Now Everyone Gets W hat They Want

My husband and daughter are ice ream fanatics. It does not matter what time of year or if it is 100 degrees or below zero out if they want ice cream they better get it and quickly. Last March I decided that I had enough of all of the sugar, processed ingredients, and cost of store bought ice cream. It was time to get an ice cream maker, but not any ice cream maker would do. I wanted something that would make all of us happy. I found it when I found the Cuisinart Flavor Duo Frozen Yogurt/ Ice Cream Maker.


I looked around online to find the best price and when I found this for $50 and free shipping ordered it. You can purchase the Cuisinart ICE-40 in black/stainless or white/stainless. I chose the black/stainless because I just thought it looked sharper. The ice cream maker comes with a recipe book for frozen yogurt, sorbet, ice cream, and even frozen drinks. I only tried one recipe and it was not bad, but found lower fat recipes online.


The Ice Cream machine its is made of a hard black plastic and stainless steel base. It is a decent size so if you do not have much counter space you are going to need a place to store it. The two canisters as well as the paddle that comes with this need to be put in the freezer for at least 8-10 hours before using it. I have a nice sized freezer so mine stay in plastic bags in the freezer awaiting there next use. I just keep the base and plastic covers together in the box so I know where everything is.


If there is any cooking needed of the ice cream base you are using you are going to want to make sure that it is cooled before adding it to the canister or it will not freeze properly. Once the base is cooled all you do is put one or two of the 1 quart freezer canisters on top of the base. Insert the paddles and place the plastic covers on top. Select one or both sides option, turn on the machine and then pour the ice cream base into the unit through the covers spout. Depending on if you are making ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbet it will take twenty to thirty minutes for this to set up. Once this is done I change the ice cream and sorbet over to 1 quart freezer containers to harden up a bit more since we like ours a bit more firm.  If you are going to add anything like nuts, fruit or chocolate I advise chopping them very small so it does not mess with the mixing and do not add them in until right about the end of the freezing time.


There is no timer on this so I use my stove timer and check it fairly often after the first twenty minutes. The plastic covers make it easy to see how the base is coming along.


I have not had any problems with the machine. It is on the noisy side though. If you are not careful the plastic housing covers do crack. I wash all of the pieces to this by hand, but the paddles and covers are dish washer safe.


I am happy with this machine and it has gotten used weekly since purchasing it in March of last year. Yup we make a lot of frozen yogurt and sorbet. Like I said my family is crazy about it. What I love most is that I control what goes into the mix and the quality of ingredients. I figured and this costs us about $10 dollars a month for everything my family makes and we were spending over $25 just between my daughter and husband a month in ice cream. I definitely can not complain about the overall savings.