Last Updated on 20 July 2026 by Dan Wilderness
Hello everyone! As regular readers of the site will know, I love kitchen gadgets in general – but there’s one that I’m a particularly big fan of in my household and it’s my ice cream maker! So today I thought I’d write an article highlighting my thoughts on if an ice cream maker is worth it.
Do you save money making your own ice cream?
Because we are a personal finance blog, we are absolutely going to run the numbers first. Is it actually cheaper to make your own ice cream at home?
To find out, we used Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough as a comparison point. While not the absolute highest end of the market, it is a widely available premium treat.
At the time of writing, the best price I could find for a tub was £4.00 at Asda. Because our home ice cream maker yields a larger volume than a single tub, we need to compare our homemade batch against two tubs of Ben & Jerry’s (£8.00 total for 936ml).
The Homemade Cost Breakdown
To compare this, I calculated the cost of making a cookie dough recipe using standard Tesco supermarket pricing. (Note: For ease, I used pre-made cookie dough, though you could make your own to shave off a few extra pennies).
- 600ml double cream: £2.30 (487ml actually used)
- 1 pint of milk: 85p (237ml actually used)
- 1kg caster sugar: £2.25 (177g actually used)
- 6 large eggs: £1.85 (2 actually used)
- Tesco Ready-to-bake Cookie Dough 300g: £2.35
Adding this up, the total cost for the ingredients is £9.60. (In practice, the real cost is slightly cheaper because you have leftover ingredients for other meals).
The Financial Verdict
| Product | Total Cost | Total Yield | Cost per 100ml |
| Ben & Jerry’s (x2 Tubs) | £8.00 | 936ml | £0.85 |
| Homemade Cookie Dough | £9.60 | 1,100ml | £0.87 |
The result? The cost of production is almost exactly the same. Buying an ice cream maker will not save you massive amounts of money on your grocery bill – so let’s examine other reasons like flavour to make buying an ice cream maker worth it.
Why is it worth making your own ice cream anyhow?
Home made ice cream has an unbeatable flavour
The flavour is simply unbeatable if you use good ingredient. Even compared to the very best store bought ice creams you’ll find that even a batch of home made ice cream that’s gone slight wrong is still better. And when it’s gone right it’s sublime.
If you’re interested in the science behind this a bit part of the reasoning is that many commercial ice creams tend to contain a surprising amount of air and oils to control production costs – one of the reasons that you’ll find you can scoop cheaper ice creams immediately out of the freezer. By minimising these extras in a home made ice cream you pack in much more flavour and satisfaction.
Home made ice cream can be customised to your tastes
You can go quite off book and create your own flavours, or adjust classics to exactly how you want them. I’m a big fan of Maltesers, but haven’t been able to find an ice cream of it that hits the spot. No problem at all – my Malteser and Cream recipe is now my go to, and I’ve included it further down this post.
It’s really easy and quick to make a big or small batch
Once you have your ingredients prepared, most ice cream recipes tend to be one-bowl affairs where all you have to do is add then mix. Whilst the machine will need to do some work for a while you can go off and leave it – the preparation from yourself doesn’t take too long.
How do ice cream makers work?
An ice cream maker effectively works as a combination of freezing device and mixing bowl. A good one uses a specific paddle and churning speed to ensure that your ice cream has a good consistency and can spread any mix-in ingredients or flavourings appropriately.
There are broadly two different types of ice cream makers which differ in how they undertake the freezing process. We’ve put some of the best in class of each types available further down the article.
Self-freezing Ice Cream Makers
These ice cream makers require no pre-preparation – if you plug it in and put in all the ingredients, the machine itself will freeze the ice cream and do all the preparation work for you. They represent a good all-in-one option and let you make ice cream at will.
However they have a couple of disadvantages too – they tend to take up more space and also to be more expensive, both as a result of needing to accommodate extra machinery for the freezing process.
Freeze-First Ice Cream Makers
These undertake the same process for making the ice cream, but you’ll need to take the bowl off the machine and put it in the freezer for at least 6-8 hours (and ideally 24 or more) before making any ice cream in order for it to be cold enough for the ice cream to form.
I often find I also find I tend to need to put the near-finished product back in the freezer for a bit of extra freezing rather than being able to eat it immediately.
Do self-freezing or freeze-first ice cream makers make better ice cream?
In terms of the end result the ice cream will come out broadly the same. The differences come down to a cost vs. convenience and practicality trade off with speed and making use of more freezer space.
What do I need to make ice cream?
Beyond the maker ingredients list is fairly simple – you need eggs, cream, milk, sugar to make up a pure cream base. Beyond this, extra ingredients depend on what flavour you’re looking to make up.
What are the best ice cream makers available?
Here’s a selection of our recommendations for some of the best ice cream makers available today.
We’ve included options with a range of capacities, as we know people’s storage space and frankly appetite for ice cream may vary. We’d personally suggest that at least a litre is helpful.
The best self-freezing Ice Cream Makers
Cusinart Gelato and Ice Cream Maker – 1.5 litre capacity, available from Cusinart, Lakeland or Amazon
Sage The Smart Scoop Gelato and Ice Cream Maker – 1 litre capacity. Available from Sage Appliances
Magimix Gelato Expert – 2 litre capacity. Available from Nisbets.
Lakeland Compressor Ice Cream Maker – 1.5 litre capacity. Available from Lakeland.
ProCook Professional Ice Cream Maker – 1.2 litre capacity. Available from ProCook.
The best Freeze-First Ice Cream Makers
Cusinart Ice Cream Deluxe – 2 litre capacity. Available from Cusinart or John Lewis
Lakeland Digital Ice Cream Maker – 1.8 litre capacity. Available from Lakeland.
Ninja Creami Deluxe Ice Cream and Frozen Drink Maker – 709ml capacity. Available from Ninja
(If you like Ninja products, do check out our review of the Ninja Woodfire and Ninja Cafe Luxe!)
Our Malteser and Cream Ice Cream Recipe
Malteser Ice Cream
Equipment
- Ice Cream Maker
Ingredients
- 1 Share Bag Maltesers
- 475 ml Double Cream
- 150 g Sugar
- 240 ml Milk Semi Skimmed or Whole
- 2 Large Eggs
Instructions
- First ensure your ice cream maker is fully frozen and ready to go
- Crack the 2 eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk until light and fluffy.
- Start pouring in the sugar gradually as you whisky, a little at a time until fully blended.
- Add the cream and milk and whisk again until blended.
- Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker to blend. It may start freezing best a little at a time.
- As the ice cream churns, cut up the Maltesers into small chunks. If
- At the point the ice cream is taking on a harder consistency, pour in the crushed Maltesers, a little bit at the time.
- Put in the freezer to finish hardening and enjoy!
FAQ’S about Ice Cream Makers
Yes, absolutely – you just change the composition of the ingredients to make gelato. Some machines will also include a gelato specific setting, as if you’re going for perfection gelato should ideally be churned at a slower rate than you would a classic ice cream.
Yes, if you prefer a pure sorbet which can sometimes be a better option when using fruit as the primary ingredient, and provides a great option for those who need a dairy-free approach.
Any questions?
If you have any questions or have some of your own ice cream recipes to share we’d absolutely love to hear from you! Just leave us a note in the comments below.
And if you’re into our cookery, check out or article on if batch cooking is worth it?
And that’s it!
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