Dash My Pint Ice Cream Maker

I have the Cuisinart ice cream maker but for some reason I don't use it very much. When I saw these I thought oh I'll get two and if more people are here I can make more and if it's just me and I don't want to pig out I can make less. So far that theory is working out well. I follow the directions exactly, making sure to chill the cup well and to have my ingredients well chilled also. They say that it runs for 20 minutes but I think that you can take the ice cream out in half that time, that's just the time it takes before it warms up too much. One thing that I didn't pay attention to in the instructions, which made me think it was broken for a few minutes there, is that you switch it on and then put the dasher/motor on top of the ice cream cup part. If you try to put it on and then start it, it doesn't start. Also it says to let the ice cream chill before serving. But then I had a really hard time getting it out. This was several hours later. So what I do now is as soon as it's done, use the plastic spoon and scoop the ice cream quickly into an already chilled lidded container and stick it in the freezer. Best if you spoon it in lightly do it doesn't freeze into a solid block. I've so far made frozen lemon ice with fresh thyme and lemon zest and a bit of white wine, and a kind of frozen puree of ripe peach and nectarine. And I did leave chunks of fruit, and it turned out very well. I suggest you look up proportion of light corn syrup to sugar. The ratio matters. I went with about three parts syrup to one part sugar. I just zap sugar and water in the 'wave for a few seconds, add the corn syrup, use what I need and put the rest in the fridge.

This is a great little ice cream maker, bought to make sugar free/no artificial sweeteners ice cream and was pleasantly surprised. Works with agave - honey- coconut sugar. Don’t be like me and peep in every few minutes to see if it is working- trust the process - follow the directions.

This was totally an impulse buy. I saw an ad browsing the web, looked at a few reviews and next thing I know it was being shipped to my doorstep. I had low expectations when I ordered this but the reviews were positive enough for me to give it a try. Construction Quality There's not much to it and it seems reasonably well built. There is no assembly needed other than putting the pieces together needed for normal operation. The motor sounds a bit "rickety" but in my experience ice cream makers always sound similar to this one. I believe it's because of the gearing needed to have such a small motor churn thick ice cream. I am concerned the paddle may break over time because the two small prongs used to hold it into the motor. These seem like the most likely points of failure in the overall design. My other suggestions to the manufacturer would be to have a way to more securely attach the motor to the chill bowl and find a design that keeps the chill bowl cold longer. Operation It's easy to operate but there are some tips & tricks that you may need to use to get the best results. If you follow the basic instructions you should get satisfactory results. However, there are some tweaks you can use to get better results if you are not satisfied with the initial results (see "Tips & Tricks" below). Pros Compact design takes up little kitchen/freezer space Easy cleanup and care Once prep work is done you can be enjoying homemade ice cream in a matter of minutes Cons Prep work requires you to think ahead to have everything properly chilled before operation Only makes 1 cup of ice cream (not enough for many ice cream lovers) May require additional time and effort if you like your ice cream thick Tips & Tricks The chill bowl can have difficulties remaining cold long enough to produce thick ice cream. To help get the most freezing power from the ice cream maker I have done the following: Freeze everything at least 24 hours (includes every part of the ice cream maker BESIDES the motor). Freeze or chill any scoops, bowls, etc. you will be using to serve or store the ice cream. Chill your ice cream mixture for at least 12 hours in the fridge and then place in freezer until it thickens before making your ice cream (time will vary based on how cold you keep your freezer, the container you put your mixture in etc.) Do not allow the mixture to freeze or become too thick. You only want to start the freezing process so the ice cream maker can have time to inject air into the mixture while the freezing process completes in the chill bowl. Wrap a towel around the chill bowl/cup during the ice cream making process to help insulate the chill bowl so it stays cold longer. Avoid opening the ice cream maker once you've turned it on and started churning. This will inject warm air into the chamber and reduce it's cooling ability. If you prefer thicker ice cream you can place it in the freezer for several hours. I suggest scooping the ice cream into a chilled or frozen container and placing plastic wrap directly on top of any exposed ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming. Properly stored ice cream (see above) can be kept in the freezer for many days so you can continue to make a batch everyday if you want to have more than one serving ready to eat. The included recipe book has only a couple of recipes. You can find additional recipes for other flavors of ice cream on the internet. Just be sure the recipe you are using can be adapted to this maker. For example, recipes that call for the addition of additives (e.g. candy pieces) may require you use less than one cup of cream mixture to account for the space that will be consumed when you add the additional ingredients later on in the churning process. Many recipes are designed for larger ice cream makers so you need to keep this mind. I suggest you avoid adding anything to the chill bowl after you start the ice cream making process. Any additives can be stirred into the ice cream after the churning process has completed. Or you can simply incorporate these additional ingredients as toppings. When making the ice cream mixture be sure to stir it until any sugar is dissolved. I like to store my mixture in a ziplock bag marked with the earliest "use by" date on any of the perishable products you used to make the mixture. The mixture can be stored in the fridge and should be used before this date. The butter fat in the mixture may separate slightly making it look as though the mixture has curdled. This is normal for high fat content cream that is used to make ice cream. This fat will blend into the ice cream when it churns, leaving a smooth creamy consistency to the final product. When making ice cream, fat content matters. It's what puts the "cream" in ice cream. Don't use lower fat milk products expecting similar results. Most ice cream recipes use a combination of heavy cream and whole milk. You should stick to these unless the recipe specifically calls for another type of milk or dairy product. However, if you have lower fat milk instead of whole, you can replace some of the lower fat milk with more heavy cream to maintain the proper overall fat content. How effective the chill bowl is at freezing the ice cream will depend on many variables but the most important is the room temperature. The chill bowl can warm to the point where it is no longer able to freeze the ice cream before the churning process has completed (i.e. 30 minutes). At this point you may experience diminishing returns as the ice cream is no longer thickening but instead beginning to warm. If it sounds like the motor is working harder to churn the ice cream you may want to consider stopping the process there before you reach the point of diminishing returns. Making ice cream this summer I found 20-25 minutes yielded better results instead of the full 30 minutes. I suspect come cooler temps this winter the chill bowl may remain cold longer and support a 30 minute churn.

Doesn't freeze as I expected. Too soft.

If I could give it 0 stars I would. Didn't work. I froze the base for 24 hours, added my ingredients and turned it on. The next thing I know the lid keeps popping off, the cord got all tangled up and I ended up with a mess... I thought this would be a quick easy way to make my own ice cream, but it was a disaster. Started the return immediately.

I bought two of these, one as a gift. One fused, the other didn’t turn and I can’t return them due to their refund policy. Don’t buy.

I don’t love it! Whenever I turn it on the top flys off. Makes me just want to go to the store and buy ice cream. It makes an absolute mess. It’s a cute machine. It’s just more of a hassle

Me encantó para hacer una porción de helado de yogurt. Lo que mas me gusta es que se puede comer del recipiente y no se derrite ya que lo mantiene frío.

Item arrived and didn’t work. Seller can’t be contacted to return item and Amazon say need to contact seller. Overall waste of money. Broken Ice cream machine. Sad child who chose as a reward. Very disappointed.

Doesn’t not work the way they pretend to make it work and not worthy for the price