Watch out, Ninja! Cuisinart's new ice cream maker works like the Creami, and costs half as much

Cuisinart just dropped a new ice cream maker which performs a lot like the Ninja Creami, and costs half as much.

The Fast Freeze, known as the Freeze Wand in the U.K., allows you to choose from five pre-set ice cream modes and then press down to churn your pre-frozen bases.

Think of it like an Aeropress, but for ice cream.

Best of all, at $119 / £99, this ice cream maker costs half as much as its Creami counterparts, and it's significantly more storage-friendly, too.

Cuisinart FastFreeze Ice Cream Maker: $119 at Cuisinart

For $119, the FastFreeze comes with three half-pint containers for pre-prepping your ingredients, and has five churning settings.

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U.K. Version

Cuisinart Freeze Wand Ice Cream Maker: £99 at cuisinart.co.uk

Different name, same great idea. The Freeze Wand also has five settings, three containers, and costs under £100 for U.K. shoppers.

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Get churning

The Fast Freeze comes with three reusable half-pint containers. For context, that's half the size of the containers you'll get with the Ninja Creami XL, meaning they're well-suited to single servings.

It also has five pre-set churning modes: ice cream, slushie, milkshake, sorbet, and mix-ins. Unlike the Creami, which does the churning hands-free, you'll need to press down on this ice cream maker's wand to break through your frozen base and create some ice cream. Some might not like idea of that, but for such an affordable option, I don't mind getting hands-on.

The gadget is also super storage-friendly. It looks to be about the size of an immersion blender, which is a lot kinder on your kitchen cabinets!

Not just a fad

I don't know if you've noticed, but it is hot right now, so it's no wonder that people are looking for ways to make tasty frozen treats from home.

Ninja's Creami ice cream maker changed the game when it first came out in 2021. Followed by the sell-out Swirl machine, which was released last year, it's clear that the homemade ice cream game is far from a fad.

As the proud owner of a Creami myself, there are two major downsides of these machines. The first is how much space they take up on a kitchen counter. As an appliance you might only use occasionally, it's not very storage-friendly. The second is that the containers are best-suited to making servings of two or more, so if you want to make a solo serving of ice cream, you might have to re-freeze after you've churned.

So I'm excited to see if the new Cuisinart Fast Freeze / Freeze Wand can rival my current go-to. I'll be testing in the weeks to come, so stay tuned for my full review.

More from Tom's Guide

• Just got the Ninja Creami? Follow these 3 tips for perfect results every time
• I was excited to try this viral Ninja Creami recipe, until Ninja warned users against it — here's why
• Ninja Creami do's and don'ts — try these tips for better ice cream

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