Americana EIM-1400R 1.5 Qt Freezer Bowl Automatic Easy Homemade Electric Ice Cream Maker, Ingredient Chute, On/Off Switch, No Salt Needed, Creamy Ice Cream, Gelato, Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, Recipe Book

I confess I tried to buy a different machine by a very well-known kitchen appliance maker. In fact, I tried *two times* and had overlooked this little beauty because I was swayed by that well-known brand. The first maker from that well-known brand came in with the inside of the cylinder so badly dented into a pentagon shape instead of the circular inside one should expect, I shipped it back. After all, if you can't get the lid on because it's badly dented, what would you do with it otherwise? The second one arrived, and this time, it wasn't dented on the inside of the cylinder with a pentagon. This one had a triangular shape inside--and the same problem existed: I was unable to get the lid on. I shipped it back.On my third try, I went for this little red beauty--Maxi-Matic. I have to say it's downright cute, but cute will never be enough to sell something, or convince me it would be useful. This time I was pleasantly surprised!The first batch of ice cream didn't impress me too much though. Ice crystals formed, leaving the ice cream a bit of a flatter taste than the rich, creamy ice cream I was looking for. A little bit of a switch in thinking and some scouting of the other recipes online instead of in the maker's recipes solved the problem. Rich and creamy? Add a couple of eggs and voila! Rich and creamy! There's one other thing I do before making the ice cream in the machine: I beat the eggs and sugar until it's a lovely thick mix and then add the whipping cream and milk, beating the whole thing well. Then I put the bowl in the freezer for about 3 hours, and *then* use the cylinder from the freezer and put it together, pouring in the mixture to allow that to be finished in the machine. It takes me a few extra minutes plus the time in the freezer to make a marvelous ice cream that's rich and *minus* the chemicals in storei-bought ice cream. For me? It's worth the reasonable price and my health. I'm delighted with the machine.As for "easy to clean"? The *cylinder* is a breeze to clean. So is the paddle. The lid housing the motor? If you make too much ice cream in the machine and that excess gets between the lid and the motor, that's a different story. For the life of me I can't figure out to separate the two for cleaning that area! That's the only reason the "easy to clean" has 4 stars instead of 5. Still, this is a delightful machine!

Just got my ice cream maker and so far -- having made mint ice cream and now lemon sherbet -- I love it. It's easy to set up, easy to use and not too, too loud. It is a bit noisy but you can leave in the kitchen after the dishes are done. When the sherbet is ready, I plan to make Mocha ice cream. ;) I LOVE that I can make up my own flavors!Here are a couple of qualifiers.1. It does not freeze the ice cream/sherbet solid. Of course not. If you ever watched a video of how ice cream is made, you know that even the manufacturers hard-freeze the ice cream AFTER they make it. What the ice cream maker does is combine the cream, sugar and flavorings without ice crystals forming. If you just mixed those together and put them in the fridge, they would be icy when you to them out. But the churning process prevents that.2. You cannot leave the bucket in the freezer longer than 48 hours. And it take 24 hours to freeze. So the best way to use it is to plan to make several ice creams, one right after the other. What I'm doing is using it (the instructions say it takes 15-30 minutes but on videos most say for up to an hour), then washing it, DRYING IT (very important) and putting it back in the freezer while I prepare the next batch.3. You should pre-mix your ingredients. The shoot is only for adding things like chocolate chips or fruit slices when the mix is half-way done. Anyway, you want to make the sugar is mixed completely or you may end up with some parts too sweet and some not sweet enough. Also, this gives you chance to taste the mix (especially if you like to make up your own flavors, as I do).I don't know how long it will last. But if it's anything like those old Frosty Cups, we're talking years. :D

This is a great buy! It does take quite a while to chill properly, and the recipe book is limited, but the machine itself is versatile. We've made all kinds of flavors of ice cream, and even used this machine to make slushies, and we usually have leftovers. The size is just right for our family of three, plus a guest or two. Machine can be a bit noisy when running, but haven't had an issue with it even after several years of use.

Pros - takes up little space, quieter than most ice cream makers, has a spout to add mix-ins, don’t need iceCons - can only leave the bowl in the freezer for 48 hours or the whole thing can crack, it’s incredibly difficult to clean the bowl, the outside of the bowl sweats and freezes so if you or a towel under it the towel will freeze to it but if you don’t put a towel the counter will be a mess. Most importantly, I used it four times with four different recipes and changed my technique. Each time the ice cream never really froze. It was a thin slush that melted literally the second I poured it into a container. Because of this, after putting it in the freezer it froze like a brick. Completely inedible.The mix that’s against the bowl freezes solid and is almost impossible to get off while the rest barely freezes. And if you do any flavor, all the flavoring gets pulled to the bottom of the bowl and frozen solid there. So you end up with very very weak flavored slush that is inedible later anyway.