Which Compressor-Style Ice Cream/Gelato Maker is Best?

Question

Chowhounds,

I am looking to make some delicious homemade ice cream and gelato, and have decided to go for a compressor-style machine (i.e. with built-in refrigeration).

The following seem to be the main home-sized units available in the US:

- Lello 4070 Gelato Junior ~$230
- Lello 4080 Musso Lussino ~$680 (highly recommended but does it produce a superior product to these other models?)
- Lello 4090 Gelato Pro ~$350
- Cuisinart ICE-50BC Supreme (discontinued, used to be ~$300, rec'd by David Lebovitz)
- Cuisinart ICE-100 (newer version of 50--is it better?), ~$300
- Whynter IC-2L SNÖ ~$250 (recommended by Cook's Illustrated but the only other compressor model they considered was ICE-50)
- Whynter ICM-15LS ~$280 (not sure why it costs more since it looks worse than the IC-2L)
- DeLonghi GM6000 ~$300 (recommended by several Chowhounds)
- Breville Smart Scoop BCI600XL ~$380

Is there anyone out there who has tried more than one of these and can compare the quality of the ice cream / gelato they produce? Am I missing some other option?

Answer

Something to consider; is the blade plastic or metal? Is there a removable canister or is the holding cell inset into the machine? I hear this protects the machinery from spillage. This is the type I used in my pastry course and that machine was well over $1000. The Whytner seems similar. Don't know the model but it is all metal according to a YouTube video. Please let us know what you've chosen and how it rates.

Answer

I bought the Lello 4090 but wish I bought the Musso Lussino 4080. The 4070 and 4090 are made by a different company than the Musso Lussino. I don't really understand the 4070-4080-4090 naming scheme but the 4070 and 4090 are similar to each other while the 4080 is totally different (and from what I hear, better).

The Lello 4090 I bought had a strange smell of gasoline that never went away (I ended up giving it to Goodwill). The ice cream it makes was fine (better than the cheaper freezer container machines) but I didn't get the texture of gelato using it. 

One thing it didn't have was separate switches for freezer and mixer - that would let you control overrun. You may need to go up a level to get that capability.

Answer

Speaking from personal experience, NOT Lello Gelato Pro. (4090)

Mine died after 3 batches. Well it still turns on and spins, but it doesn't get cold anymore. Unfortunately, said 3 batches were each made a few months apart, and it was out of the (one year) warranty period by the time it broke.

A one year warranty on such an expensive piece of equipment should have been a HUGE red flag. 

Anyway, I Googled around and there are repair options, for almost as much as the cost of the original unit. There are also a lot of other people out there with similar compressor and/or refrigerant problems with these machines. I don't know how common it is but the fact that I now own a very expensive paperweight gives me no reason to recommend -- and the ice cream wasn't great the times the thing did work. Very slow to freeze, and I thought the quality was slightly inferior to that produced by my bowl-in-the-freezer Cuisinart model.

Answer

I don't have any experience with the other models on your list, but I've had a Lello Gelato Junior for about 5 years now, and it still makes great ice cream. It looks exactly like the Whynter SNO, but I don't know if it's just a different label or the insides are different. Excellent results, even when I add the mix when it's still luke warm. It does have separate switches for the compressor and mixer.

Answer

So far I've been able to find the following comparisons online:

http://www.thekitchn.com/product-review-delonghi-gelato-124319 prefers Delonghi GM6000 to Cuisinart ICE 50 (or is it 100?)

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/shopping/2005/06/the_inside_scoop.single.html prefers Lello 4080 Musso Lussino to Lello 4070 Gelato Junior or Cuisinart ICE-50BC

Based on this, and pouring over individual reviews online (Amazon, etc.) I'm leaning towards the Musso Lussino (despite its cost). If anyone knows of a model which produces better ice cream than the Lussino, let me know!

Answer

I personally wouldn't recommend the ICE50 simply because of the quality of the ice cream it produces:

http://icecreamscience.com/2012/09/04/cuisinart-ice-50bc-supreme-ice-cream-maker-review/

I'm still in love with my first machine, the ICE30. I'm an ardent supporter of machines that require the bowl to be frozen overnight as my ICE30 makes ice cream with excellent texture. I really don't think an in-built compressor justifies the extra money. If you are looking for a machine with an in-built compressor, the new ICE100 is the best I've tried because of the quality of the ice cream. It also comes with a 1.5 litre bowl, which I think is the largest for a machine with in-built compressor.

Hope that helps!

Answer

I recently tried both the Lello Musso Pola 5030 and the Lello 4080 Musso Lussino. Both make identical ice cream that is exceptionally smooth, creamy, and dense. The only thing I found disappointing was that the 4080 only has the capacity to make 750g of ice cream per batch. I think that if you are willing to spend that much money on the 4080, it is a good idea to spend a little more and go for the bigger 5030 that allows you to make an impressive 1500g per batch.

http://icecreamscience.com/lello-musso-pola-5030-commercial-ice-cream-maker-review/

The Breville BCI600XL and the Cuisinart ICE-100 are also excellent machines that make dense, smooth, and creamy ice cream. I would probably go for the ICE-100 simply because the Breville was really tricky to empty after it had finished churning a batch.

http://icecreamscience.com/breville-bci600xl-smart-scoop-ice-cream-maker-review/

Hope that helps.

All the best, Ruben

Answer

I have the Whynter IC-2L SNO. This makes good ice cream. The only thing I don't like is the small hole in the top to add ingredients while the ice cream is mixing. I like to add broken up Skor chocolate to the ice cream and you have to basically add each small piece one by one. The other thing I don't like is if you stop the machine to unstick the paddle, the timer resets to the amount you started out with.

Answer

I can not caution you strongly enough regarding the Breville Smart Scoop! There are compressor issues that result in a freezing differential so that in low fat mixtures ice accumulates on the bottom and the hopper/beater get stuck which destroys the motor belt. That's an inherent design flaw that has been documented on other threads in other places. But it was a horrific experience returning it to Breville--so much so that I will never buy any of their products again. I have used the removable canister version of the Cuisinart ice cream makers in their various iterations for over 10 years and have loved them, but of course wanted to find a compressor version because there is nothing elegant about taking up freezer space when entertaining large crowds.

Answer

My Lello Gelato 4090 lasted less than 10 batches. I would stay away from it. I had it stored in an air conditioned basement in a box for three months and the outside plastic turned yellow. It ended up in the trash. 

I figured each of those batches cost me $40.

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