Painless Way To Make Lots of Wonderful Ice Cream

Our family loves this ice cream machine! It makes enough ice cream (6 quarts! not 1 to 1-1/2 quarts like the others) for our family gatherings or enough to store for future consumption. It's very simple to operate with the electric motor doing all the work and the Ice Cream is fabulous smooth and creamy. We put it on a "rag rug" on the kitchen floor and everyone gets to help with the adding of ice/salt. It's a bit noisy but my kids consider that part of the fun. Our only complaint is that very few recipes are included with the machine. Solution purchase a book of ice cream recipes to supplement. Some good ones are: Frozen Desserts : The Definitive Guide to Making Ice Creams Ices Sorbets Gelati and Other Frozen Delights which gives DETAILED history/information and The Ice Cream Machine Cookbook by Melissa Clark which includes some very creative ice cream combinations.More detail ...

Love this Snow Cone machine!

We have purchased several snow cone machines over the years and this is my favorite!!! Each Spring I make snow cones for 4 classrooms full of children (over 100 children). Using the Hamilton Beach Icy Treats Maker this has been our best year! Also we often will do snowcones out in the driveway after school and we'll have a dozen or so kids stop by.



I purchased two of these machines and had them running side by side in the classroom. I was able to make snow cones for 25-30 kids in 20 minutes. I love the cup/bowl that catches the ice. If you have leftover ice or want to make ahead you can throw this bowl in the freezer to use the shaved ice later. Also the easy on/off on this machine is nice. If you put in ice that is the right size (some store bought ice is too big) then there shouldn't be too much trouble with jamming. Once or twice I had to arrange the ice because a larger piece was stuck. I LOVE that most of this machine goes straight into the dishwasher! Also seems very safe to me. The kindergarten class was running both machines and had no trouble!More detail ...

Delivers on what it promises - just make sure you understand what it promises!

In reading the reviews for this product I've noticed that some people may have been expecting something more than what Cuisinart is selling. Having used this unit several times now here are my impressions and thoughts.

- The unit uses a freezer bowl to freeze the product. That means that the bowl MUST be frozen solid and the product MUST be very well chilled otherwise you will not get good results. We have just kept our freezer bowls in the deep freeze when not in use so that we can make ice cream fairly quickly. It's probably best to mix up your soft serve mix at least an hour in advance and put it in the coldest part of your fridge or (as another reviewer suggested) in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to get it as cold as possible without prematurely freezing it.

- The freezer bowl doesn't have a huge capacity. It can make "10-12" servings - if your servings are small. 6-8 is probably more like it. If you want more make certain you purchase an additional bowl and keep it frozen.

- The instructions on time expectations generally say 10-15 minutes and this can be true if you chill the ice cream mixture very thoroughly. Otherwise it will take longer probably more like 15-20 minutes.

- The first serving or so may be fairly soupy - I have found that I can dispense some into a cup and then re-add that into the top of the bowl.

- The "mix-ins" really don't mix in to the soft serve at all they are really topping dispensers. If you're expecting something like a DQ Blizzard it's not the same. Also don't over-fill (or pack in) the mix in bins. I've had good luck with chopped peanuts sprinkles and the mini M&Ms.



The differences between this unit and a more conventional ice cream freezer are mainly that this unit has a freezable bowl vs. a bowl that is placed in a mix of ice and rock salt. That means it is a little more convenient but lacks the capacity of the conventional freezer. Our ice cream freezer makes about twice as much ice cream as the soft serve but it is much louder generally requires more clean up and doesn't dispense the product. On the other side I think a conventional freezer has more versatility if you are making things like frozen custards that set up harder than soft serve. Finally the freezer just isn't really as much "fun" as this one is which has real appeal if you've got kids in the family.



Overall I've really enjoyed this gadget - but I did some research first and made certain I understood what I was buying. This is NOT like the soft serve dispensers in restaurants - but it's very nice for a treat on a summer afternoon.

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Love it! Just got it today & already have a gallon of ice cream

Just received this afternoon. Ran down to the store bought all the ingredients and just threw our first gallon of ice cream in the freezer. It's so cool ... and FUN! We did the quick and easy vanilla recipe that came with the recipe book chopped up some brownies and reeses PB cups and the motor stopped like it's supposed to in just 30 minutes. Soft serve ice cream as good as anything from the store ... and better for us. The directions are VERY simple to follow. We've never made ice cream before and didn't know squat about how to do it. Including time spent going to the store we had our first batch within two hours after FEDEX delivered the package. We were skeptical about the loudness of the motor based on a prior review we read; the motor is really not that loud but the sound it makes is rather obnoxious after about 10 to 15 minutes. However it sounds just like I thought an electric ice cream maker would sound like. So no surprises and SOOOO worth it! The price was awesome too!More detail ...

Great Yarn Storage

These bags and the XXL Big Bags have replaced all of my Rubbermaid containers for yarn storage. They not only save space but I can see all of my yarn when I need one certain color or weight. These are a wonderful investment.More detail ...