small, convenient, easy to clean ice cream maker

I have had 3 different types of ice cream machines in the past 8 years.

The first, a Cuisinart "Gel Bowl" type, worked well. But it only did one batch at a time. The bowl required another long deep freeze after every batch.

So I got a Simac Magnum self-refrigerated machine.

That machine worked GREAT. Oh, it was loud. Not as loud as a vacuum cleaner or a blender. But 30 or more minutes of motor whine and ice scraping gets on some people's nerves.

Unfortunately, it's refrigeration unit busted a seam last week and all the freon leaked out.

So I picked up a second hand Panasonic ice cream maker this week off of eBay. It's powered by batteries. You place it inside your freezer. (You have to have a freezer to put it into.)

Not reading the directions, I thought it was broken when the blade stopped spinning after 5 seconds. After reading the directions I found out that it runs through a timed program, turning it's motor on and off.

It works well. You can make batch after batch just like in a self-refrigerated machine. The lithium batteries (CR123) are rechargeable. I got spares and a charger off of eBay, direct from China cheap.

I sort of miss being able to hover over a machine like I could with the self-contained type (Simac Magnum), watching ice cream form out of liquid like magic in under 30 minutes.

Of all the different types of ice cream machines, this is the most well rounded: inexpensive, easy to use, light weight (self-refrigerated units are fairly heavy), able to make as many batches in a row.