Cuisinart Ice-45 Mix-It-In Soft-Serve 1-1/2-Quart Ice-Cream Maker

Product Features

• Fully automatic soft-serve ice-cream maker with double-insulated freezer bowl
• Simply pour in the ingredients and turn the dial--no chemicals, salt, or ice required
• Makes up to 1-1/2 quarts in just 20 minutes; 3 built-in condiment dispensers
• Cone holder; removable parts for easy cleaning; instructions and recipes included
• Measures 10-1/2 by 12-1/2 by 19-4/5 inches; 3-year limited warranty

From the Editors

Professional-quality soft serve ice cream, yogurt, sorbet and sherbet is now available right at home, with the Cuisinart Mix It in Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker. Not only does it make everyone's favorites, but with three built-in condiment dispensers, it makes them extra delicious! Just a pull of a tab send sprinkles, chips and other mix-ins down the chute to mix right into frozen desserts as cones or bowls are filled. Operation is fully automatic; simply pour in the ingredients and turn the dial!
Product Description

Accessories for the Cuisinart Ice-45 Mix-It-In Soft-Serve 1-1/2-Quart Ice-Cream Maker Model ICE-45

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Customer Response

Easiest Ice Cream Ever
This machine is so much fun as a quick and different after dinner treat. It does take a time or two to get things just right, but its a kick for anyone using it and the ability to add up to 3 toppings mixed in is terrific.

This is as close as you will get to having a DQ in your own home. We love it.

False advertising
The outside of the box states: "Perfect consistency. Cuisinart ice-cream making technology ensures the right consistency."

The directions then read, "if your bowl is too warm ice cream may not freeze properly" or even better "if machine stops dispensing, simply open the top and scoop out by hand."

Umm, how does scooping out by hand equal a "Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker with perfect Consistency"?

A huge disappointment. I feel this is simply a repackaging of their disappointing "freezer bowl" technology. Most people can't get the bowl cold enough and those that can end up with an icy, inferior product.

Save your money.

Fun Gadget
First, it's a little large to sit on your counter: you will be storing it in a closet, or somewhere other than your countertop unless you have a huge kitchen. Second, unless you are a sucker for toppings, you will not be impressed by the mix in feature - my mistake, I thought they were added in during mixing the ice cream. Third: it's fun. Looking into the window ever so often to check the status is really neat - can't beat the suspense ("is it ready yet??").

It was a good price ($69) with a good name so I decided to try it. I have a stand mixer with an attachment which works but is very messy & time-consuming. I wanted something simple & I like this very much so far. I have had it for about 2 weeks & we have tried a number of recipes from the book. It makes soft ice-cream, frozen yogurt, sorbets & sherbets. I am currently using the recipes unaltered but I think I will be experimenting soon. So far, 17-20 minutes from start to finish seems about right and one recipe actually firmed up even more as we let it sit idle in the machine while we sampled the first little bit in a cone. I will try longer times, as many people here have suggested. So far, I have prepared the mixtures in advance (using a standard blender) & then chilled them but only as a matter of convenience. I can see why it would be helpful to the process, though, to keep them as cold as possible before mixing. Once it is done & you store leftovers, the ice cream becomes quite hard in the freezer & you would be wise not to put in in a cheap breakable plastic container for freezer storage (did that - broke it). Use something sturdier meant for food storage because it does get quite hard in the freezer. Leave it out on the counter for a few minutes and it will be quite dishable.

If it continues to be as much fun as it has been (& to work well without breaking), I will probably invest in a second freezer bowl for when we have company or a party. The novelty alone is worth it!

I only give 4 stars because of the size of it for storage - I will need a tall, empty shelf somewhere for sure!

Makes great soft serve
The machine really does make great soft serve. It made about 15-20 cones. I would recommend not to follow the recipe in the book. It asks for whole milk and whipping cream. The Ice Cream is way too rich. My nieces thought they were eating whipped cream. It takes about 20-30 minutes. Don't let it get too thick because it comes out real slow. I added milk when it would get too thick. It works great.

fun, but the mix-it-in novelty does wear off
I bought the Cuisinart Mix-It-In ice cream maker from a friend who'd never used it, and I have since sold it. Why? Well, while it does what it says -- makes yummy soft-serve ice cream and dispenses toppings -- it's not really very practical and the novelty wears off fairly quickly. Plus, 1.5 quarts of ice cream is not enough for a party, which is why I really wanted it. The manual says it makes 10 half-cup servings, but we found it really made 7-8 decently sized servings.

We used it three times, and each time we made the strawberry ice cream because we had fresh-picked strawberries to use. It was very easy...we pureed the berries and mixed all the ingredients, turned on the ice cream maker and poured in the mixture. We adults and the kids had fun watching it work, and in about 20 minutes, we had YUMMY ice cream to eat. If you run the machine 1-2 minutes longer, the ice cream sets better and dispenses better, without melting as quickly.

The dispenser can be challenging to operate...I don't know how on earth they got those perfect swirls in the product photo! The machine has to be on for it to dispense, and there's a limited amount of room beneath the dispenser, so when using our own bowls, it was harder to swirl it. Dispensing the toppings is a bit messy, and you HAVE to be sure not to use bigger topping except in the one container that can hold them. We only used the topping dispensers the first time we used the machine, because it wasn't worth it...much easier to just shake sprinkles out of the containers they come in. My kids loved the novelty of that feature, though, and didn't like my being practical about it!!

I decided to sell this ice cream maker because 1) it's not worth the novelty, 2) it takes up a ton of space (I kept the machine in the box and the bowl in the freezer, which you need to do if you want to make ice cream on a whim; not a problem, and 3) I bought the 2-quart ice cream attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer. All I have to do with that is store the bowl in the freezer...nothing else. And when I wanted to make a double batch of ice cream before getting the Kitchenaid bowl, I borrowed a neighbor's Cuisinart ice cream maker, the basic one, and it worked great without taking up all the space of this one. It doesn't dispense, which is fine and less of a mess to clean up.

So I would recommend spending $40 on the other Cuisinart one or getting the attachment if you have a Kitchenaid. The Mix-It-In one just isn't worth the novelty.

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