Ice cream makers 2022: At-home machines for whipping up sorbet and more

Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

This ice cream maker from Cuisinart hits the perfect middle ground between basic and blow-out, and it really is a great all-rounder. It’s an all-in-one machine so you get the convenience of being able to rustle up a tub of ice cream without any of the pre-freezing hassle. But it’s super simple, with just a timer button rather than pre-set programmes, which is where it differs to the more expensive models with heftier price tags.

It has a built-in keep-cool function – another feature of the premium models – but instead of a couple of hours, it will keep your ice cream chilled for ten minutes. It gives you just enough leeway to be out of the room doing something else before you realise it’s finished churning, without returning to a melted mess. It’s also in the mid-range when it comes to size, with a 1.5l capacity that we found made enough ice cream for five hungry children.

Interestingly, it comes with two different paddles – one for ice cream, and one for gelato, which incorporates less air. We tested both and found the basic vanilla ice cream recipe produced a gorgeously rich soft-serve ice cream in 40 minutes without requiring endless egg yolks. It was so easy to use that we quickly began experimenting with our own recipes rather than following the ones provided, and so far, every one has been a success.

The machine itself is heavy and takes up a fair amount of space, but thanks to the sleek design it’s anything but an eyesore. Like all the all-in-one machines it makes a bit of noise while it’s churning, but it’s a small price to pay for the delicious results.

Best: For budget

Rating: 8/10

Lakeland’s new digital ice cream maker is the cheapest option in our shortlist at a mere £39.99. It’s a great price if you’re just dipping your toe into the world of ice cream making at home, and we were impressed at what you get for your money.

The 1.8l bowl is a decent size but you’ll need to freeze it for 12 hours before you whip up some ice cream. The basic vanilla recipe asks for four egg yolks, so you’ll also need to heat the base mixture on the hob and allow it to cool fully beforehand. Once you’re ready though, it’s a speedy 25 minutes until you’ve got ready-to-eat ice cream. Ours was still a little soft on a hot day, so you can either keep churning it or pop the whole bowl back in the freezer for an hour to get a more solid texture. We also tried a no-cook strawberry ice cream recipe, which cuts out the need to use the hob and chill the mix, and means you can get churning your mixture straight away.

The digital display is easy to use – once the machine is assembled and the paddle is running, you just use the arrows to select your churn time, and pour the base mixture in through the gap in the lid. We did find this part quite messy as the opening isn’t huge, but it’s handy for dropping in extra bits and bobs later in the churning process. Just let your mixture start to solidify first.

Clean-up is easy and although there are a few components to reassemble when you next want to use it, everything is pretty straightforward. There’s no keep-cool function or any other bells and whistles, but at this price all you need are the essentials – and this ice cream maker does that very well.

Best: For compact kitchens

Rating: 8/10

Magimix’s entry-level ice cream maker comes in at a bargain price – ideal if you’re not keen to shell out on something you’ll only use occasionally. You’ll need to pop the stainless steel bowl in the freezer for at least eight hours before you can use it, although as with all the freezer bowls, the colder you can get it, the faster your mix will churn into ice cream.

The majority of ice cream recipes in the book that comes with this one involve making a custard mix on the hob with egg yolks, which also then needs to be cooled in the fridge for 4-6 hours. We tried the vanilla ice cream recipe using the minimum freezing time for the bowl and the minimum cooling time for the mix, and found that the mixture was still a little too soft after the full 30 minutes churning time. To be safe, we’d recommend prepping everything the night before – especially on warmer days.

The fastest recipe we tried was a frozen raspberry yoghurt that went down very well with our younger testers. It didn’t require any pre-cooking or chilling, and came out ready to eat after just 20 minutes. We particularly like the fact that there are no fiddly parts to this machine – it’s essentially just a freezer bowl, a spindle that churns the mixture, and a motor unit that fits on top.

There’s also no timer or special functions, just a simple on/off button. Plus, when the bowl is stored in the freezer, the only parts you need find a home for are the motor unit and spindle – ideal if you’re tight on space.

Best: For entertaining

Rating: 9.5/10

Magimix has gone all-out with its Gelato Expert machine, which is firmly pitched at authentic ice cream lovers and has a price tag to match. It’s an all-in-one solution, so there’s no need to pre-freeze the bowl, and it’s got the biggest capacity of all the ice cream makers we tested with not one, but two 2l bowls.

The first bowl is removeable, so it’s the one we defaulted to in testing as it’s easier to clean. But the fixed second bowl allows you to start whipping up a second batch of ice cream as soon as you’ve finished the first – making this an easy winner if you’re entertaining. On top of that, this model has a two-hour storage mode that will keep your ice cream or sorbet at just the right temperature once it’s churned.

There are automatic cycles for gelato, ice cream, and granita, as well as a manual function that gives you more control over getting the consistency you want. As the name suggests, this ice cream maker is ideal if you’re a fan of traditional gelato, which is denser than ice cream. It comes down to the way the machine incorporates less air than other ice cream makers by churning for 10 minutes on, and four-minutes off.

The proof is in the pudding of course, and the Gelato Expert did not disappoint. While there are lots of more elaborate recipes to try on the Magimix app, we were pleased with our perfectly creamy vanilla ice cream that was ready in just half an hour. Design-wise, the stainless steel body is taller than it is wide, so it takes up less surface area on your worktop than similar machines we tried. It’s expensive, yes, but it’s worth it if only the real deal will do.

Best: For KitchenAid owners

Rating: 8/10

If you’ve got a KitchenAid stand mixer, or you need an excuse to buy one, this newly launched ice cream maker attachment is an ideal add-on. It’s essentially a giant, liquid-filled bowl with a special paddle – called a dasher – that replaces your usual mixer bowl and beater. It also comes with a drive assembly to connect the dasher to your KitchenAid. Freeze the bowl for at least 16 hours beforehand, pop it in your stand mixer base, and it churns your mixture using the dasher and the coldness of the bowl to gradually thicken it.

The vanilla recipe for this one uses a custard base, so as well as the 16-hours’ freezing time, you’ll need to factor in time to prep it on the hob. Once it’s fully chilled, just start the mixer on the slowest speed with the dasher attachment in, then pour in the custardy base. Ours was the consistency of a soft-serve ice cream within 25 minutes on a hot day, and we dropped in a handful of raspberries five minutes before the end.

There’s no timer on this, so it’s very much a manual process and a case of setting a timer on your phone and keeping an eye on the mixture. Ours started to slow as the ice cream got thicker, which we took as our cue that it was ready to eat.

We love the fact that there’s no complicated set-up – attaching the dasher is easy and there are no buttons or settings to get the hang of. We also found the generous 1.9l bowl, which measures 17.8cm x 27.9cm x 21.6cm, made for generous portions and we had leftovers to pop in the freezer. If you’ve already got a KitchenAid this is a brilliant solution – just check it’s compatible with your particular model as we weren’t able to use it with our KitchenAid mini.