Product Review: Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt- Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker CIM-20

The Cuisinart frozen yogurt- ice cream and sorbet maker CIM-20 model lives up to Cuisinart's fine array of products. I received this ice cream maker as a gift for father's day. My children obviously had some ulterior motives for doing so. I didn't think I would get much use out of the ice cream maker, however the ease of use, the simple recipes and the amazing results changed my mind. Our freezer is never without homemade ice cream these days.

The CIM-20 model is fairly bulky, however this allows for lots of ice cream with every recipe. Our family of four can easily munch on one batch of ice cream once a day for 3 days. When not in use, the ice cream maker fits easily in our appliance garage, which isn't huge.

The product is fairly simple to use. The bowl that the ice cream mixture is poured in during the making process needs to be stored in a bag in the freezer. The bowl has liquid around the inner part, which freezes. The frozen bowl is placed on the base. The base has an electric motor which will spin the bowl. The plastic stir stick is placed in the frozen bowl. The large clear cover is placed over the bowl and locks into place on the base.

After pouring the ice cream mixture into the bowl, you turn the Cuisinart ice cream maker on and the stir stick locks; the bowl continues to spin causing the ice cream mixture to flow past the stir stick. This thickens and cools the mixture and becomes ice cream. The amazing part is it only takes 20 to 25 minutes. The ice cream is creamy after 20 minutes and needs to be placed in a separate container and put in the freezer to thicken.

The clean up is a snap. The frozen bowl needs to be cleaned and dried, put in a bag and back in the freezer. The stir stick is really the only hassle to clean, however I usually hand it to my kids and they take it outside and lick it clean. Of course I wash it with soap and water too.

The Cuisinart frozen yogurt- ice cream and sorbet maker comes with a small instruction manual that not only tells you how to use the machine but also gives a list of great recipes. The recipes are amazing; they are simple and very easy to follow. Most recipes require whole milk, whip cream, sugar, and whatever you want to add, like chocolate or vanilla. The more elaborate recipes call for egg yolks.

Mostly we've used the Cuisinart CIM-20 for ice cream, however the frozen yogurts and sorbets are easy and delicious as well.

My only fear with the machine is the stir stick. It is plastic and seems kind of flimsy. I haven't had any trouble with it, however if anything breaks it would probably be that piece. I own many Cuisinart products and have faith in the electric motors they use. However, they do warn against keeping the motor running for longer than 25 minutes at a time. It doesn't take longer than this to make any of the recipes, so I'm not too concerned.

I love my Cuisinart frozen yogurt- ice cream and sorbet maker CIM-20. It is fun, easy, and makes delicious yogurt, ice cream and sorbets. It has seen a lot of use since father's day and will continue to keep our summers cool.