Makes very good ice cream -- even good low fat! One suggestion: Make sure you whisk hard -- whisking vigorously makes the ice cream creamier and less grainy -- the sugar dissolves better.

Solid feel and good finish on this machine. Performs well, and is able to make better sorbets and ice-creams than old-style maker with ice and rock salt. Batch size is reasonable, and can make several batches back-to back just fine. Only real downside is the noise - agin, quiter than our ice-and-rck salt machine, but still quite noisy. Overall, very happy with this machine to date, but might just want to put in closet/garage/bathroom while its running.

I bought this machine earlier this year because I was tired of using freezer space to keep canisters for the cheaper model frozen (and half the time they didn't freeze). What a mistake. This is a giant waste of money and a reminder that Cuinsinart isn't what it once was (in less than six months I had to replace parts on a new 14-cup food processor). Time and again the ice cream on the outside freezes, meaning the blade stops turning and most of the "ice cream" is soup. It doesn't matter what the recipe is, btw. I e-mailed Cuisinart two months ago (another company that doesn't want to hear from consumers -- check out the web site) and naturally haven't heard back. Sadly, I didn't keep the box so I could just return the whole thing. I haven't yet talked myself into the $700 Italian ice cream maker -- I'm not a professional chef -- but urge anyone thinking about this product to think again.

If your time is short, and whose isn't, then this is the machine for your homemade ice cream. Follow the directions, add ingredients, eat ice cream in one hour. Easy clean up. Up side, we now begin to experiment. Down side, the machine is heavy for the wife to put away. I built a special little table to store off the pantry floor.

We purchased this ice cream maker, along with two ice cream cookbooks (see links, below), as a gift to our lactose intolerent, and otherwise allergic, grandchildren. Their Mom reports that the ice cream produced is wonderful, easily made, and satisfying to all. The Best Ice Cream Maker Cookbook Ever; Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book They have called us twice already to rave about the ice cream and thank us for this blessing.