Rain or shine, ice cream is always in season in our house. The arrival of the Savisto’s Ice Cream Maker, just in time for summer holidays, generated a lot of excitement. I had been wanting an ice cream maker for a while so I jumped at the chance to review this model.
Straight away, the kids made a list of all the flavours we had to try to make. Number 1 was of course the not-so-wholesome blue “Smurf” ice cream they always seem to crave whenever we visit my parents in the South of France. My list, in contrast, included a selection of seasonal flavours, inspired by delicious Summer fruits.
Making your own ice cream is the perfect excuse to make healthier treats and desserts that contain less sugar and additives. You can also choose to add more fruits or wholesome ingredients such as organic eggs, milk or cream. In its simplest form, homemade ice cream can be made from fruit, cream and sugar. That’s a big difference compared with the long lists of ingredients you usually find in shop-bought brands.
It is not essential to have a machine to make ice cream. There are many recipes out there for no-churn ice creams. You can also churn ice creams by hand stirring every hour until set, though the novelty of this method wore off quickly for me, just after the second recipe I tried.
An ice cream maker will in contrast stir (also known as churn) the ice cream mixture consistently as it cools down, preventing ice crystals from forming and resulting in a smoother texture.
When choosing a model you are generally faced with a choice of an Electric Freezer or a Pre-Freeze Bowl. Inspired by my mum’s ice cream maker, I had my eyes on a stand-alone electric model for some time, but they are expensive and bulky and therefore hard to justify. This type of machine has a built-in freezer unit to cool down the ice cream while churning it.
Savisto’s Ice Cream Maker is a Pre-Freeze Bowl which is a much simpler, cheaper and compact option than a fully automatic ice cream machine. The main difference is that there is no built-in cooling system, so you need to think ahead and put the bowl in the freezer overnight so it is cold enough when you are ready to make the ice cream.
The model I received features the following specifications:
- 1.5 litre capacity freezing bowl (removable and easy to clean)
- Large funnel to add ingredients such as chocolate chips, dry fruits etc… while the ice cream is cooling down
- Low level noise motor
- Digital time and display
- Ice-Cream Maker Dimensions: Height 22cm, Diameter 19.5cm 12w
- Compact freezing Bowl Dimensions: Height: 20cm, Diameter: 13.5cm
- 2 year guarantee
- Recipe booklet with over 100 recipes for ice creams, sorbets, granitas, frozen yoghurt and ice cream toppings
To put the Savisto’s Ice Cream Maker to the test I made a selection of three different dairy and dairy-free ice creams: strawberry, melon and lime matcha. You can find the recipe for the vegan Lime Matcha Ice Cream here.
For the melon ice cream, I blended some melon flesh with sugar, coconut milk and xanthan gum. The mixture was then poured into the pre-frozen bowl.
The churning only took 40 minutes which is the same amount of time a fully automatic machine takes. The digital timer can be adjusted to suit individual recipes. Once ready, each ice cream was then transferred to a container and stored in the freezer until fully set.
I was really impressed by the results as each batch turned out silky smooth and tasty.
For a thorough comparison (and also because the first container was devoured in a flash 🙂 ), I made the Lime Matcha ice cream again on holiday with my mum’s super-duper machine. I was chuffed to get the same quality result, in the same amount of time.
The recipe booklet included with the Savisto’s Ice Cream Maker has a lot of interesting recipes I cannot wait to try: Honeycomb, Crunchy Hazelnut, Kulfi etc… There is also a recipe for Prune & Armagnac ice cream which is a must as soon as we are back from holidaying in the South West of France.
My only criticism was to find some omissions for some of the ingredients in the recipes for Peanut Butter or Sweet Potato ice creams. I have been told by Savisto, that the booklet is being checked and reprinted.
If you are looking to make your own ice creams then I would certainly recommend this model from Savisto. It will enable you to make a wide range of recipes to delight the whole family and impress your guests. It is compact enough to be easily stored in a cupboard between uses. You can even grab yourself a bargain as it is currently on sale here for £34.99.
You can find out more about Savisto on their website, follow them on Twitter or visit them on Facebook.
A Commissioned Post for Savisto. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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