5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect - Only slight quibble is pouring hole could be larger.

C.W. · 8 September 2013

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } My ice-cream maker arrived last week, so I've only had time to make two recipes (Dark chocolate sorbet and Salted caramel ice cream), but both have been absolutely outstanding! Smooth, creamy, and a fraction of the price of buying shop-bought equivalents despite being far superior.Having read some of the single star reviews on here, I suspect it's probably worth adding a couple of points so that people understand what they're actually buying though...Firstly, I suspect that the people claiming that the bowl doesn't fit in a "normal" freezer actually have a freezer compartment in a fridge - an icebox, as they are sometimes referred to. It certainly fits fine in the freezer part of our fridge/freezer. The instructions do clearly say you need to chill the bowl to at least -18 degrees C. This does mean a "proper" freezer, so I doubt an icebox would work even if it could take it. The bowl dimensions are included in the description, so not difficult to check.Secondly, don't expect this to give you fully frozen ice cream straight out of the mixer. That's simply not going to happen without a built in freezer element. What you will get is a very think, very cold mixture similar to ice cream which has started to melt, and which will then solidify (and indeed go rock solid) when you put it in the freezer.So, at this point, you might be wondering what the point is, when you could just put the mixture in the freezer to start with? The point is that the machine ensures it is close enough to frozen that the freezer can take it the rest of the way to frozen without forming ice crystals in the mixture. That's effectively what you're buying here. The ability to make perfect ice cream without ice crystals. Just view that hour or so in the freezer as the final stage of the process (rather than the point where it comes out of the machine), and you'll be delighted.Finally, for the people complaining that the ice cream goes rock solid in the freezer, I'm sure there's an ingredient in commercially made ice cream to help minimize this, should you wish to add some - although even then, a freezer will turn commercially made ice cream rock solid too - but to let them into a secret, it doesn't turn it solid permanently! All you need to do is take the ice cream out of the fridge 10 minutes before you want to scoop it out and it's the ideal consistency.As a last little tip, if you put your bowl into the freezer when you take the ice cream out, that'll keep it from melting the ice cream too quickly when you serve it.

4.0 out of 5 stars The machine is good, the price is good and the quality of the ice-cream is very good

R. · 1 June 2015

First of all, I want to say that I've always wanted to make homemade ice-cream! So one year ago I saw a blog article saying that this Andrew James ice-cream maker is in the top 10 of all ice-cream machines, and I bought it, seemed like a good deal.The machine is very simple to use and clean. When you use it for the first time, the longer it stays in the freezer the faster the ice-cream will get harder.Don't clean the machine with watery towel before it is room temperature, because it will get icy inside and you'll have to clean that later.The recipe book is useful, but some of the products are hard to find in my opinion, but there are a lot of recipes on the internet.The pluses:- It is very easy to use, it has just one on/off button.- Easy to clean - everything is removable.- You can buy multiple freezing bows if you want to make new ice-cream before you ate the last one.The cons:- Very noisy... I mean, really really noisy. I had to put it in a cupboard in order not to be so loud.Conclusion: The machine is good, the price is good and the quality of the ice-cream is very good and it even gets better in time, when you get the hang of it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great machine.

N.S. · 29 March 2018

I was hesitant before I bought this. I had never made ice cream before and was concerned about the fact this could not make ice cream instantly and that people were getting mixed results.I'm happy to say for such a low price, it's great. You have to know what to expect and what to do to get great results.I've not made anything other than ice cream, so I can't comment on sorbets or anything else it's supposed to be able to do. Another thing worth noting is that generally your home made ice cream will not be cheaper than shop bought. You will however get a superior product that you have control over, and the ability to make any flavour rather than stick to half dozen available in your local super market.First off, you will not get instant ice cream after using it. There is a process. You have to fully freeze the bowl prior to using it. Make sure it frozen solid, keep it in your fridge for a few days. Most people keep their bowl in the freezer all the time so it's always ready.You have to make an ice cream base (custard) and chill it thoroughly before using it in the machine. So follow your recipe, make the base, chill it over night so it is fully cool. Place cling film directly on top of the base to stop a skin forming and put a lid on the container. If any condensation forms it will go on to the cling film and not the custard, which is good because you don't want too much water in your ice cream as this can lead to ice crystals in the finished product. Any chunky bits you plan on adding later like chocolate or nuts, it's handy to chill these at the same time.Once all this is done you can churn your ice cream. The hole on the machine is small so it's difficult to pour your base in at times, be prepared for that. Give it a little stir first to loosen it. If your bowl is fully frozen it will take 10-20 minutes to make your ice cream. If you are adding chunks of chocolate or whatever you put them at the end when the ice cream is almost made. The consistency it will achieve is soft scoop, think of it like a very, very thick milk shake that has to be spooned rather than poured. It won't be fully solid ice cream consistency yet.And then the final part. Decant your ice cream to a container, pat it down and place some baking parchment or cling film over the top of it, and pop your lid on and freeze. After 4-6 hours your ice cream is done. The quicker you can freeze it, the less likely it is that ice crystals will form. This has only ever happened once to me, and I just used that batch for milkshakes. Generally the ice cream will be very hard and difficult to scoop. This is natural. The general advice is to remove the ice cream from the freezer 10-15 minutes before serving, to gently soften it enough to be able to scoop. Alternatively, if you can manage to get a couple of scoops out despite the hardness, put them in a bowl and microwave them for about ten seconds to gently soften them, but be careful doing this, you don't want to melt it.It's not perfect, it doesn't produce instant results, but it is cheap and does create excellent ice cream if you know what you're doing. I have used recipes found online, from the Ben and Jerry cookbook, Jeni Britton book, David Leibowitz and more and have achieved excellent results 99% of the time.Two minor gripes are the size of the pouring hole, which makes things a little difficult, and also the two hollow clips that attach the motor to the lid, when your ice cream has fully churned and increased in volume it can find its way in to them and they are awkward to clean out.All in all though it's a great bit of kit that I've used many times, I think most people will be happy with it if they know what they're doing and know what to expect and I hope I've helped in that regard. In my opinion, the upgrade to a 'proper' ice cream machine, with its own built in freezer etc is not worth it, it costs far more, will take up more space and you would have to make ice cream every week to justify the cost and ultimately the finished product will likely be no better than what this produces, just quicker.