Cuisinart ICE-20 Ice Cream Maker Provides Loads of Fun

Better than an Easy Bake Oven, cheaper than a trip to the ice cream store, this ice cream maker will give the whole family tons of cooking fun.

For simple summertime cooking fun, the Cuisinart ICE-20 Ice Cream Maker can't be beat. It's easy enough for a 6-year-old to operate, it's inexpensive, it comes with recipes, and it's a snap to clean.

Yes, you have to freeze the canister overnight before using. But it doesn't take any more work than washing it, drying it and putting it in the freezer.

Most of the ice cream recipes and frozen yogurt recipes I make don't require making a custard in advance, so you just dump the ingredients in the ice cream maker, and let it do its magic.

It takes about 20 minutes to get a nice, soft-serve-like ice cream consistency. If you want to add mix-ins like chopped chocolate, nuts, M&Ms, crushed cookies or marshmallows, you add them about five minutes before the cycle is finished. And the opening for pouring in the mix-ins is big, so kids add the extras themselves.

The only drawback of this ice cream maker is that it's a one-trick pony -- that is, it only does one thing: make ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet, sorbet or gelato. It doesn't serve as a blender. It doesn't make smoothies. It doesn't chop nuts or roast vegetables. It's just an ice cream maker.

Also, this ice cream maker only makes 1-1/2 quarts of ice cream at one time. I wanted to have an ice cream party for my kids, and I was able to make a little ice cream in this ice cream maker for the crowd to taste, but it certainly wasn't enough for 10 people.

I've heard people complain that this ice cream maker is loud. I guess I'd say how quiet does an ice cream maker need to be? It's not like you run it every day or when people are sleeping? It makes some noise, but certainly nothing you can't talk over.

For a budget-priced ice cream maker, this little gadget does the trick and lets you enjoy homemade frozen desserts all summer long.