A great, easy to use, small ice cream maker

This ice cream maker is low priced, cordless, and space saving. It takes up much less counter space than the other ice cream makers I looked at. For me this was a plus. My family doesn't want to get fat making tons of ice cream, so we didn't need a big machine. Being cordless allows you to place the machine directly in the freezer, so there is no need to prefreeze any parts overnight like the other ice cream makers I saw. I decided to give this one a try.

After making the purchase, I made the vanilla ice cream recipe that comes with the machine. I prepared the ice cream ingredients, put it in the machine, closed the machine, pressed ONE BUTTON, and placed it in the freezer. It was very simple to use. After a few hours we had ice cream.

How was the ice cream? My family agreed - this was the BEST VANILLA ICE CREAM we ever had. It was so incredibly smooth. I was not expecting this ice cream maker to produce such fabulous ice cream. Better than any ice cream at the mall, from the local store, etc. There is just no comparison.

Since the purchase of this machine we've made 6 different types of ice cream without yet having to replace the batteries. We made two French style ice creams (which contain egg yolks made into a custard), two Philadelphia-style ice creams (which are eggs-less), and two low fat ice milk recipes (which are egg-less and contain no cream). The best ice creams are the French style ice creams. Because of the egg content, they are the creamiest of all. The next best is the Philadelphia-style ice cream. Although the texture isn't as smooth as the French style, it is still better than what you can get at the store. The low fat ice milks came out very well, although they were not as smooth in texture. Ice milk tends to melt more quickly, than the others. The French style ice cream melts the slowest.

The quality of this machine is excellent. It looks well built. Nothing feels cheap in this machine. It's small, it's low priced. I was expecting much less.

Don't be fooled by the fact that this machine runs on batteries. These are EXTRA STRONG 3 volt CR123A Lithium Batteries (not your normal battery). These batteries supply far more power than you need. If you use this ice cream maker all the time, consider getting rechargeable RCR123A Lithium Batteries which will save you a lot of money on batteries.

WARNING: if you decide to buy one of the other corded plug-in models, they almost all require you to prefreeze their mixing bowls overnight, which means you have to plan to make ice cream a day in advance. And because they don't work directly in the freezer or come with their own freezing mechanisms, you must "baby sit" these types of machines. Because if you are not there when the ice cream maker is done, all the ice cream you made will melt! Because this ice cream maker works directly in the freezer, it doesn't have these problems.

HELPFUL HINTS: If you want to impress people, make French style ice cream for your guests. They will be amazed that you made it at home. It is SO CREAMY when made in this machine.

If you're making ice cream for your family, I recommend making ice milk instead. Its almost as good as real ice cream, but without all the cholesterol and fat. You can convert any Philadelphia-style ice cream into ice milk. Simply replace the milk with low fat milk, and replace the cream with evaporated milk. To whip the evaporated milk, add a small pinch of salt, chill it in the freezer until a few pieces of ice start to form on top of the evaporated milk. This allows you to whip the evaporated milk until peaks form. Some people recommend adding agar agar or gelatin to the ice milk to make it smoother. I've tried adding some agar agar and it seems to help a little.