Cuisinart ICE-30 Ice Cream Maker - A Comprehensive Review
The Cuisinart ICE-30BCP1 is a domestic ice cream maker with a large 1.89 litre (2 quart) freezer bowl that needs to be frozen for at least 12 hours before it can be used. After nearly 7 years of use (this was the first ice cream machine I ever bought), I've found that it makes great ice cream that is smooth and creamy but does have just a few icy bits that are detectable in the mouth. It produces ice cream that isn't quite as smooth and creamy as the upgraded Cuisinart ICE-70P1. My only complaints are the noise this machine makes and the dasher, which could sit a bit closer to the bowl wall.
How to calculate an ice cream mix
Below is the Excel spreadsheet that I created to calculate my ice cream mix. I’ve designed this primarily for home cooks and so haven’t included commercial ingredients like glucose, dextrose, maltodextrin, stabilisers, and emulsifiers. It's based on the formulas in the seminal book Ice Cream (7th ed.) by Professors Doug Goff and Richard Hartel, which I highly recommend reading. There are no restrictions on its the use so feel free to download and use it as you see fit.
Cuisinart ICE-70 Ice Cream Maker - A Comprehensive Review
After a month of testing, I've found that the Cuisinart ICE-70P1 makes excellent ice cream that is smooth and creamy with very few coarse bits. I've found that it makes ice cream that is nearly comparable to that made in the more expensive Cuisinart ICE-100, which has an in-built freezing system, and slightly creamier than the older Cuisinart ICE-30BCP1. It has an optimum capacity of 900ml (0.95 quart) of ice cream mix, producing about 1090 ml (1.15 quart) of ice cream with about 22% air in 28 minutes and 30 seconds. To get the best out of this machine, I'd recommend freezing the large 1.89 litre (2 quart) removable bowl for 24 hours at around -26°C (-14.8°F). I've found that freezing the bowl at -18°C (0.4°F) produces ice cream with coarse texture.
Lello 4080 Musso Lussino Ice Cream Maker - A Comprehensive Review
The Lello 4080 Musso Lussino is an Italian-made domestic ice cream machine with an in-built freezing system. After 7 months of extensive use, which has included using this machine to make ice cream to sell at 5 food markets, I've found that it produces excellent ice cream that is extremely smooth, dense, and creamy. It has an optimum capacity of 700 ml (0.74 quart) of mix, producing about 900 ml (0.95 quart) of ice cream with about 29% air in an average time of 17 minutes and 30 seconds. My only complaint is the gap between the central pin and the surrounding plastic, which can let in ice cream mix during extraction and cleaning if you're not careful.
