Types of Ice Cream Makers

If you are trying to choose an ice cream maker, there are a number of different types available. Thinking about your needs will help you decide on the best type of ice cream freezer for your family.
There are four main types of ice cream freezers: manual, pre-freeze bowl, electric freezer and gelato makers. Each one has different pros and cons. Read on to find out a little more about the four machines, including their pros and cons, and compare prices on current models of each one.

Manual

You might remember hand-crank ice cream makers from summer camp when you were a kid.

They are made of a large wooden bucket that surrounds a smaller steel container that holds the ice cream. You add ice and rock salt between the two buckets and crank the handle to churn the ice cream.
Pros:

• No electricity is needed to make great ice cream, so they can be used anywhere.
• They are a fun way to keep the kids distracted.
• There are few parts to break, so a good freezer can last forever.

Cons:

• Someone will need to crank the machine until the ice cream is finished, which can take 15 to 20 minutes.
• Ice and rock salt are required, so it may not be useful for overnight camping trips.

Pre-Freeze Bowl

The most common home ice-cream makers have a bowl that you need to freeze ahead of time. They can be either stand alone freezers or attach to a stand mixer or other small appliance.
Pros:

• These tend to have the most convenient size of all ice cream makers.
• You can even find ice cream maker attachments for stand mixers.
• They are frequently the most affordable ice cream maker on the market.

Cons:

• The bowl must be frozen for 12 to 24 hours in advance, so you can’t make ice cream spontaneously.

• Sometimes they freeze unevenly, as liquid freezes to the side of the bowl.

Electric Freezer

If you don’t want to plan ahead for making ice cream, you might want to consider a model that has an electric freezer. These use electricity to cool the ice cream base instead of a frozen bowl.
Pros:

• You can make ice cream anytime, without planning ahead.
• They make some of the best textured ice cream you can find, and are often professional grade.

Cons:

• The machines tend to be larger, because they provide the cold.
• Electric ice cream freezers are also often expensive.

Gelato Makers

Gelato is frozen at a slightly warmer temperature and it does not include as much air as ice cream does, which means that the machines are designed somewhat differently than a traditional ice cream freezer.
Pros:

• Gelato makers will give you the rich texture of a true gelato.
• Nearly any frozen dessert recipe can be used in a gelato maker.

Cons:

• There isn’t as much flexibility as with an ice cream maker with adjustable speeds.
• Many of the quality gelato makers are very expensive.

Ice cream makers are the most important tool for making ice cream, so take your time and research the different models before choosing the one that fits the best. A good investment in kitchen equipment will mean that your purchase will last for a long time.