I was a bit skeptical about buying this after reading all the mixed reviews. When we got it turns out everything works fine! Just have to keep an eye on it because it will get thick quickly once it starts...Other than that amazing!!!

Makes cold, sweet milk and a big mess. Tried several times. Froze bowl; chilled ingredients; checked periodically; and NEVER got anything like soft-serve ice cream. Would take it to Goodwill but I don't want anyone else to waste their money on this plus all the ingredients and only be disappointed!

I bought this for my wife for Xmas. I pre-chilled the bowl and was ready to go today. I decided on their simple vanilla recipe. Basically, it made frozen whip cream. The problem with this machine is that you cannot regulate the thickness of the product. Second, if you try to let it thicken longer, the machine contorts and the top pops its' locks and the paddles and gear disengage. This is long before you could ever reach ice cream consistency and you cannot change the temperature to keep it from doing this. The front of the machine says that you should scoop out all of the soft serve once it gets stuck. This defeats the purpose. Also, the candy dispensers barely work and are very sensitive to the texture of the material. I see that the original retail price was $235.00. This was fantasy. A $30.00 ice cream maker will do a better job than this thing with plastic paddles and gears. I would have to say that this thing looks good, but is really a piece of garbage. I will be returning this one. I made better ice cream with two ziplock bags some crushed ice and salt.

We found the key to making great ice cream is to get some dry ice. Put the dry ice inside the bucket and into the freezer for about one hour. The dry ice accelerates the freezing and really works great for fast turnaround. Without the dry ice, the bucket has to freeze for a minimum of 20 or so hours. Awesome and fun machine..

For soft serve and ice cream cone lovers, this Cuisinart Mix-It-In Soft Serve Machine is a fun and effective kitchen gadget with the novelty of three built-in topping dispensers. Follow the instructions and adapt the recipes and you can get tasty soft serve comparable to your favorite soft serve shop.

If you've been doing your homework, you're apt to become confused, as I did, as to the reason why so many reviewers rave about this machine whereas the other half claim that it simply doesn't work. Most complaints seemingly center around the fact that the bowl must be frozen, and if your freezer doesn't have the space or doesn't get cold enough it is nearly impossible to obtain desirable results. For the money, consumers seemingly expect that these machines will refrigerate the soft serve ice cream -- but they don't. Yes, you can buy ice cream makers that self-refrigerate the ingredients as they mix but those generally cost much more, do not produce soft serve and do not offer a dispenser. In other words, apples to oranges.

I feel fortunate to have read reviewer tips from successful owners here on Amazon prior to purchase. Had I not, I too may have been among those who are disappointed with the product. Instead, I learned that while the user manual suggests freezing the bowl for 15 hours, 24 may be necessary (toward the back of the freezer). Better yet, if you are able to store the bowl in the freezer it makes it much easier to use the machine spontaneously. I also learned something the manual does not suggest but should: Mix up the ingredients using a wire whisk or low speed mixer at least 20 minutes ahead of time and chill the contents in a pitcher, along with the mixing paddle, for a bit more before you remove the bowl from the freezer, pour in the contents and switch on the machine. The name of the game is to minimize time sitting out on the counter warming up. The colder the ingredients and the faster you get them into the bowl, the less time it will take to bring the contents up to the desired consistency.

The user guide indicates that it may take 20-30 minutes to attain finished results, whereas the box claims as few as 15 minutes. I personally found doing all of the above resulted in ice cream shop soft serve consistency in about 18 minutes. By 26 minutes it was so thick that it was difficult to dispense (at which point the user manual suggests scooping it out of the bowl and serving that way). Also important to understand is the fact that if you fail to turn off the machine, the soft serve may become so thick that a circuit may switch off the motor to protect it from overheating. This is not a defect but something plainly stated in the manual. So for those who are curious to know if it can be left running to produce hard packed ice cream, the answer is absolutely not.

Because there is no timer on the machine, it is entirely up to the user to determine when it is time to dispense the contents (a period of checking that begins 15 minutes into the process). This is by far the trickiest part about the machine's operation and the likely source of most complaints. Wait too little and the consistency is not much better than a milkshake. Wait too long, and the dispenser can no longer propel the ice cream through. The window of opportunity to dispense the entire contents of the bowl may be as little as five minutes (assuming you like your soft serve on the thick side and push it to the last few minutes before it is too thick to dispense). One way to get the consistency you desire is to take a measuring cup or small dish and periodically dispense (test) from about 15 minutes onward (every minute or so). If it is too runny dump it back in the bowl. If the soft serve holds its form, it is ready to serve.

There are certain kitchen electrics that involve a learning curve and this Cuisinart soft serve machine is no exception. I own a Carnival Popcorn Maker (movie theater style), an espresso machine and a bread machine, each that required me to adapt to particular design and operation characteristics for best results. If you understand what you are getting -- and for that I suggest prospective buyers download the owner's guide at the Cuisinart website before placing an order -- you won't be disappointed.

If this machine doesn't seem to live up to its billing, it may stem from Internet descriptions that would have would-be buyers believe this is an ice cream maker. The badge on the machine clearly designates it foremost as a soft serve machine. And for that purpose it is a lot of fun, complete with choice of three topping dispensers. Where the toppings are concerned, I discovered that there is no way to adjust the rate of flow, which is why I'm docking this product one star. Toppings tend to dispense too fast and are best reserved for bowls and not cones; they tend to scatter and a bowl can catch them much better than a cone can.

In terms of cost effectiveness, there are some recipes, typically the more exotic variations, that can cost quite a bit more than just treating yourself to an ice cream parlor. Basic recipe ingredients, however, are cream, sugar, milk and flavoring, which won't set you back too far. Using yet another tip I read here on Amazon, I reduced sugar content on Cuisinart's Basic Vanilla and the results using French Vanilla Extract for flavoring were light, fluffy and silky smooth without ice crystals. And therein lies my final tip: Until you get the hang of this machine, go by the book. Literally. Once you get the operation down pat using the included recipes, branch off into Internet recipes, ingredient substitutions or whatever else captures your imagination. In this way you can easily distinguish between a faulty machine, an inadequately frozen bowl and a recipe that isn't suited for soft serve machine use.

In closing, soft serve lovers should not be dissuaded by negative reviews. As for giving this away as a gift -- particularly to a child or anyone who lacks patience in the kitchen -- I would think twice. Not everyone will be intrigued by the dispensing features or the novelty of spending that much time making soft serve at home.

Although dispensing the condiments and the soft serve is somewhat of an art, it is worth the effort for anyone who prefers their ice cream extra light, fluffy and/or served in a cone. How many machines offer features like this? Only one other non-discontinued product that I'm aware of. As the wildly different reviews attest to, however, this machine is not as foolproof as other kitchen electrics. Success relies upon eyeballing the mixture through the cutout in the lid. And while you're at it, if you want to avoid a messy drip you must make sure to return the lever back into the up position each time you finish dispensing. Otherwise the soft serve flow will not be entirely closed off and you will have soft serve in the drip tray to show for it.

Bottom line? Practice makes perfect.