Cuisinart ICE-50BC Supreme Ice Cream Maker

pigsmoke

New member
I posted an ice cream base recipe a few days ago and DivotMaker requested a gadget review of my ice cream maker, so here 'tis...

Cuisinart ICE-50BC Features: (from Cuisinart's web site)
Commercial-style compressor ice cream maker makes batch after batch no waiting required
No pre-chill or freezing bowls required
Fully automatic 60-minute timer 1-1⁄2 quart capacity
Brushed stainless steel housing with embossed logo
Transparent lid with ingredient spout Instruction/Recipe book
Limited 3-year warranty BPA Free
- See more at: http://www.cuisinart.com/discontinued/ice_cream/ice-50bc.html#sthash.AO4rPvaN.dpuf

I've had mine for 3 or 4 years now and never had a bit of trouble with it. You can make one and a half quarts of ice cream, gelato, sorbet, etc. The unit has a built in compressor so you don't have to pre-freeze a bowl to make ice cream, just turn it on. Some of the reviews for this model complained about too many plastic parts, and I suppose that could be a concern, but I haven't had any parts break on me. It fits on the shelf in my pantry and it will freeze 5 cups of ice cream base in about 30 minutes. I think I paid about $450 for mine. It came with a recipe book, but I think my ice cream base recipe is better. You can find it in the recipe section. 

Apparently Cuisinart has discontinued this model and replaced it with the ICE-100. You can still get the ICE-50BC but they are selling for anywhere from over six hundred bucks to a thousand dollars. Jeez.
The ICE-100 sells for less than 300 bucks. It looks like the newer model doesn't have the external motor driven arm that turns the paddle. This is probably a good improvement. I would definitely consider the ICE-100 if I were shopping for an ice cream maker today. There are other manufacturers making ice cream freezers with built in compressors (DeLonghi, Whynter, etc). I chose the Cuisinart after looking at reviews and then considering that my Cuisinart Food Processor has lasted over 20 years without a single problem.  The built in compressor was definitely a selling point for me. With the other models you have to pre-freeze a bowl and you are limited to making 1 batch of ice cream at a time until the bowl re-freezes. With a compressor, you can crank out as much ice cream as you need for any occasion.

I don't know why the older model ICE-50BC is selling at such a premium when it's a discontinued model. I would certainly suggest to anyone considering one of these that they look closely at the ICE-100 instead.
I consider an ice cream maker to be an essential kitchen gadget that belongs in your pantry alongside a restaurant quality pasta machine, a meat slicer, water bath canner, food processor, a stand mixer, meat grinder and sausage stuffer.

If you just want ice cream on the cheap, get a White Mountain electric. They have a huge 6 quart capacity and last for forever. I had mine for probably 20 years before I replaced it with the Cuisinart. The only problem I see with the old style ice cream churns is you have to deal with the crushed ice/rock salt brine and they tend to be very noisy. Forget about the antique hand crank ice cream churns, you just don't want to put that much work into ice cream when electricity is so cheap.

One last word of general advice when shopping for any gadget. Beware of manufacturer claims about "professional" or "commercial" quality. Usually this means they just beefed it up a little and jacked the price up a lot. There is a very wide gap between the quality of products intended for home use and those specifically manufactured for the food service industry. If you really want a commercial ice cream maker, meat slicer, or food processor you can expect to pay a lot for it. On the other hand, restaurant tools take a severe beating and get abused daily and still hold up.  A stand mixer made for home use wouldn't last 2 days in a commercial bakeshop. You have to balance what your willing to pay with how hard your going to use it.
Just my 2 cents.
 
Thanks for the review, Pigsmoke!  I'm doing some research on these now...Amazon seems like a good source (the ICE-100 is on Prime for $269):

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-100-Compressor-Cream-Gelato/dp/B006UKLUFS/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1380673538&sr=8-6&keywords=cuisinart+ice+cream+maker

Looks like a pretty solid unit.  Should do well for those of us who aren't in the ice cream business!  ;D
 
This looks like a nice unit, if you get it let me know how it works.

It has the same capacity as mine yet looks to be a little smaller overall and cheaper too. What I can't figure out from the pictures or the owners manual which I downloaded from Cuisinart is how in the dickens do they drive the paddle? It must be driven somehow through the gear in the lid because the bowl is solid, but I just can't see how it all hooks up.

If you get this unit I have one little tip to pass along. Do pre-freeze the mixing bowl. You don't have to, but it will reduce the amount of time it takes to churn your ice cream, i.e., the machine won't have to work as hard. I always toss the bowl in the freezer for a little bit before I dump my ice cream base in and start the machine. The cold has to pass through the walls surrounding the bowl and chill the bowl off before your ice cream base starts to feel the cold. Pre-chilling the bowl cuts down on the time it takes for this to occur. I just can't see dumping cold ice cream base into a room temperature metal container, it'll warm your custard before it chills it down. An alternative to this would be to just ripen your base directly in the ice cream maker bowl, but I haven't ever tried this. 

Let me know how it works out and please share any cool ice cream flavors you invent.

mike...
 
...one last thingy,

I was looking through the recipes that Cuisinart provides with that ICE-100. Personally, I'd stay away from those "simple" ice cream recipes. The ones that only consist of dairy and sugar. They have a greasy, gritty mouth feel, unlike the custard based recipes. Because they only consist of dairy and sugar, and the dairy is not scalded to completely dissolve the sugar and melt the fats. It's like eating frozen cream and sugar...  because that's exactly what your eating. Any custard based formula with give you a much better finished product.

You really only need 1 ice cream recipe, a good base custard, and I put one in the recipe section.
Flavor it and add particulates as your imagination dictates.

mike...
 
Ok boys, time to get your chill on, and start chillin it! Post your pics of the ice cream you make as I am curious to see how it turns out. 

Mike: Thanks for the great post and feedback. I wasn't in the market for an ice cream maker, but now you have me craving this unit.
 
Gonna take a little time to convince the wife why I "need" a $300 ice cream maker, Smokester! But, I'm a patient man, and I will (eventually) prevail! ....I think. ???
 
I just purchase Cuisinart ICE-50BCA, brand new. If I ran it for only a single batch, it works fine, especially if I only fill it with 2/3 or less of the volume. It took about an hour to freeze. However, if I want to run another batch immediately, it just simply do not want to freeze. It has some solids but very runny. Even if I let it run to 1.5 hours, it still runny. Is it suppose to behave that way? Or I got a faulty unit.

Help! Please?
 
Very nice, very interesting.

I am not even close to getting such a gadget; but now you have me thinking what my next adventure should be after I get this SI3 mastered. NOTE I already "need" a briner junior and a vacuum sealer so the next couple events such as Easter and Father's Day gift ideas are taken.

My wife loves ice cream, she is very particular about it though. Need be creamy, not granulated almost as if there is extra sugar to prevent melting in the summer heat. That said, how does the ice cream turn out? I guess that's what I'm really trying to understand

Thanks!
 
My parents have a smaller version of the Cuisinarts and the ice cream that comes out immediately after they are done is kind of runny.  They usually transfer it to another container (food safe) and put it into the freezer for an hour or so just to firm it up. 

Its a little cold here to be thinking about Ice Cream right now, but when it warms up a bit, I may have to start looking into this too.
 
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