Looking for advice on ice cream/gelato makers with built-in compressor

Hi there,

I'd like to buy an ice cream maker to make ice cream, gelato, and sorbets, and I'm thinking of getting one with its own refrigeration. After two days of research, it is narrowed down to the Lello 4070 Gelato Junior and the Cuisinart ICE-50BC.

Can anyone comment on how smooth the ice cream or gelato made by these types of units will be? My only experience is with the "freezer bowl" variety -- which tastes OK but always seemed grainy to me. Will these more expensive units eliminate the graininess that home-made ice cream seems to produce? Is its output ready to eat or must it be placed in the freezer first to set?

Please, any advice or comments will be welcome. Thanks!

Well, nobody responded, and now it has been almost a year so I thought I'd post back.  I ended up getting the Lello 4070 Gelato Junior, and we love it.  Making ice cream used to be so stressful because you'd only get one shot before having to refreeze the bowl for 10 hours.  It made it difficult to experiment.  Now we can make as many batches as we want, right in a row.  The hardest part is letting the batter sit in the fridge overnight, but if we're in a hurry we will just chill the batter in some ice water for 1/2 hour and then throw it in the Lello.  I've also made slurpees by just pouring a can of root beer into the unit and running it for 20 mins or so.  Ice cream is relatively smooth with little graininess.  I do eliminate virtually all of the graininess by adding a mixture of guar and xanthan gum to all my ice cream.  It's my secret ingredient that guarantees a rich, creamy product every time.

All in all, well worth the money and it has worked wonderfully.  Oh, it should be noted that the first unit we received did not get cold at all, and the box was pretty bashed up when it arrived.  Amazon sent out a replacement right away which worked perfectly (even though its box was also bashed in).

I think it almost came down to a coin toss between the various self-freezing models.  Both look like very nice units.  I have never used the Cuisinart, but some reviews on Amazon made note of its excessively loud noise.  Also, the Cuisinart ICE-50BC has a 1.5 quart capacity, while the Lello 4070 has a 1 quart capacity.  My understanding of ice cream makers is that you don't want to underfill them or the proper amount of air won't be whipped into the batter as it freezes.  I figured for my wife and me one quart would be plenty.  I like to experiment with different ingredients, so for me, being able to make many small batches was a plus.  The final decider was that while both the Lello and the Cuisinart had very good reviews, the Lello owners seemed almost fanatical about their love for the device.

Both ice cream makers would probably please any owner, though.

Are you looking at the 4070?  It is under $180 -- one of the lowest prices for a self-freezing ice cream maker.