Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Cuisinart has taken the ICE-50BC and improved upon it's design shortcomings. the biggest improvement is moving the drive system from the overhead arm to underneath the bowl. This system now resembles the much more expensive Lello unit but with a removable bowl. This unit also has a newly redesigned Ice Cream Paddle and includes a Gelato Paddle as well. That's two machines in one. the small door on the top of the lid for adding nuts, candy pieces, etc it easy to open and close although it's a tad narrow. One thing I noticed the first time I ran mine. after about 20 minutes, there was a squeaking sound. after pausing it and making sure the paddle and the bowl were seated properly, it was ok for a few more minutes but started squeaking again. I tracked the squeak down to the plastic stabilizer atop the paddle that fits in to a poly-lined-slot in the center of the lid. I used a tiny bit of butter on a qtip to coat the inside of the poly ring and it hasn't squeaked since. I tried the basic recipe and I tried the vanilla custard recipe in the book. the custard recipe base actually ends up coming out to more than 4 cups. the manual is very clear about not going over 4 cups of liquid in the machine. they mean it. Although I did dump the whole amount in, I should have definitely stuck to exactly 4 cups. It did not run over the top of the bowl, but it nearly did. I would have liked to allow it to run a little longer than 40 minutes as the custard base was not as cold as it should have been before putting it in to the bowl. if I had, it would have run over the top. the refrigeration unit get very cold and quickly. the final ice cream result was not quite as smooth as I'd like. I will mess around with recipes. Another Friend suggested I pre chill the bowl in the unit for 5-10 minutes before adding the base. you can do that in this machine as you can pause the motor while the refrigeration unit is still running. I like that feature. The pausing feature also comes in handy for adding nuts, candy bits, etc a few minutes before you shut the machine off and transfer your creation to a container for a final 2 hour sit in the freezer. The final product coming out of this machine resembles softserve ice cream. This is normal for an ice cream maker. if it were much thicker, you'd have to dig the mixing paddle out of the bowl. I've seen several reviews on various machines from people thinking ice cream makers will do more than they're designed to. I'd like to note this machine is LOUD.. the compressor is whisper quiet, the motor for the paddle is not. It sounds like a rather loud electric can opener. This bothers people, but it does not bother me. I have not tried a gelato recipe or a sorbet recipe yet. I'm looking forward to it. I wanted to get a review up on this ASAP since it's a brand new machine and prior to finding this model I was considering a Lello but could not justify the price. Clean up is easy with soap and water. the bowl is easily removed from the unit. there is a bit of a trick to getting the paddle out of the bowl without slopping ice cream all over the counter but after a few tries I there was a lot less mess on the counter.