An electric counter top ice cream maker was on my wish list and my in-laws had an old version at their house that never got used. They said we could have it. I jumped on it and has it been put to good use!

This is one of my all time favorite kitchen appliances. (It made the list of my favorite kitchen appliances.) No, I’m not exaggerating. Yes, I might be slightly ice cream obsessed but I think my obsession also makes my family happy.

We purchased ice cream every once in a while but not as often as I would have liked because of budget and health reasons. This amazing little gadget takes care of both of those issues. I can make it as healthy as I’d like (and even if I make it with sugar, it’s way better than the stuff at the store) for much cheaper.

4 Reasons I Love My Automatic Ice Cream Maker

No ice and salt necessary

We had an electric ice cream maker which we used every once in a while. It was a pain to remember to buy or make ice and have the salt on hand. Now, I  just dump my ice cream mixture into the frozen bowl and am ready to go.

No Unnecessary Ingredients

Vanilla: MILK, CREAM, SUGAR, SKIM MILK, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL VANILLA FLAVOR, CELLULOSE GUM, VEGETABLE GUMS (GUAR, CARRAGEENAN, CAROB BEAN), SALT, ANNATTO COLOR.

Strawberry: INGREDIENTS: Fresh Grade ‘A’ whole milk, strawberries, sugar, cream, corn syrup, modified corn starch, natural strawberry flavor, stabilizer blend (monoglycerides, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, carrageenan), artificial colors red 3, yellow 6, blue 1.

Have you ever looked at the ingredients on the ice cream carton from the store? The majority have a dozen ingredients or more. Most of them being processed ones that aren’t good for you. When you make it at home, you know exactly what goes in it. Cream or coconut milk, sweetener, flavoring, maybe eggs and thickener.

Customizable

You can make frozen yogurt, sorbet, or ice cream with whatever flavors and add ins you like! You aren’t stuck making a gallon of one kind like you do in a rock and salt machine. Here you can do 2 quarts or even less. You also aren’t stuck to the flavors found in the store.

Price

So yes, you can buy a half gallon of the cheapest (and not very good tasting) ice cream for $2.50, the middle of the road product is $4 for a half gallon (on sale) and when you get to the good stuff with real ingredients you are going to be spending $3-$4 a pint! With this amazing machine, you can make it for a fraction of the cost. 

Tips for using your Ice Cream Maker

1. If you have space, keep the freezer bowl in the freezer. This eliminates the need to plan the night before and you can satisfy a last minute craving or feed drop in guests in no time.

2. If you cook your ice cream base or are using room temperature products (canned coconut milk), refrigerate your ice cream base until completely chilled. This is a must. You will end up with a much thicker and creamier treat.

3. If you have a large family and are worried that 2 quarts of ice cream won’t be enough, buy a second freezer bowl! You can make two different types that way and be able to please everyone (or most everyone).

Do you have any ice cream makers? How often do they get used?

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Today I have my list of the kitchen appliances that I use the most. One of my favorite kitchen appliances might surprise you. I’d probably even consider it my favorite of the favorites. It’s the last one on the list below.

Don’t forget to check out my list of kitchen essentials and the other of my favorite kitchen tools. Between these three lists, your kitchen would be equipped to handle anything.

Mini Food Chopper

One that holds 2-3 cups is an ideal size. I use this all the time for small amounts of hummus, salsa, and other items that need pureed.

Blender

Our blender gets used all of the time for large batches of salsa and hummus, making oat flour and smoothies. (When making smoothies fill the blender up and freeze the extras in individual cups.) A Blendtec or Vitamix is on my wish list but in the meantime I have a Ninja Master Prep. It doesn’t get oat flour as fine as I’d like or some fruits at smooth but it gets the job done. The nice thing about it, is that it comes with a 2 cup jar as well. I’m curious as to how the Ninja Professional Blender are. What kind-of blender to you have?

Mixer

I love my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. I make rolls, breadsticks, naan and other breads and this makes it a breeze. Whipping up a large batch of butter cream icing is simple – you just let the machine do the work. No standing there holding electric hand beaters. Making double (or triple) batches of cookies won’t kill your arms. When I made bread I use 7-8 cups of whole wheat flour. If you are going to make batches of bread much bigger than that you are going to want to invest in a more heavy duty mixer. There’s no way this could have stood up to my mom’s 14 cups of grain bread making every week!

Hand Mixer

This would be a maybe essential. If you whip egg whites or heavy cream you’ll want this. (Unless you want to give yourself an arm workout with a whisk). If you only make recipes that require beaten in large amounts, you could use the whisk attachment to your stand mixer. I never use this for making things like cookies. I always do them by hand or with the Kitchen Aid.

Slow Cooker

I use this for cooking beans and making yogurt way more than I do for making meals.. I have a 6 quart and a 1 1/2 quart but the smaller one seldom gets used.

Electric Griddle

This is depending on family size. If you have no or one or two kids, this would probably not be essential. If your family grows, this will speed up pancake, grilled cheese, bacon frying and quesadilla making tremendously.

Pressure Cooker

I don’t yet have a pressure cooker but my mom and sister do. You can have dry beans cooked in under 15-30 minutes from start to finish. Crazy. In fact, my mom told me she had beans that had soaked for just a few hours cooked in 8 minutes! It would be helpful for those days I forget to soak and cook my chick peas. My sister also uses her pressure cooker to quickly cook meat.

Rice Cooker

I wouldn’t consider this an essential just because you can cook rice on the stove top or in the oven. I’m including it, though, because I have one and use it every time I make rice. It makes the process brainless. Mine is a basic 6 cup one that came from Wal-Mart but there are some fancy ones available. A programmable rice cooker would be handy sometimes.

Automatic Ice Cream Maker

I’m saving my favorite for last. I know it might not seem like an essential but let me tell you, this thing is amazing! We use it all the time and it has eliminated our need to purchase ice cream from the store. It’s so easy and you don’t need any rock salt or ice. I’ll have a post coming this or next week going into more detail on this wonderful gadget.

What are you favorite kitchen appliances? Is there something that I need to add to my collection?

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