As one of the earliest inventors of the domestic food processor, Cuisinart has become synonymous with a range of kitchen gadgets over the last 40 years – even Julia Child was a fan and listed the Cuisinart food processor as one of her favourite appliances.
The brand has evolved a lot since, adding mini choppers, blenders, hand mixers and sandwich makers to its roster, but it’s ice cream makers that have become the jewel in Cuisinart’s crown. Well, at least that’s what our expert reviews team at Good Food thinks, having tested every model in the range.
What we love about Cuisinart’s ice cream makers is there’s a model for everyone – whether you’re working with a small budget and a tiny kitchen, or you want a self-freezing gadget that can churn large quantities.
Cuisinart machines have also performed consistently well in our tests, scoring top marks for design features, efficiency, ease of use, and quality of ice cream.
Whichever type of ice cream maker you’re looking for, we’ve outlined our favourites below to help you find the right Cuisinart model for you. However, if you want more product suggestions or advice on buying these machines, you can discover more in our guides to the best ice cream makers and the Ninja Creami vs Ninja Creami Deluxe.
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Best Cuisinart ice cream makers at a glance
Freeze-first models:
- Best Cuisinart ice cream maker overall: Cuisinart Iced Dessert Maker, £54.99
- Best large Cuisinart ice cream maker: Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker ICE30BCU, £100
- Best small Cuisinart ice cream maker: Cuisinart Solo Scoops, £39.99
- Best mid-sized Cuisinart ice cream maker: Cuisinart Cool Scoops, £69.99
Self-freezing models:
- Best Cuisinart ice cream maker for versatility: Cuisinart Freeze Ease Pro Ice Cream Maker, £249.99
- Best Cuisinart ice cream maker for gelato: Cuisinart Ice Cream and Gelato Professional, £249.99
- Best Cuisinart ice cream maker for ease of use: Cuisinart FreezeEase Ice Cream and Gelato Maker, £149.99
Jump to:
Best Cuisinart ice cream makers to buy in 2025
Cuisinart Freeze Ease Pro Ice Cream Maker
Available from Cuisinart (£249.99), Lakeland (£249.99)
Best ice cream maker for versatility
Pros:
- Range of pre-sets
- Easy to clean
- Brilliant results
Cons:
- Lots of non-recyclable packaging
- Not the most intuitive
Star rating: 5/5
Cuisinart’s Freeze Ease Pro is a self-freezing ice cream maker designed for those after professional-quality results at home. Building on the strengths of its predecessor, this 2025 model introduces four dedicated presets for ice cream, gelato, sorbet and frozen yoghurt, along with a handy hardness setting to tailor the consistency to your liking. There’s also a mix-only mode, ideal for aerating your base before churning.
The digital touchscreen is modern and responsive, making it easy to select your desired programme and wipe clean between uses. Assembly is straightforward, with the bowl and lid clicking smoothly into place and two paddles (one for ice cream, one for gelato) that feel robust during churning.
In use, the Freeze Ease Pro consistently delivers smooth, creamy ice cream and silky sorbet, with no hint of graininess. The ability to fine-tune the hardness means you can achieve anything from soft-serve to a firmer scoop. The machine is not the smallest on the market, so you’ll need to find around a microwave’s footprint-worth of space to offer it when not in use.
While the range of options and symbols means you’ll want the manual nearby at first, the results are well worth the effort. For those seeking quality and versatility, it’s a strong contender.
Wattage: 150W
Pre-freeze: Not required
Average churn time: 40 minutes
Capacity: 1.5L
Warranty: 3 years
Cuisinart iced dessert maker
Available from Amazon (£54.99)
Best Cuisinart ice cream maker overall
Pros:
- Quick to assemble
- Quiet
- Attractive
Cons:
- Can be tricky to get the ice cream out
Star rating: 5/5
This machine can make 1.4 litres of creamy, light ice cream in just 20 minutes (just don’t forget to pre-freeze the bowl overnight), and its soft pistachio colouring looks great on the countertop. We were impressed by how effortlessly and quietly it operated, not to mention it’s easy to assemble.
