Breville

Welcome to this review of the Breville BCI600XL Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker. Today we’ll be looking at what benefits you can get from an ice cream maker with a compressor refrigeration unit, whether it is an easy machine to use and whether it is suitable for home use. We’ll also be checking out the customer opinion on this ice cream maker, as they always tell it like it is.

If you love home made ice cream but hate having to remember to put the bowl in the freezer, and want to have the spontaneity of being able to make ice cream whenever it takes your fancy, then maybe this compressor ice cream machine is the one for you.

Check out the Breville BCI600XL if you want to make your own healthy ice cream any time you want

Read our Top Ice Cream Maker review if you want to learn more about cheaper options or check out our Top 10 Best Ice Cream Makers 2017 to learn about different types too.

Breville BCI600XL Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker Review

Let’s have a look at the features of the Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker:

• 12 hardness settings; sorbet, frozen yogurt, gelato, and ice cream, Capacity 1.5 quart (1L) bowl capacity
• Self refrigerating compressor
• Fully automatic or manual functionality. Keep cool setting for up to 3 hours
• Pre-cool setting to optimal operating temperature

The size of the Breville BC1600XL is 16.2 x 10.5 x 10.2 inches, so not too big to fit on your counter top. The capacity is 1.5 quarts, which might not seem a lot compared to other ice cream makers, but the benefit of this ice cream maker is the self refrigerating compressor which allows you to make a batch, clean it out and set off another batch straight away. So in that respect definitely more convenient and much easier than an ice and salt machine or a frozen bowl ice cream maker. Read whether you should choose the Cuisinart Ice-100 vs Breville or even Whynter vs Breville  all being quality compressor ice cream machines.

The bowl is removable making it easy to clean and if you you’re not very accurate when you pour stuff you can add the ice cream batter into the bowl before you put it into the machine.

Before you add your ice cream batter to the bowl, you can pre-cool the bowl beforehand, using the pre-cool function, it also helps if you pre-cool your batter by chilling in the fridge or even a short time in the freezer. The pre-cool function button also doubles as the child lock by holding it down, if you have little ones helping you who like to press buttons, then this might be very helpful.

One of the good options on this Breville smart scoop ice cream maker is the 12 hardness settings. On the control panel you can choose what you are making, you have choices of sorbet, frozen yogurt, gelato, and ice cream, and on each one you have the choice of 3 settings of hardness, this will use the automatic times that are set in the machine. You may have to try a couple of batches before you find which is the best setting for you, but I don’t think that will be too much of a hardship. You can also just set the time with the manual function, if you know in advance how long to churn your ice cream.

Don’t try to put more than the recommended amount of ice cream batter or whatever you are making in the bucket, as the frozen ice cream expands as it freezes and you don’t want a clean up job from overflowing ice cream.

There is a clear plastic twist lock lid and a plastic paddle. It might be easier to put the paddle into the bucket before you add your ice cream, as it houses into the centre of the bucket and is kept in place with the lid. The lid has a lift up window section which you can use to pour in your ice cream or just use it when you want to pour in your add-ins.

You can add whatever add-ins you want into your ice cream, chocolate chips, fruit pieces, sprinkles, anything you desire. The timer has a progress indicator which shows on the display, and when it gets to approx 5 minutes before the end of the program it chimes to let you know it’s time to add in the goodies, if you want to.

Find out more…

On the Breville ice cream maker there is also a choice of chimes to indicate your ice cream finishing time, you can have a bell or you can have an ice cream van jingle or nothing, this is great for when your kids are helping you.

The ice cream takes approx 40 -50 minutes depending on your preference and whatever you are making, but you can watch the progress as it’s churning and you can always stop it early if it is getting too hard for you preference.

Once your ice cream is ready you can eat it straight away or you can put it into a suitable storage container for the freezer. If you would like to make the ice cream for an occasion and you want to make it early, there is a 3 hour keep cool feature, which might be quite useful.

This machine is easy to clean because the main items, bucket, paddle and lid are all removable. Don’t put these items in the dishwasher, just hand wash. There is a brush supplied for getting all the ice cream off the paddle. And then you are all ready to start again, immediately if you want to. This is a great ice cream maker machine for home use.

Check out our article on the  5 Best Ice Cream Maker 2017

Customer Opinion

Good Points

Top Notch. It’s a luxury item. But well worth it if you want to know exactly what you are putting in your body.

It’s quite easy to clean, because the parts that touch the ice cream are all removable for cleaning, which is not true of some of the other machines in this price range.

This ice cream maker is a bit more expensive that most of them, but do not hesitate to spend the extra money, you will not regret it.

Bad Points

The compressor doesn’t work for anything. It barely could get cold at first and then broke after the first use.

I have tried 2 of these machines and they both malfunctioned.

The blade doesn’t make contact with the side of the canister, so ice builds up and slows down the freezing.

Verdict

If you’re looking for an ice cream maker with a compressor then the Breville BC1600XL fits that bill, but it is an expensive machine, at around $400 at the time of writing.

This ice cream maker is rated at 4.1 stars out of 5, and the people who buy it and have no problems, love it. It doesn’t make a big volume of ice cream, but you can make continuous batches if you wanted to. This machine is very easy to use and to clean up.

For ease of use and quality of the ice cream, I would recommend giving this Breville ice cream maker a try, you can’t beat being able to mix up your favourite ice creams and make them whenever you want.

For the latest prices and FREE Shipping check out the Breville BCI600XL Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker at Amazon.com

Check out the product video here