Cuisinart Freeze Ease Pro Ice Cream Maker – 1 quarts – White/Gray – Ice Cream Machines

Details

• 5.0

  No planning required - you're going to LOVE this machine!

  I was a little intimidated by this machine at first because it came with only a one-page operation pamphlet and no recipes or manual. The QR code on the pamphlet that advertises the download for manual and recipes only linked to the Cuisinart home page, so maybe they just don't have these available in the US yet. Important: the instructions do emphasize if the unit has been transported or stored on its side, it must remain level and upright for at least 24 hours before use.Since there were no recipes included, I found a recipe video from Cuisinart Europe on youtube and used it as a starting point, substituting vegan ingredients. My first batch consisted of one can of full-fat coconut milk, one can of sweetened condensed coconut milk, one tablespoon of vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.I did not pre-chill the ingredients, and I did not have to pre-freeze a bowl or bucket. I simply mixed the ingredients, poured the ice cream base into the machine, selected a cycle, and let it do its thing.For my first batch, I selected the sorbet setting because it had the longest cycle time (40 minutes). With limited instructions and no included recipes, I figured the longer cycle would give the mixture the best chance to develop a creamy texture. The machine handled approximately three cups of ice cream base with no issues. My base filled the bucket about half-way full.The results were fantastic. The finished dessert had a smooth, creamy texture very similar to soft-serve ice cream. The flavor was rich, tropical, and wonderfully coconut-forward. The whole fam loved it, and even my picky husband gave it rave reviews.. It tasted like a frozen vacation in a bowl.Cleanup was straightforward, operation was simple, and the results far exceeded my expectations for a first attempt. After churning and initial rounds of taste testing, I transferred the dessert to an airtight ice cream container and placed it in the freezer.If this machine can produce results this good with a homemade vegan

  Rebecca N. · June 27, 2026

• 4.0

  Makes good ice cream, but lacks proper instructions

  I have had this ice cream maker for about 3 weeks and I have mostly liked it so far. It makes a full qt of ice cream, soft serve or sorbet in round 35-40m. Every batch we have made, around 6 or 7 thus far, has turned out great in texture and flavor.My biggest issue with this machine is not the end product, the resulting product is great, it is the lack of instructions, troubleshooting steps, or anything beyond 1/2 page worth of set-up steps. Yes, that is how sparse their operating "instructions" are. We have run into several issues, such as the machine not going through a full cycle, it turning off after the cooling (?) cycle, the paddle not working at all while the motor is on, and the machine going for longer than it should without ice cream fully forming. Also, how full can it be to make 1qt? Each time we've had an issue we have been able to figure it out, by starting over most of the time, but it seems that a machine this expensive should have at the very least a more comprehensive manual. I was actually expecting a full cookbook with recipes, instructions and steps to make the most out of each setting. Nope. But I honestly would have settled for just decent instructions as that doesn't seem like too much to ask. Nope again. Also, it can be noisy depending on your kitchen setup. It's not terrible with other noise around it, but you can definitely hear it.The size is not ideal either if you have a small kitchen, but having a small kitchen is not the manufacturer's fault. It does look good on the countertop as it has a sleek glass top.On the plus sideaside from the good ice cream and sorbet it makes, my child likes making his own (after getting help with the base) as it is a one button operation. He has it down already, and has fun doing it due to how easy and fun the process is for him.We do like the end result but I personally don't love guessing why something might not be working as expected. I would rate it lower if it weren't for the good results, once you ca

  Kevin A. · July 15, 2026

• 5.0

  Good home ice cream maker

  Good compact, homemade ice cream maker. We have another Cuisinart home ice cream maker that uses a bowl that has to be frozen prior to use, so that is what I will compare this to in my review.Pros:1. You don't have to freeze a bowl prior to use. After you make you mix, you just chill it for a few hours, then you can pour it in the machine and about a half hour later you have your ice cream (it still has to freeze for a few hours in the freezer to finish setting up, but it is still a bit faster of a process than using a bowl that has to be frozen. It also allows for multiple batches of ice cream to be made up in a day)2. Fairly compact machine. Doesn't take up a ton of room on the counter. Seemed to take up the same footprint space as our other machine. Included a picture with my water bottle for height size reference.3. Quiet. This machine is definitely quieter than our other.Cons:1. Makes a smaller amount than our freezer bowl machine. This might not be a big deal for some families, but we have 6 in our family, and the kids always want big bowls.2. Pricer than the freezer bowl machine we have.3. Does not do great for gelato recipes. The churn speed for the ice cream setting is too fast for gelato. I have not tried the gelato recipes on the frozen yogurt or sorbet settings, so I am not sure if those settings would work for the gelato or not.

