The Cuisinart FastFreeze ice cream maker cant compete with the Ninja Creami

Among the best summer activities is the leisurely walk to get ice cream after dinner, when the sun has finally gone down, and the temperature starts to drop. Unfortunately, my bank account does not love this activity, so making it at home is far more budget-friendly. But here's the thing about ice cream makers: they take up precious counter space I don't have as an apartment dweller. Which is why the Cuisinart FastFreeze is so intriguing. This ice cream maker is far more compact and easier to store when not in use.

As an alternative to Ninja's Creami, it seems like an extremely appealing option, but does it live up to its potential? I tried the Cuisinart Fast Freeze ice cream maker myself, and here's what I think.

Cuisinart FastFreeze at a glance

The Cuisinart FastFreeze set up is tall, but otherwise far smaller than an air fryer or a stand mixer. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

The Cuisinart FastFreeze is a smaller, cheaper alternative to the Ninja Creami. It breaks down into easy-to-store pieces and processes half pints of ice cream in just seconds. However, the ice cream it makes is disappointing: too icy in texture and at risk of melting from overprocessing. Plus, the wand is exceptionally difficult to clean.

A perfectly apartment-sized ice cream maker

The Cuisinart FastFreeze breaks down into two main components for easy storage. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

The size of this ice cream maker is perfect. It comes with three half-pint freezer containers and a two-piece wand that actually spins and blends your ice cream. When all broken down, it easily fit in my cabinet, about the same size as my Nutribullet blender.

Plus, the wand breaks down into two pieces, which makes your storage options even more flexible, as it's a little too tall for reasonable storage when assembled in one piece. So if you don't want to (or, like me, can't) keep your ice cream maker on the counter all the time, the Cuisinart FastFreeze checks the box.

The freeze containers are quite small

A half pint is great portion control but bad for a crowd. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

A pint feels standard for ice cream; that's what I'm used to buying and what other at-home ice cream makers produce, but the Cuisinart FastFreeze comes with half pints. If you're making single servings or splitting with one other person, for a small sweet treat, then that should be fine. However, when I invited a friend over to try out this ice cream maker, I could only get three scoops out of each pint. So if you want to feed a crowd, you'll need to make multiple half pints.

Processing time is shockingly fast

The Cuisinart FastFreeze comes with five settings: Ice Cream, Sorbet, Slushy, Milkshake, or Mix-ins. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

To process the ice cream, you attach the wand to the top of the half pint, lock it into place, and select your setting, either Ice Cream, Sorbet, Slushy, Milkshake, or Mix-ins. Then you hold the power button while pressing down on the wand. It requires a bit of manual labor compared to other machines that do the spinning (or churning) for you; however, it processes the ice cream shockingly fast. And I'm not talking fast like one minute or even 30 seconds, but more like 10 seconds.

The blade spins through the ice cream in just seconds. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

The first time I ran it, I was shocked by how quickly it reached the bottom of the half pint, and I thought something was wrong, but when I checked, it had fully spun. The nice thing about how quickly it runs is that it's convenient to run it again. Compared to the Ninja Creami, which takes three minutes to spin and then another minute or two on a re-spin, the FastFreeze works in a fraction of the time. This is all super convenient, but does it turn out a comparable product in that time? Not so much.

The texture of the ice cream is exceptionally disappointing

I tried four different mixes in the FastFreeze: the recommended Cuisinart vanilla ice cream base, a dairy-free protein ice cream, chocolate hazelnut frozen yogurt, and a passionfruit sorbet. The results were mixed, with a common through line: the texture was too icy.

Too much processing doesn't get rid of the ice but it does melt the ice cream. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Each batch comes out with a sort of icy texture, as if teeny tiny ice chips were strewn through the creamy mix, almost like it had freezer burn. This was especially true of the plain vanilla, frozen yogurt, and dairy-free protein ice cream. The sorbet also had a bit of iciness to it, but I was perhaps less bothered by it since that's what I expect from a sorbet texture.

The dairy-free protein ice cream was scoopable, but still icy. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

To fix the iciness issue, I thought it needed to be processed multiple times. Except that processing multiple times didn't do much to solve the iciness; instead, it just melted the ice cream further, making it a little soupy.

The chocolate hazelnut froyo faired the best in the Cuisinart FastFreeze, but was still undeniably icy. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Ultimately, the Cuisinart FastFreeze never nailed the texture, which I suspect is because it didn't have enough power or because it moves too fast, not getting enough air into it compared to a machine like the Creami.

It's horrible to clean

Cuisinart recommends rinsing the FastFreeze but that doesn't feel like a thorough enough clean. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

While the texture of the Cuisinart FastFreeze ice cream is subpar, its biggest crime is actually how hard it is to clean. The half-pints are dishwasher-safe, but the part of the wand with the blade is extremely difficult to clean. The blade piece can't be submerged in water, so it can't be soaked. To fully expose the wand piece, you have to push it down, and since I don't have three hands, I can't effectively scrub the blade while pressing it down. Plus, getting into the nooks and crannies when it's not depressed is difficult; it's hard to reach every crevice.

Even though it's convenient to store and use, I never want to reach for the FastFreeze because it's so difficult to clean.

Is the Cuisinart FastFreeze worth it?

The FastFreeze has promise but its execution is just okay. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Cuisinart's FastFreeze has a ton of promise. Its design makes it exceptionally easy to use and store. So, for apartment dwellers who've held off on buying an ice cream machine due to space constraints, the FastFreeze is finally a device designed for small spaces.

But for ice cream aficionados, the FastFreeze will ultimately be disappointing. The ice cream texture it produces is lackluster and often icy. If you really want to feel like you're making ice cream at home, you're better off investing in the Ninja Creami, which nails a creamy, smooth ice cream texture.

Cuisinart FastFreeze frozen dessert maker $98.69 at Amazon
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