We just covered in our previous post which are the best gelato machines for your business. But what if you are just starting out and want to experiment at home or you are a gelato or ice cream aficionado and want to make it for the family, but still achieve good quality products? How do we choose our machine and what are the best options here in America?
Let’s find out!
What are we looking for in a home/beginner gelato machine?
Price point: prepare to spend between a few hundred $ to a thousand or so for the high end ones.
Quality: building quality is important. Buy trusted brands that will stand behind their products. Anything metal, stainless steel or durable is our best choice!
Compressor or not? I strongly recommend a machine with a compressor. These are more expensive, but they freeze much better & faster, you can do multiple batches in a row and in general provide much better quality gelato/ice cream. The compressor is a must for anyone semi-serious about making a decent product.
Settings, different paddles, programs & more. More often than not, at this level, all these optionals, gadgets and customizations are just introduced so that they can sell you the newest model. For these type of machines, there is not much innovation happening, so don’t worry about it too much. I bought my Cuisinart in 2013 and they still sell the same model.
Size. Most of these home machines have similar sizes for their buckets, so I would not worry about it too much but feel free to double check and get the size that fits your needs and family.
Do we need an entry level or a fancier one? I think for any home maker the cheaper, entry level ones are more than ok - for anyone wanting to open up a business and wanting to start testing then a semi-professional option is recommended as you can then use it also later to craft small test batches, instead of using your big professional machine.
What are the best options?
Entry level with compressor:
Cuisinart ICE-100 - This is the machine I used and still use here and there to do test batches. Simple & straightforward, makes a good product both for gelato & sorbetti. It comes with 2 paddles specifically for gelato & ice cream, but at this churning speeds and time I really haven’t noticed any difference.
Breville BCI600XL - a good alternative, with a few extra bells & whistles and customizations. It’s a bit more expensive but it’s a good brand and this machine has been around for a while as well. If you like to do different frozen desserts, this might be your best option!
Whynter ICM-15LS - similar to the Cuisinart and pretty straight forward this is another great brand that you can trust.
Whynter ICM-200LS - bigger capacity, a few more controls & settings otherwise it is the same as the sister up here.
Semi-professionals with compressor:
Lello 4080 Musso Lussino - Italian brand, great quality product and obviously a bit more expensive. This is their entry level, and I recommend this to a serious home gelato maker or to whoever has the idea of a gelato business in mind!
Lello Musso Pola 5030 - same as above, but bigger size. Very good buy!
Nemox - here we are going really semi-pro o restaurant/bakery/hotel quality. Nemox is another very good Italian machine and at this level is probably the best you can buy! 3 sizes and different bells & whistles but all amazing machines. Nemox 36750 5L - Nemox Pro 6K - Nemox 38151 17quarts (this is a big boy!)
Nemox also offers a very nice gelato/ice cream display case that will not break the bank (for a semi to professional use) and can be brought to events, farmers markets and anywhere else you might need it: Nemox 4 flavors countertop display
Here is a great list that should cover all your non-professional needs as far as gelato & ice cream with very solid semi-professional options!
Keep in mind that with the non professional models you will not be able to achieve a perfect texture (even with professional recipes) simply because of the way they freeze and the time it takes them to freeze your batch. So these machines are great for home and in general to test flavor profiles and a structure of the recipe, but know that with a professional one your same recipe should improve significantly. Lello Musso and especially Nemox can give outstanding, more pro-like results instead.
Hopefully this was helpful & valuable amici!
Got questions? We’ve got answers! Don’t forget to sign up for our free Q&A newsletter - sign up directly here!
A presto amici!
Vincenzo