9 Best Ice Cream Makers 2023 | UK Chef Reviewed

It's no surprise that market leaders Cuisinart (who offer a 5 year guarantee) have produced a fabulous all-rounder, ticking all the boxes for style, features, and everything else you can think of, including dishwasher-safe parts. 

Occasional and frequent ice cream cooks alike will rate the 2 litre freezing bowl capacity, ready to have you licking the bowl in just 25 minutes, as well as the large, easy-add ingredient lid and one-touch operation. Top marks! 

If you love nothing more than spending your weekend whipping up a culinary storm or three, you'd do much worse than to add one of these to your online basket. It's a compressor maker with a built-in freezer and includes a whole host of settings, plus changeable paddles, that lead to professional-grade gelato, sorbet, or ice cream every time. 

For a compressor design it isn't as bulky as most of its competitors, yet can still churn 1.5 litres of ice cream and have it on the table in 40 minutes. And because there's no waiting for the bowl to freeze again, try out another batch if you like!

Sensio's affordable, no-frills offering is actually the number one bestselling ice cream maker on UK Amazon, and we can see why! There's no doubt you'll save a fair few pennies on shop-bought desserts with this in the kitchen, and it's fast, too. 

Depending on your freezer, you can get away with pre-freezing the bowl for only 12 hours, and like any good maker there's a feeding tube to throw in in your favourite add-ins. Our top pick for a basic, budget ice cream maker! 

An absolute steal considering the ultra-spacious 1.5 litre capacity, this is another powerful, fast-feeding option that'll have ice cream on the table quicker than you can get the cones out. 

Reviewers rate the performance, value for money, and how easy it is to clean afterward, which can often be a pain with so many detachable parts. It's also one of the more quieter options, should you prefer your machine not to ruin your dinner party ambiance. 

We do love to give you option of a high-end product, and if you know your kitchen gadgets then you're probably acquainted with Heston's Sage range. Although the price point does limit its mass appeal for the average Brit, it's certainly more than a good performer. 

This compressor maker truly is one for when only the most hi-tech will do: it'll pre-cool your mixture, let you pick from 12 hardness settings to perfect any frozen dessert you desire, and then keep it at the optimum temperature for 3 hours. And get this: it'll even play an ice cream van tune when your masterpiece is ready! 

Here's a user-friendly, one-touch ice cream maker with one standout feature – its size, or lack thereof! Cramped freezer drawers, compact kitchen sides or even the holiday caravan would all welcome this small but sweet pre-freezing maker, with a still-reasonable 1.5 L capacity. 

Like many of the more basic budget options, the bowl will need many hours to properly freeze up, but for occasional use it'll certainly do what you need it to! 

This is a great pick if you fancy trying out healthier frozen desserts (though it's more than capable of full-fat ice cream too!) – thanks to the specially designed second paddle, simply throw in some fresh fruit and create a virtuous sorbet or whip up some froyo in under 30 minutes. 

Shunning the tiresome white plastic norm, its tasteful colourway and slimline design should bring some style to any kitchen. We're also rather fond of the large capacity, although you may get impatient waiting 24 hours to prep the bowl. 

A well-trusted name in the world of kitchen appliances, Magimix's simple 1.1 L maker should be easy enough to operate for even the least confident cooks – a good one for getting the children involved perhaps! 

There's a large feeding tube to incorporate add-ins at any stage in the freezing process, and a free recipe book and app access to their app with even more frozen dessert ideas. Because it is very basic it may not suit the non-novices, though. 

If you're looking to make restaurant-quality ice cream from the comfort of your own home, this is the answer. Not only does it create beautifully smooth ice cream, it also has settings to make gelato and granita, so you have all sorts of frozen treats at your finger tips. 

For such a wide-ranging machine, though, you'll need to be willing to fork out quite a bit of money. At nearly £500, this won't be suitable for everyone's budget and might not be necessary for the casual ice cream makers and instead will be more suited to the connoisseurs.