  Donna N. · July 1, 2026

• 3.0

  Ice cream maker

  I bought this because I wanted an easy way to make homemade ice cream, and it does work, but it’s not quite as convenient as I expected. The bowl has to be frozen overnight, and the mixture also needs to be refrigerated for a few hours before you start. If you forget either step, you’ll have to wait, so it’s definitely something you need to plan ahead for.The machine is simple to use, and the presets are nice, but I wasn’t impressed that it doesn’t come with any recipes. For a product like this, I think at least a basic recipe booklet should be included. It’s not very small, so consider that if you have very limited countertop space, it can be moved of course, but it will take quite a lot of room in your cabinet.The ice cream turns out okay, but it has a bit of an icy texture rather than being really smooth and creamy. I tried different recipes and still noticed it wasn’t quite the consistency I was hoping for. It takes only 30 minutes to make an ice cream but it’s still pretty loose textured, not like the one from the container you’d get in the store, so you may need to freeze it for some more time before enjoying.Overall, it’s a decent ice cream maker if you don’t mind the prep, but I think it could be better, especially considering the price.

  Anthony A. · July 15, 2026

• 4.0

  Gets a lot of things right, but it doesn't produce smooth, creamy ice cream like store bought

  I've had various ice cream makers in the past and I've sworn off the ones that require rock salt (too complicated and messy) or pre-freezing the bowl (takes up too much room in the freezer).This compact ice cream maker from Cuisinart gave me hope that I'd finally found THE ONE. It's got some great features and some things that need improvement.Features I like:The size is great for an appliance that most of us won't use everyday and needs to be stored the rest of the time. It makes a Ben & Jerry's size container of ice cream, which may seem a little small for some folks, but it's perfect for me. I also love that they incorporated cord storage in the back.The performance: It's pretty fast, but not as fast as was suggested in the listing or users' guide. I added 12 minutes to the automatic timer for a total of 32 minutes which resulted in a consistency resembling melted ice cream.The styling is very attractive. It has a smoked transparent glass top that sports a digital display of settings. The smooth top is super easy to clean as is the metal mixing bowl.I also like that the design provides a hole on the top so you can add mix-ins without having to take the lid off.Things that could be better:The manual doesn't have any recipes. Even the cheaper model ice cream makers I've bought in the past had a few recipes in the users' guide. When I visited Cuisinart online, I found recipes for their other ice cream maker models, but not this one. So I fiddled with the ingredients from a couple of their online recipes to get the right taste.The setting icons on the top aren't accompanied by identifying words. I had to create labels to help me remember which icon went with each setting - ice cream versus frozen yogurt versus sorbet.The ice cream doesn't come out creamy like store bought. Even after pre-chilling the ingredients and the bowl overnight as recommended the result was a granular textured ice cream. After researching ways to reduce the icy texture, I added 1/4 tsp of xant