As well as ice cream, you can also make iced fruit desserts and sorbet. There are two distinctively different paddles, too, one of which has two angled arms for churning ice cream, while the other has six arms to mash and churn fresh fruit for smooth or chunky iced desserts.
Once churning has started, the see-through lid has a generous opening to pour in the ice cream mixture. As we spooned it from the machine to tub, the ice cream began to stick to the walls of the bowl, but leaving it for five minutes made it easier to scrape down with a silicone spatula. Read our full Cuisinart iced dessert maker review.
Wattage: 50W
Pre-freeze: At least 2 hours
Average churn time: 20 minutes
Capacity: 1.4L
Warranty: 5 years
Cuisinart Ice Cream and Gelato Professional
Best Cuisinart ice cream maker for gelato
Pros:
- Clear and easy-to-use buttons
- Different paddles for ice cream and gelato
Cons:
- Quite noisy
Star rating: 5/5
If you’re in the market for a self-freezing ice cream maker that produces professional results, the Cuisinart model is a dream to use. It comes with two paddle types (one for ice cream and another for gelato) and there aren’t many controls to navigate either – just an on/off button, timer, and nifty stop/start button, which allows you to pause the churning process to taste or inspect your ice cream.
None of the parts are dishwasher-safe, but we found everything easy to hand wash. Ice cream, sorbet and gelato take about 40 minutes to churn, but it’s quality is worth waiting for – each scoop was well mixed, soft and aerated. Read our full Cuisinart ice cream and gelato professional review.
Wattage: 150W
Pre-freeze: Not required
Average churn time: 40 minutes
Capacity: 1.5L
Warranty: 5 years
Cuisinart FreezeEase Ice Cream and Gelato Maker
Available from Cuisinart (£149.99)
Best Cuisinart ice cream maker for ease of use
Pros:
- 3 frozen dessert settings – ice cream, sorbet, and frozen yoghurt
- Simple touchscreen controls
- ‘Keep cool’ setting that chills ice cream for up to 1 hour
- Smooth, creamy results
Cons:
- Ice cream bowl is quite small given the size of the whole appliance
Star rating: 4.5/5
Where most self-freezing ice cream makers come at a premium price, this newer Cuisinart model is on the more affordable side at just under £150. It’s a fantastic all-rounder, with settings for ice cream, sorbet and frozen yoghurt, plus a handy ‘keep cool’ function that runs for up to an hour after it’s finished churning.
We loved its minimalist touchscreen controls and smooth rounded edges, though it takes up a fair chunk of the countertop. This seems at odds with the bowl capacity (930ml), which is smaller than Cuisinart’s other self-freezing models even though the footprint is roughly the same.
In test, our ice cream was soft set after 40 minutes of churning, with a smooth, creamy texture and intensified vanilla flavour. There’s also a slot in the lid for mix-ins to be added like nuts, chocolate or fruit.
Wattage: 100W
Pre-freeze: Not required
Average churn time: 40 minutes
Capacity: 950ml
Warranty: 3 years
Cuisinart Solo Scoops ice cream maker
Available from Cuisinart (£39.99), Amazon (£29.99)
Best small Cuisinart ice cream maker
Pros:
- Compact footprint
- Budget price
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Loud
- Some non-recyclable packaging
Star rating: 4.5/5
Small but mighty, this ice cream maker from Cuisinart is ideal for beginners or those with limited kitchen storage. Its 475ml bowl allows for around eight scoops (approximately one tub) of ice cream, and comes with a clear lid so you can easily monitor the progress.
We found it remarkably easy to use, and the manual is packed with detail and a good range of recipes. In just 25 minutes, it produced smooth, well mixed ice cream with no visible ice crystals. It’s noisy for such a small machine and lacks the versatility of other models, but if you’re just after a simple, no-frills ice cream maker that does the job well, the Solo Scoops delivers.
