Magimix Gelato Expert
The high-end churner: steel bowls, a compressor and three automatic programmes, one of them for gelato italiano. It is made in Italy and Magimix backs it with a three-year guarantee on parts.
The only one with a programme designed for Italian gelato
It is not an ice cream maker with lots of buttons: it is three programmes and a manual mode, and each programme changes how it churns and how much air it works in. The Italian gelato one is what sets it apart, and the manual mode lets you run the batch by hand if you know what you are doing.
Our score, after reading the reviews one by one.
Among the best we have seen in a domestic machine. The gelato programme works in little air and it comes out dense and glossy.
Three buttons and that is it. The manual mode is for those who want to be in charge.
One usable litre of ice cream, or 1.3 of sorbet and granita.
The gelato programme, the steel bowls and the three-year guarantee on parts.
Four things you notice
in use, not on the box
How the ice cream comes out
Dense and silky with the gelato programme; lighter with the ice cream one. That control over the air is what you pay for.
How long it really takes
Magimix quotes under 30 minutes per batch, with nothing to pre-chill.
Day to day
Two two-litre bowls, one removable, both in steel and BPA-free. And spare parts for ten years.
Footprint
36 × 25 × 28 cm and 10.8 kilos: narrow for what it is, but tall.
Menos aire, más cuerpo
A gelato is not an ice cream by another name: it carries less air and that is why it tastes stronger and melts differently. Most domestic machines churn the same whatever happens and you have to compensate from the formula. This one has a programme that churns for that, and another for granita.
Compresor, sin preenfriar
Útil de helado por tanda
Gelato, helado y granizado
Donde se fabrica
What it wins and what you have to accept
- Its own compressor: no need to pre-freeze the bowl the night before
- The cheapest in the compressor range
- LCD screen with timer
- Removable steel bowl
- The one that takes least worktop space
- 135 W and 1.2 litres: the lowest rung of its brand
- It falls short as soon as you want more quantity or more flavours
- It does not make yoghurt
- The recipe booklet doesn't give balanced formulas; the recipe is up to you
Magimix Gelato Expert specifications
The Magimix Gelato Expert against its rivals
Cuisinart ICE100E
It also separates ice cream and gelato, but by changing the paddle.
Springlane ERIKA
Two and a half litres and a yoghurt programme, for considerably less.
Springlane ELISA 2.0
Twice the bowl and real yoghurt, without a gelato programme.
Severin EZ 7405
Steel body, two litres and yoghurt, at another price.
Would we buy it? Yes, if you make gelato and plan to keep it
It is expensive and gives one litre per batch, so in litres per euro it loses against almost all of them. What you buy is the gelato programme, the steel bowls and a company that sells spare parts for ten years. If you are going to make gelato seriously and want a machine for the next decade, it makes sense. If you want to fill the freezer, it does not.
Frequently asked questions
¿Qué hace el programa de gelato?
It churns working in less air, which is what sets a gelato apart from an ice cream: it comes out denser and with more flavour.
¿Un litro no es poco?
It is little, yes. The bowl is two litres but the usable amount is one litre of ice cream, and 1.3 in sorbet. It is a machine for quality per batch, not for quantity.
¿140 o 180 vatios?
140. Some listings say 180, but Magimix's spec sheet says 140 W and that is the one that counts.
¿Y la plateada es otra máquina?
No. It is the same machine in another finish, under the same reference: we have not given it a separate page.
¿Cuánta garantía tiene?
Three years on parts and two on labour, and Magimix keeps spares for ten years.
Which would we buy instead?
The Cuisinart ICE100E if you want to separate ice cream and gelato for less, or the Springlane ERIKA if what you want is capacity.
Get new recipes
every week
We send you the recipes and the technical guides as soon as they are published. No spam, just ice cream done properly.