Disclosure: As a member of the KitchenAid ambassador program. I received the product for my time and efforts in creating this post. All opinions are my own.

The weather’s warmed up enough for dinner on the deck. You’ve pulled out the grill and picked up some fruit. Guests are on their way for a cookout, and you want to wow them all with freshly churned ice cream.

You’re not quite ready to shell out a few hundred bucks on a self-refrigerating model, but oh could you go for some homemade ice cream. If your kitchen is equipped with a KitchenAid stand mixer, then the 2-Quart Ice Cream Attachment just might be the way to go.

Available affordably in comparison to many freestanding ice cream makers, this device is the ideal machine to test out your frozen dessert skills.

Just a bit larger than your standard KitchenAid bowl, this attachment can find a home in your cupboard, pantry, or freezer. Made entirely of plastic to slow down the freezing process (while this might seem to be a potential downside for your impatient taste buds, it actually improves the texture), the bowl works on both tilt-head and bowl-lift models.

The bowl must be frozen at least 12 hours in advance, but if space allows, storing it in the freezer means you can churn a fresh batch whenever the mood strikes. Simply snap the bowl into your mixer, insert the dasher (a fancy word for the paddle) and clip in the drive assembly.

Slowly add your chilled ice cream or sorbet base  while the motor churns, and in 20 to 30 minutes, dessert will be ready.

If patience is an issue for you (like it is for me), just set a timer while you go off to dream of the array of toppings that might enhance your frozen snack. Eat immediately after churning for a soft-serve experience, or return to the freezer for an hour if you’re after a more solid, scoopable texture.

The freezer bowl model works by incorporating air into the ice cream base, while the chilled bowl slowly brings the temperature down. The constant churning prevents large ice crystals from destroying the smooth creaminess. Whether making sorbet, sherbet, ice cream, or frozen yogurt, this method consistently provides the ideal texture.

At 11×10.3×10.3” and 6 pounds, the freezer bowl takes up just a bit more space than the machine’s regular mixing bowl.

Churning 2 quarts of finished product using roughly 1 quart of batter, this machine can provide up to 8 servings of dessert per use.

In addition to the freezer bowl, dasher, and drive assembly, the attachment comes with a recipe booklet, a user care guide, and a one-year warranty.

Because the bowl is insulated with a freezing gel, it needs to be washed by hand with warm, soapy water. Be careful not to submerge under water or run through the dishwasher as this might cause the insulation to leak.

While the dasher and attachment are not quite as delicate, they too should be washed by hand. Fortunately, that’s a quick and simple task. Ensure that the bowl has dried thoroughly before returning it to the freezer.

To ensure your ice cream freezes correctly without warming the bowl, make sure your frozen dessert mixture has been chilled fully. One way to do this quickly is to use an ice bath: Pour your sorbet, ice cream, or yogurt base into a storage container nested in a larger bowl of ice. Stir every ten minutes to cool down evenly, and you will have a nicely chilled base in just an hour or two.