Wattage: 35W
Pre-freeze: At least 12 hours
Average churn time: 25 minutes
Capacity: 475ml
Warranty: 3 years
Cuisinart Ice Cream Deluxe ICE30BCU
Best large Cuisinart ice cream maker
Pros:
- Paddle scrapes closely to the bowl
- Large capacity
Cons:
- Loud
Star rating: 4.5/5
This stainless-steel machine has a generous 2-litre capacity, which makes it ideal for big households or ice cream enthusiasts. Operating it is simple – the on/off button is located on the front of the machine, and unlike most, it’s the bowl that turns rather than the paddle.
We were impressed by the robustness of the paddle, which scraped the sides of the bowl sufficiently so no ice crystals could form. The ice cream we made was creamy, soft and whipped, while our lemon sorbet was smooth with a fizzy sherbet-like mouthfeel. Read our full Cuisinart ice cream maker ICE30BCU review.
Wattage: 25W
Pre-freeze: At least 12 hours
Average churn time: 25 minutes
Capacity: 2L
Warranty: 5 years
Cuisinart Cool Scoops ice cream maker
Available from Cuisinart (£69.99), Amazon (£69.99)
Best mid-sized Cuisinart ice cream maker
Pros:
- Easy to operate
- BPA-free materials
- Dishwasher-safe parts
Cons:
- Bowl is exposed, so could defrost more quickly
- Paddle doesn’t reach sides of bowl
- Some non-recyclable packaging
Star rating: 4/5
If you like the look of the Cuisinart Ice Cream Deluxe listed above but wanted a slightly smaller machine, the Cool Scoops is a solid option. Like the Deluxe, it operates with a stationary paddle around which the bowl turns to churn the ice cream mixture. Despite being more compact than the Deluxe, it also offers a generous 1.2-litre capacity, making it a great pick for families.
The controls are basic and leave little room for error – simply hit the on/off switch on the front of the machine and watch the liquid turn into creamy ice cream in just 20 minutes.
When finished, we found our ice cream was soft set and needed putting in the freezer straight away – perhaps because the bowl isn’t particularly well insulated (versus other models), which could mean it defrosts more quickly. Still, the results from our test were smooth and well mixed, with only some very small ice crystals visible.
Wattage: 35W
Pre-freeze: 16-24 hours
Average churn time: 20 minutes
Capacity: 1.2L
Warranty: 3 years
Other Cuisinart ice cream makers tried and tested
- Cuisinart Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker, £149.98
How to choose a Cuisinart ice cream maker
If you’re still deciding which model is right for you, there are a few other factors to consider that could help you with your choice. You can also find more product suggestions in our guide to the best ice cream makers.
Budget
Selecting a rough price point is the best place to start, as you can more easily whittle down options when you know how much you have to spend. The Cuisinart ice cream makers we’ve tested vary from £29.99 to £300.
Storage and space
Ice cream makers are one of those gadgets that only tend to resurface once the weather gets warmer, so consider where you’ll store it when it’s not in use.
Self-freezing models in particular can be very large as they have an in-built compressor, so think about whether it can sit comfortably on your countertop. If space is limited, you may prefer one of the more compact freeze-first machines like the Cuisinart Solo Scoops, which is ideal for small kitchens.
Self-freezing vs freeze-first
Do you want to be able to whip up ice cream in a flash, without pre-freezing the bowl overnight? A self-freezing ice cream maker is probably the right choice for you, as it will churn and freeze the mixture at the same time, sometimes offering results in just 20 minutes.
This means you can be more spontaneous with your ice cream making, though bear in mind these machines are larger, heavier and more expensive than freeze-first models – prices vary from £150 to £500.
If you’re working with a smaller budget or more compact space, consider a freeze-first model instead. These require you to freeze the ice cream bowl between 16-24 hours before use, so you’ll need to plan ahead and ensure there’s room in your freezer. On the plus side, they’re usually more compact, lightweight and affordable, with prices ranging from £30 to £200.
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If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.
