I borrowed a friend’s ice cream maker for the weekend, this Cuisinart ICE-50BC that I’ve had my eye on for a while. My current maker is pretty good, a Cuisinart also, but with a frozen canister. I have two canisters so I can make two batches of ice cream back-to-back if I want. I’ve done it, too, on occasion. I’ve got the room in my freezer for both canisters so it’s not a big deal. But this is a monster ice cream maker, big and loud and with its own refrigeration unit. No need for wimpy canisters.

I made two batches of ice cream, the same cinnamon gelato I made recently – for comparison in quality of the ice cream, plus a Mexican chocolate, which is essentially chocolate ice cream with cinnamon. I made up both bases, chilled them overnight, and then got down to the business of making ice cream.

The cinnamon gelato turned out pretty much the same as in my little Cuisinart. Maybe more overrun, but Larry couldn’t tell the difference between the two. It took about a half hour to make – the same as my machine. The chocolate was good, too, but weird. I used a 70% chocolate so it was very chocolatey (recipe called for 60%). And then it called for 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon, which was hardly enough. I ended up adding about 2 tsp., plus a teaspoon of almond extract. And when it was mixing, the machine stopped after about a half hour – I guess it decided it was thick enough, but it really wasn’t. So the Mexican chocolate gelato, while delicious, is very rich and dense.

Conclusion? I can’t justify the cost or space needed for the ICE-50. My ice cream maker works great and I’ve never had the need to make more than two batches at once. And if I do, I’ll just borrow my friend’s machine.

• Cinnamon Gelato (The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto, p. 56)
• Mexican Chocolate Gelato (The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto, p. 103)