The best ice cream makers for every kitchen

The Cuisinart Ice Cream and Gelato Maker is a serious machine for people who are serious about ice cream. That's down to the fact it makes great dollops of delicious ice cream, gelato, frozen yoghurt, or sorbet in as little as 40 minutes. 

And it's pretty easy to use. You simply add ingredients, switch it on, and add extra toppings through the lid during the churning process.

It has a professional compressor system, which means there's no need to pre-freeze the bowl and no need to wait between batches. There are two mixing paddles for ice cream and gelato, so your recipe should always have the right amount of air for the perfect texture. As a bonus, it makes cocktails too.

The Sensio Home Ice Cream Maker works fast — your ice cream is ready in just 20 minutes. That makes it great for kids who need to cool down on a summer’s day. It's not quite instant ice cream, but close enough.

The refill opening in the lid allows you to add extra toppings and ingredients as you go. With just four removable components, the set-up process could not be any simpler. The easy-to-follow instructions mean you can get it up and running in just minutes. Another selling point? It's cheap.

You do need to freeze the bowl for approximately 12 hours and mix your ingredients and pre-chill in the fridge for at least two to three hours — so think ahead in case the kids are likely to start demanding ice cream at any time.

The Duronic IM540 ice cream maker is designed with simplicity in mind. It allows you to make homemade frozen desserts quickly and easily, with almost no effort required from you — and at a very low price.

All you need to do is pop the ice cream bowl into the freezer and prepare any fruits or ingredients you might want to add. The machine does everything else, and can make creamy desserts in less than 30 minutes. 

It comes with a large 1.5 litre mixing bowl — larger than more expensive models — and a top-down motor with removable paddle. As the paddle churns away at the whole ice cream mixture, it scoops away from the sides of the bowl, ensuring the mixture doesn't stick and maintains consistency. 

The only downsides are the lack of advanced features — which is expected at this price — and the fact you need to think ahead and pre-cool the bowl.

The Sage Smart Scoop is expensive, but that’s because it’s one the best ice cream makers available. It has 12 hardness settings, which means it makes ice cream, sorbet, frozen yoghurt, and gelato at the exact consistency you want.

It has a pre-cool function that gets the machine to optimum temperature. You can then sit back and relax thanks to Smart Scoop technology, which senses the hardness of your frozen dessert and automatically maintains the consistency, and keeps your dessert cool for up to three hours.

You can choose from one of the four pre-programmed settings or take total control of the process — manual or automatic. One thing we really like? It plays a little ice cream van jingle when your ice cream is ready.

If you want the brilliance of Cuisinart but you can’t afford the premium model, try the Cuisinart Ice Cream Deluxe instead. Despite the lower price, it’s got a two litre capacity — the biggest capacity on this list.

It comes with a detachable bowl that you pop in your freezer the night before using. Simply fill the bowl with your desired mixture and you don't need to do any churning by hand. Your ice cream will be ready in as little as 25 minutes.

The open lid allows you to add ingredients — such as fresh fruit or chocolate chips — while the ice cream-making is in motion. It's also very easy to clean as the freezer bowl, mixing arm, and lid are detachable. 

If you want a great ice cream maker for not a lot of money, the Andrew James Ice Cream Maker is an excellent choice. If you’re happy to sacrifice high-tech features and get a bargain, there aren’t many better options.

It comes with a detachable bowl and a funnel for adding ingredients as you go. And as well as ice cream you can make gelato, sorbet, and frozen yoghurt.

It promises to have ice cream ready in 15-20 minutes, which is certainly up there with the fastest we’ve found, though it takes a little longer with frozen yoghurt, which is more like 30 minutes. Overall, it’s simple to use and represents fantastic value for money. Very tasty indeed.