Ice cream maker vs TMX

[pumpkin pie]

IHave fallen in love with the taste of homemade icecream (as has DH) in the TMX am now wondering whether it is worth spending the money to also buy a good icecream maker. Anyone out there have one and use it reg comp to using the TMX way?

[Zan]

I much prefer my icecream maker - I just have one of the ones you put the bowl in the freezer - but love love love it. Much easier than the tmx  method - though I use the tmx for making the mixture for any special or choc icecreams. And the icecream is much softer and can be spooned out without any defrosting.

[Katya]

I think an ice-cream maker is a good addition to the TMX - you can prepare the mixture in the TMX and then use the machine to freeze it without having to keep stirring it yourself as it freezes

There was quite a long discussion on ice-cream makers a while ago:

http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=4856.0

[Sonan]

I bought my icecream maker before my TM (as was told couldn't do icecream in TM!!). I use both - TM to mix the goodies and icecream maker to freeze and churn. I have a Cuisinart and would recommend ! It's awesome and only about $150. It's a 2 litre one and is stainless steel.
It's so easy the kids regularly make their own icecream!!

[maddy]

I have the same one as Sonan, and I love it too!
Great also to make slushies from softdrink.......and frozen cocktails 



Yum-yum 

[cookie1]

I still often make the egg free icecream from here and put it in my icecream maker and it comes up really well.

[pumpkin pie]

Thanks to your all, I am now convinced an Ice Cream maker is on the must have list.

[cookie1]

Why not? It's fun.

[obbie]

I also have a Cusinart soft serve machine, i mix up in my thermomix, and then use the ice cream machine.

Robyn

[Amanda]

I have the Cuisineart machine, too and use the TM to make the mix and the machine to freeze it.
I bought one with 2 separate bowls so that I can make 2 flavours at the same time!

[Yvette]

Hi with the Cuisineart machine when the ice cream comes out of the freezer can you scoop it out easily? The TM ice cream you cannot.

[Katya]

I've had a couple of ice-cream makers and find that the ice-cream needs to soften a bit before serving.   This is because of the temperature of the freezer and the contents of the ice-cream, rather than the ice-cream machine itself.    When the ice-cream machine has finished doing its stuff, the mix is still softish but it hardens after being in the freezer for a while.    Indeed bought ice-cream is too hard to serve easily straight from the freezer

As someone has already mentioned, the salted maple pecan ice-cream iis soft enough to serve straight away but that is because it's got salt in it.

What the ice-cream maker does well is to mix the ice-cream as it is freezing and this gives you a lovely smooth consistency, much better than if you mixed it by hand.

[achookwoman]

I have had an ice cream maker for years. Love it. The Tmx  and ice cream maker do different things.  My ice cream maker has a built on freezer.  Both set hard in the freezer.

[Yvette]

Thanks girls

[AmandaN]

I was walking past one of those Home Art stores (the old CopperArt, if you remember back), and they had a ice cream maker in the window, with compressor for $129.  It is in the catalogue on the website if anyone is interested. 

I have an old philips ice cream maker I got off ebay for $20, which is ok for me, as it has a freezer disc rather than the bowl, and takes up less room in the freezer (we have 2 fridge/freezers no deep freeze).  It makes soft serve consistency ice cream really, but freezes up well in the freezer.