An ice cream maker is a kitchen appliance that turns a sweeten cream or fruit mixture within a cold shell to make ice creams or sorbets. As the mixture freezes it moves to create a smooth texture rather than freeze as a solid.

There are three types of electric ice cream makers: ice, antifreeze, and built in refrigeration.

The ice freezing style consists of two nesting buckets, the inner one to hold the ice cream mixture and the outer one to hold some ice and rock salt. These machines cost about $100, but can be considerably cheaper for smaller manual models models.

The antifreeze style has a bucket with antifreeze inside the inner walls. The bucket is kept in the freezer or put in several hours in advance and taken out when its time to make the ice cream. This type costs anywhere from $40 to $80.

The built in refrigeration style uses a refrigeration system to cool off the ice cream mixture. This style is much larger and more expensive than the other, costing about $300.