Magimix Le Glacier 1.5 Ltr Ice Cream Maker (White)

I've been making ice cream for over 20 years, sometimes twice a week, and this is my 3rd machine, and the one I like best. All 3 machines have made good-textured ice cream, but this one wins over the others because of its practical design. It seems to have been road tested by cooks in real, working, kitchens. What I like about this machine is

* the stainless steel bowl is very smooth and it's much easier to chip off and scrape the solid, fully frozen bits that stick to the side than with my previous machines. Plus, I usually put the bowl straight back in the freezer after use, when it's still partly frozen, and this is the first bowl I've had that doesn't end up with tea towel fibres stuck to it.
* the paddle is flat, making it easier to scrape ALL the ice cream off. When you take any churned ice cream out of its bowl you have to work fast, stirring and mixing the frozen bits with the mushier bits to get an even texture. Then you need to get it in the freezer quickly to finish freezing, to avoid ending up with sharp ice crystals when the melting bits re-freeze; both previous paddles were twisted and had lots of places that collected ice cream, which meant it was not time-efficient to scrape them completely.
* the paddle doesn't touch the bottom. In my last machine, the plastic paddle had a nipple at the bottom which rested in a little indentation in the bowl; the plastic wore away.
* The motor and cover take up very little space in the cupboard.
* The paddle is more robust than it looks and has withstood being rammed in the drawer and jostled with other utensils for 2 years without any damage.
* The funnel is wide enough not to need a separate funnel either for pouring in the ice cream mixture or anything added at the end of churning such as nuts or crushed biscuit.
* The way the paddle attaches to the motor is very neat; the ice cream can't go up the spindle into the motor. It could and did in my last machine, and I couldn't remove it fully. (What with plastic shavings, tea towel fibres and dried bits of old custard mixture, how "natural " must my ice cream have been?) Be warned, though, this failsafe mechanism does mean there's one small piece of the kit that is very easy to mislay.
* The bowl takes up minimal space in the freezer-no handles sticking out of it like the last one, and
* I get a slightly greater volume of ice cream with this machine, I think because it has a larger capacity than I actually need. For a custard-based ice cream I use ½ pint milk, 2 large eggs and an egg yolk, 3-4 heaped tablespoons sugar, ½ pint double cream and up to 120g/4 oz of flavouring (roasted nuts, chocolate etc). A litre bowl is on the cusp of being adequate for this quantity.

I have one quibble -the motor only operates when one or both lugs in the funnel part slot into 2 tiny holes in the bowl; these holes are always full of ice if the bowl has previously been replaced partly frozen and need digging out with a knife point before the machine will start. User error, maybe, but one part of the design I think that could be improved.

I'm in love with this little machine already. Does exactly what you'd expect, turns out great results and is easy to clean. The instruction manual has plenty of recipe ideas to start you off. 1.5 litres is plenty of capacity since home-made ice-cream is much richer than the shop bought version. NB - and this is speaking from experience! - chill your mixture well and have the bowl rock-solid frozen before you start.

This is a great little ice-cream maker with plenty of capacity (1.5 L).

I was slightly surprised by how low-tech ice-cream makers are. It's basically a base that you freeze overnight (or keep in the freezer, ready for an impulse churning!) and a motor-driven paddle which slots on top. Then you pour in your mixture and it churns away. N.B. always start the paddle turning BEFORE adding anything to the bowl, or it will freeze instantly and jam the paddle when you try and start it churning! The instructions do clearly state this, though!

I've made some really great ice-creams with this maker. When the ice-cream is done, it's slightly softer than most shop-bought ice-cream in the UK, so putting it in the freezer for an hour or two with firm it up, if that's your preference.