Best Ice Cream Maker Home: Breville Smart Scoop

Breville ice cream maker received this position for a whole lot of reasons. This smart scoop has many extra features such as automatic signaling, a prep-up manual, etc., which makes it even easier to be used by beginners and kids.

It is one of the best cheap ice cream makers online right now. It also received the best ice cream maker consumer reports.

Breville ice cream maker comes with 12 hardness settings. This feature beats down all the other ice cream makers with a firm blow. Whether you have a soft sorbet texture or super-firm ice cream, Smart Scoop will provide you with the perfect ice cream texture for your cravings. It produces 1.5 quarts of sorbet, frozen yogurt, gelato, or ice cream per batch which is more than enough to meet the ice cream demands of the whole family.

Also, this device provides tune-to-tune alerts, such as the proper time for mixing the ingredients and signals you with present ice-cream truck tunes when ice cream is churned and ready. It does not require any pre-frozen bowls as it is compressor driven.

Furthermore, the smart scoop has a large, bright LCD screen which makes it easy to read and the buttons provided are fun and easy to handle. It has an in-built keep cool function that ensures your ice cream stays frozen for up to three hours.

Not only that, but the machine also has a unique cool-down function that brings down the temperature on the base and the machine to the perfect turning temperature before it starts functioning. Moreover, if you are not comfortable with the automation mode, you can turn it to the normal mode which gives you complete control of the device.

Our testers have informed us that the ice creams produced by the Breville Smart Scoop are smoother and they are perfectly churned which makes them possible to be eaten from the maker straight off, without any need for additional freezing.

This makes the ice cream-making process easier and most importantly time-efficient. That means making ice cream at home and having it will not be a patience-testing job and it will enhance your ice cream eating experience.

What we did not like:

According to some users, the features being provided for the extra money than other ice cream makers are not great. They are good and indeed enhance the process but are not worth $400.

Some users complained that the alerts the machine provides, are based on guesswork which makes the process a bit confusing. The 12 hardness settings are somewhat unnecessary. It can be concluded with just 4 ice cream hardness textures.

Conclusion:

If you want a creamier ice cream consistently by spending some extra dollars you can get your hands on this Breville ice cream maker available at around $400.

Second-best ice cream maker home: Whynter ICM-15LS

The Whynter ICM-15LS has every feature which is required in an ice cream maker and that too in an appropriate amount. Neither less nor more, thus making it our 2nd best pick after Breville Smart Scoop. Though it’s put after smart scoop, it does not lack any feature which Breville has. Just, its ice cream is a little less creamy than the former. But it does not hamper the ice cream quality.

Whynter ICM-15LS has succeeded in producing some of the best ice creams with the perfect combination of ice crystals and creaminess. The composition, though airy, was rich and smooth creating ice cream eating a great experience. Though not as smooth as Breville ice cream maker, we should also keep in mind the amount of difference between them.

Furthermore, the short stature of the machine makes it portable as well as stacked on a bench or shelf when not in use. Having dimensions measuring 8½ by 15 by 9¼ inches it’s undoubtedly one of the smallest ice-cream makers in the market at present.

Moreover, Whynter ICM-15LS is very simple in terms of usage. It has a 1.5-quart removable bowl which is easy to lift due to the inbuilt handle this helps you to scrape out all the ice cream easily. As the bowl is removable, cleaning the ice cream maker becomes even easier.

As the machine does not provide too many buttons and alerts, it becomes confusing and much more convenient to use. One of the most important advantages of ICM-15LS is that it is one of the quietest ice cream makers, making very little to no noise while churning. It does require any prior freezing as it is a compressor model. The compressor performance is on par with other compression-driven machines.

Overall, the Whynter ICM-15LS available at $299 is a great bet and a good value-for-money ice cream maker.

Affordable ice cream maker: Nostalgia ICMP 400

If an ice cream maker is not your daily business but you still want to enjoy the perks of making ice cream at home then you can have Nostalgia ICMP 400 as an ice cream maker. This Nostalgia ICMP 400 is the old-school ice and salt model.

So, that’s pretty obvious that it won’t perform as par as the compressor-driven ice-cream maker machines. But according to our researcher, among the ice and salt models, Nostalgia ICMP 400 holds a lot better position.

About its ice-cream-making capacity, it can make up to 4 quarts of ice cream which is easy twice the capacity of the average ice-cream maker is it any model. The ice cream produced by Nostalgia ICMP 400 is denser and icier. The creaminess was quite missing but it was not a flaw for those who love their ice cream to be a bit icy.

In fact, Nostalgia ICMP 400 produced much more quality ice creams than other salt and ice models. Users have said that ice creams made in Nostalgia had a nicer texture with a hint of ice.

With simple construction, Nostalgia ICMP 400 comes with a bucket, a canister, a dasher, a cover, and a motor at the top. As a prep-up process, one needs to layer ice and salt in the bucket around the canister. One can use Kosher salt if ice-cream rock salt is not available.

It works fine with it. And the steps go on, as usual, to put the mixture inside the canister and plug in the motor. Thankfully, the motor is not that noisy and works at a low hum. Having a comfortable handle and big bucket makes Nostalgia ICMP 400 more convenient to use.

What we didn’t like:

Like any other ice and salt models, this Nostalgia ICMP 400 is a lot time-consuming. According to our tests, it took almost two hours to make a complete 4 quarts of ice cream.

Moreover, it does not allow you to add while the machine is on. You have to remove the mover and cover first, and then you can put seasonal nuts, cookies, or caramel. Still, you will be having the risk of getting an ice and salt mixture on your ice cream.

Conclusion:

The Nostalgia ICMP 400 ice cream maker is a great budgeted product that will suit your needs and won’t hit your pocket at the same time.