This Cuisinart ice cream maker is AWESOME! What an improvement over the old fashioned ice cream makers! No more salt or ice needed, and this thing can make soft-serve in about 20 minutes time! Because it's Cuisinart, I also know it's built to last. The one I bought is a beautiful, cherry red! And as beautiful as it is, it is even better at making ice cream! There is a base unit that plugs into an electrical socket. There are but two dial functions: off and on. There is a removable "bucket" / bowl where you place ingredients for making the ice cream. The bowl has liquid inside, that is between that hard plastic exterior of the bucket, and the stainless steel interior of the bucket. You MUST freeze the bucket for at least 24 hours prior to making ice cream. This is how the ice cream maker avoids having to use salt of ice, when making the ice cream! You simply prepare very simple, COLD ingredients (e.g. - milk, cream, sugar, some vanilla / other flavoring), remove the bowl from your freezer, add the cold ingredients, place the bowl into the main unit (when you turn the unit on, it turns the bowl of contents), add the stationary agitator to the bowl (the agitator has construction through which the ice cream ingredients pass, while the bowl turns. In essence, the stationary agitator "stirs" the ice cream, while to bowl turns), and then place the lid on the ice cream maker. The lid has a hole in it, whereby you can easily add ingredients (e.g. - crushed Oreos, pistachio nuts, chocolate chips, marshmallows, etc.). You can make soft-serve ice cream in 20 - 25 minutes. NOTE: do NOT go beyond 20 - 25 minutes churn time; the ice cream expands, and if you over-freeze it, it will overflow, and create a HUGE mess! It's never happened to me - I set a timer for 20 minutes, max - but my daughter wasn't so diligent, and wound-up with a huge, sticky mess, all over the outside of the ice cream maker! Honestly, this issue is simple to avoid - just set a timer! The resulting ice cream is delicious, but always comes out as soft-serve. No ice cream maker has a powerful enough motor to solid-freeze ice cream. To harden up the ice cream, place it in plastic storage containers, and place them in the freezer (you need to be able to store 2 quarts of ice cream). To serve, remove the containers of ice cream from the freezer for about 15 minutes - it will then be just soft enough to scoop out! Cleaning is easy (two parts to hand wash): the bowl and agitator must be HAND-WASHED. Neither of these should go in the dishwasher, especially the bowl (remember, the bowl has liquid inside, between the plastic outside, and the metallic inside). I assume a dishwasher would ruin the bowl / agitator. Anyway, this thing makes great ice cream, and in a very short time. My OLD ice cream maker can't even begin to compare. And no longer do I need to buy ice cream salt and ice, when I want to make ice cream! And the Cuisinart makes ice cream way faster than my old fashioned ice cream maker. And the resulting ice cream is delicious! One hint: regardless of the type of ice cream I'm making, I add almond extract. ALL the ice cream recipes call for vanilla extract, but only SOME call for almond extract. EVERYONE who has tried the ice cream I make LOVES the smell and flavor that almond extract adds. If you want to make ice cream, this Cuisinart ice cream maker is the way to go!
