Shilpa uses the sleek silver 2-quart model in the Test Kitchen, but this 1.5-quart version is what she uses at home. It does just about everything that the fancier 2-quart model can do, but it’s slightly smaller, made of plastic (except for the bowl, which is made of stainless steel), and produces a maximum of 3 pints per batch. Again, this model does not come with a built-in timer, so remember to keep an eye on the ice cream while it churns; things may move slightly faster in this machine, as it holds less ice cream base. At around $50 at the time of writing, it’s an affordable option for the home cook looking to make a grand finale for their summer dinner party.
Lello 4080 Musso Lussino 1.5-Quart Ice Cream Maker
If you’re going to shell out the money for a compressor, you might as well go for the best. According to Shilpa, that’s the Lello 4080 Musso Lussino. Each model of these pristine 1.5-quart ice cream makers is hand-assembled in Italy. The stainless-steel bowl and paddle get cold, fast, and once you’ve churned a batch, it’s easy to clean. It comes with a timer for perfectly-churned frozen confections, every time. But most importantly, the ice cream it makes tastes great. Epicurious associate editor Jarrett Melendez tested the Lello machine and was extremely impressed with the results. “This machine produces the absolute best quality ice cream of every single machine I tested, hard stop,” writes Jarrett. “It was creamy, without even a hint of crystallization. Even more impressive: It stayed that way after freezing overnight.”
That being said, the machine is a whopping 38 pounds and costs over $1,000. Still, it makes some of the best ice cream you can get without a commercial machine.
Nostalgia Store Old Fashioned Ice Cream Maker
“To me, the sound of an electric whir in the background is the sound of summer,” says SEO editor Joe Sevier. For him, homemade ice cream is all about nostalgia, and this Nostalgia Store ice cream maker is just right. “For as long as I can remember, it was my mother’s sworn obligation to provide the ice cream for our annual Fourth of July family reunion,” Joe says. “Batch after batch of Milky Way ice cream made its way from this old-school freezer to storage vessel as we worked to whip up another round.”
This ice cream maker, which produces up to 4 quarts of the stuff, doesn’t even require an outlet. It runs on an electric motor, which (somewhat loudly) whirrs as a plastic paddle cranks the ice cream base into creamy submission. The ice cream that comes out of this machine is slightly icier, with a texture closer to soft-serve than hard ice cream.
Why go for the old-fashioned, charmingly lo-fi, powered-by-ice-and-salt machine? “I prefer this style of machine to others because I can leave it outside if it’s deemed too noisy indoors, or I can stash it in a bathroom to churn away while we commandeer the kitchen for other purposes,” Joe says. “There’s no need to chill the drum between batches as with some models. And just look at the price! Comparatively, it’s a steal. If the bright aqua or magenta doesn’t draw you in, they even make a model in the guise of a mint-chip ice cream cone. Nostalgia is right.”