that come in contact with the ice cream i.e. stainless steel bowl and the plastic paddle are easily removed and hand washed. The rest of the unit can be wiped down with a damp cloth.
Design & Dimensions
It is a large, handsome machine, measuring 18.2 x 14.2 x 14.5 inches. The rectangular exterior finished in stainless steel makes it look quite professional. It has two carry handles on the side which make moving it around easy, though I wouldn’t advise you lugging its’ 9 pound bulk around often.
There is a manual timer on the top of the machine to set it up to 60 minutes. The finished product is like soft serve. You will definitely to freeze it after production. Scoop into any of these containers, that come in different sizes, and will suit any purpose. There is a spout in the lid for adding any mix-ins, syrup, sprinkles that you want to add.
This appliance comes with a 5 year guarantee. The included recipe book is adequate, but you can experiment further using Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book. With the amount of complaints people have about this machine, I think it is bad that Cuisinart do not include a manual and/or troubleshooting guide.
Well, that is a few pros that the Cuisinart Supreme has. Now lets see out the cons:-
The operations of this machine is heralded by a loud, clanging, jangling, ear-shattering noise, This is because the motor in this model is in the plastic arm ON TOP of the machine. This lets you hear every clink and clank that the machine produces. Jeez, Cuisinart, what happened to a little noise-proofing?! The noise is so bad that one user suggested that to reduce the noise, you should
Go get 2 big fluffy beach towels, color not important. Place on top of ice cream maker being careful not to block air vents on the side.
LOL!
The paddle has a design that I am still trying to understand. Call me thick, but how does the inner paddle help churn the dessert? The outer paddle scrapes along the walls of the bowl (leaving about half an inch of ice cream) and keeps turning as long as the motor is running. The inner paddle is a bit too flimsy for that. This leads to it getting stuck whenever the ice cream mix gets too thick.
Methinks….
The Cuisinart looks good, no doubt, but we ain’t paying for looks here, except you want a really expensive paperweight. The problem with the arm is a recurrent one and costs up to $30 to ship out a replacement when the arm breaks (which is quite often). This just adds to the cost of the machine and I don’t think that makes sense.
Some people have no problems with their Cuisinart ICE-50. Feeling lucky? Then pick up one here with free shipping.
