Equipment

When I make ice cream at home, I now use a Cuisinart® Supreme™ Commercial Quality Ice Cream Maker Model ICE-50BC (ever since Santa brought it to me for Christmas '09).  It comes with a 1½ quart removable canister and it has a built-in compressor-freezer so there is no bowl to pre-freeze!.  On-demand ice cream....awesome! This model will run you anywhere from $199 to $299.  

Before I received this wonderful machine, I used a Cuisinart® Automatic Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker Model ICE-20.  At the time, I found this ice cream maker to be the best machine for the price.  It also comes with a 1½ quart freezer bowl and makes about 2 pints of ice cream (depending on how much mix you make).  It takes about 20 minutes to make the ice cream.  This model will run you about $60.  I had no problems with this machine and it turned out great ice cream every time.  The machine is loud, but I actually found it convenient to be able to watch television in the other room and hear how the ice cream is coming along.  I had two freezer bowls.  This was essential given how often I make ice cream. 

If you are interested in more information or purchasing one for yourself, here are a few helpful links: http://www.cuisinart.com/products/ice_cream/ice-20.html
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-20-Automatic-2-Quart-Ice-Cream/dp/B00000JGRT

Here is a link an excellent review of inexpensive ice cream makers (you have to be a “member” but you can get a free 14 day trial and view the review).