  Karen N. · July 6, 2026

• 5.0

  Great for ice cream and froyo

  So far I've used this ice cream maker three times to make frozen yogurt (with mini chocolate chips), cottage cheese "ice cream", and regular vanilla ice cream. The photos below are my first attempt using the machine making frozen yogurt. You can see the result is pretty thick, and this is just greek yogurt, honey, vanilla, and a little salt. No thickeners like guar gum or whatever people use.This machine is interesting in that it apparently has a built in chiller (or compressor) to chill down the mixture while it is being churned. That means you don't need to pre-freeze your ice cream batch the day before. It's much easier to make a spontaneous batch of dessert. The mix should be chilled, so if you cook it on the stove, you need to chill it first.This thing isn't totally silent, but it's about the same noise level as our kitchenaid mixer on a medium setting. So you could easily have a conversation while sitting next to it. It does a great job of chilling down the ice cream while it's being mixed. You can see how the sides of the metal container form a little layer of more solid ice cream since that's the coldest part. So far it only takes about 30-35 minutes to churn up a batch. The ice cream mix was a little soft, so I might go for 40 minutes next time with that one. I haven't tried a sorbet yet, but I'm looking forward to it.My only complaint is that I wish it came with a recipe book with some basic recipes to get you started. I did find some recipes on the Cuisinart website, which I'll be trying out and adapting to the proper size for this machine. Their website is where I found the cottage cheese ice cream recipe. It was ok, but it needed more sweetener. Note that this machine says it's a quart in size, but you don't want the mixing bowl to be full from the start since it will increase in volume as you mix it up. It adds air and so you should have like an inch of space from the top when you start.

  James A. · July 8, 2026

• 4.0

  Mixed feelings with this one

  The included instructions leave a lot to be desired. There's a QR code to scan but it brings you to the main website not to a proper use manual. As you search the site you see there are no instructions yet for this exact model. No problem, I'm sure they'll get around to it. You can find a similar model that does have instructions and recipes.I've used multiple ice cream machines and they all have their pros and cons. This one is extremely similar to a much cheaper one I own, both using a central plastic paddle churning around while the bowl chills the liquid. Where this machine shines is that you don't have to freeze the bowl first and you don't even have to chill the liquid first if you don't want to. However, it's 5 times the price of a unit that works almost the same just requires pre-freezing the bowl. Whether that's worth it or not is up to you.I've also used a style where you freeze the liquid and the machine cuts it up and mixes it. That machine costs more than this one but is foolproof in it's operation but again you have to pre freeze. So the major pro for this unit is almost instant ice cream with no prior planning or prep.Onto the actual use of the machine. I put my non chilled mixture in and used the default time. As the mixture thickened, I could hear the increased strain on the motor. It was not enough time to fully garden the mixture but I wanted to taste it so I removed the cover and tasted some. I then tried putting the cover back to add more time because it was way too soft. The paddles refused to turn and restart the machine. I had a closer look and the outer circumference of the liquid froze from the cold bucket while the paddles weren't spinning and the motor didn't have the power and paddles didn't have the ability to chop that up and resume so I was stuck with half made ice cream. Options at that point were to melt everything and start over or put into the freezer.With that in mind I'd recommend starting off with extra time and trying not to s

  Cynthia N. · July 13, 2026

• 5.0

  Base to ice cream in just 40 minutes

  So easy to use! You make the 'base' with whatever recipe you want, there's a button for icecream/custard, gelato, frozen yogurt, and a 'chill' button to keep it cold once done. It didn't really have a detailed user guide with it, and when I scanned the QR code, it took me to the general Cuisinart web site, not a more detailed user guide. At first I was disappointed basic recipes were not included, but if you search around the Cuisinart site, there are a few, but you had to go looking around at all the different gadgets they sell and had to search harder then I felt I should have had to. I ended up just asking my ALEXA to find me a recipe and I just went with that, and it turned out great! Our family fav is chocolate with brownies. Within 5 minutes of it arriving on our porch, we were unboxing it and trying to see if we had all the ingredients we needed. We did have to run to the store to get a few items, but then we came back and started our first batch. Here's where we made our first mistake so it won't happen to you. The directions said to mix the base in a bowl, chill it to 40 degrees, then pour it into the pail (provided for the machine) and then turn the machine on. Well, I was like, why dirty an extra bowl, so when I made the base, I poured it right into the pail and then put that in the fridge. Well, when it was done, the pail must have had moisture on the outside so the pail would not lift up. Once it thawed a bit, then we could lift the pail out. DId we have the patience to wait for the thaw? Heck no, we grabbed spoons and scooped it out of the pail while it was still in the machine. It was so good! From the time the base was in the machine, I selected the ice cream button, a timer set automatically for 40 minutes and then, it was done! It's soft serve consistency, so if you want hard frozen, then you need to put it in your freezer for a while. The online Alexa recipe said it made a quart, but we only ended up with about a pint, not the machine's fault I us

  Edward A. · July 2, 2026