Hamilton Beach Ice Cream Maker, 1.5-Quart, Red (68881Z) NEW - FREE SHIPPING

My kids could not wait to open the package when it came in the mail. First problem was the instructions were missing from the package - no instructions, no recipes, no helpful hints. On my way with Google - found the instruction book on line. Another issue, the inner bowl has to freeze for 12 to 20 hours before you can use it. But oh how nice to be free from rock salt, bags of ice and all that goes along with making ice cream usually. How simple once the bowl is frozen - mix up the ingredients, start the machine with the bowl and paddle on it, then pour in the ice cream mixture. After 20 minutes when you peek in you can see that the ice cream is at very soft stage, but starting to thicken - so you add your mix ins and let it go another 5 to 10 or more minutes. When the machine stops or you just can't wait any longer, you can pack it into a tupperware and put it in the freezer to harden, or you can just take a spoon and dig in to some really good but very soft softserve. It does not make as big of a batch as your typical ice cream maker, but it's not nearly the headache, so I could see getting it out much more often. Lots of fun.

I love love love the fact that you don't have to buy salt and go through a bunch of rigmarole to make ice cream!! We went with standard vanilla. Half a batch. It took about 28 minutes to get our ice cream to the consistency that we wanted! it was smooth, and delicious. Evenly frozen. We didn't have any leftover to see how it freezes, but I can't imagine it would be a problem. We are looking forward to trying this with 'add ins'. well worth it. this will get a lot of use this summer!

Making ice cream was fun. This was something I had never done before so I read the instructions and picked up all the ingredients listed for ice cream on the recipe in the booklet. Everything went as planned and as described in the book. The problem was when eating the ice cream, we realized that "half 'n half", heavy whipping cream and sugar are items we don't normally consume and we didn't feel very well after eating it. Not ready to give up so easily, everything got washed up and the freezer bowl was popped back into the freezer and I tried again the next day with some adjustments. Using ingredients I had on hand, I made a new batch with a box of sugar-free instant strawberry pudding mix and whole milk. Normally we use skim milk but I had purchased the whole milk as an ingredient on the ice cream list. The strawberry concoction turned out very nicely, and I added fresh sliced strawberries to the top when serving. It was a different consistency but close to soft ice cream and it was delicious. I am going to continue moving the ingredients to lower fat products to see how close to nonfat I can get without sacrificing the final result. I haven't tried putting add-ins into the mixture, I prefer to stir them in afterwards so there's no chance to jam the stirring paddles (and can have bigger chunks in the dessert). Definitely read the instructions and assemble your machine in the order stated. Add ingredients only as described if you want it to work well. Follow the instructions and the process is fairly quick and easy, and the clean-up was easy too. I've made room in my freezer to keep the bowl in there permanently for the summer months so it is always ready for use.

This ice cream maker is amazing. Simple to use and makes awesome ice cream. You simply freeze the center container for 8-12 hours. Make up your ice mix, there are several recipies in the instruction booklet. I used the simple vanilla ice cream. Place it in the refridgerator to chill. You place the frozen container on the base, plug it in, place the paddle inside and the cover over the top. Pour in the chilled ice cream mix through the hole in the top and turn it on. If you want to add anything to your ice cream, such as chocolate chips or strawberries (I added strawberries) wait until the ice cream has churned about 15 minutes and has started to freeze. One warning-it states in the instruction not to use more than 4 cups. Listen to the warning. I added about 3 cups to the machine but them added some frozen strawberries and it ended up over flowing and made a mess. Had I not added the frozen strawberries it would have worked perfect. I will say it is very easy to clean and stores well. I love this machine and will use it alot. My next try will be the Sorbet recipie.

I haven't had homemade ice cream since I use to make it with a much older machine that used rock salt and ice. The ice cream from the old machines was good but it was messy and took a long time to make. This machine was so much easier and faster compared to the older ones. This one is a pretty red and lightweight. Making ice cream in this is very simple and it turned out wonderful. There's only 4 pieces, the base with the motor, the bowl that you freeze, the clear plastic cover and the plastic mixing paddle. The instruction booklet has 6 recipes. It is pretty loud but it didn't take long to make ice cream so to me it's not a big deal. The cord is 24” long. The ice cream maker stands about 10-3/4” tall. My first attempt was the chocolate ice cream recipe. I left the freezer bowl in the freezer for 3 days, a minimum of 24 hours is required depending on the temp of your freezer. You also need to make sure your ingredients are cold, so I prepared the ingredients and put it in the fridge the night before. This recipe called for milk and heavy whipping cream to be warmed on the stove, then whisk in sugar, cocoa and vanilla. Then refrigerate until cold. (There's also an easy ice cream recipe included that doesn't require heating any ingredients.) It takes around 35 to 40 minutes for my ice cream to completely set up nicely. You'll know when it's beginning to get done, it will expand clear up to the top of the bowl and the ice cream will move slower. If you are in a hurry it only takes about 20 minutes to get a delicious malt or very soft ice cream. It's really fun, you can add anything you want, as long as the pieces are small. When I made a batch of vanilla ice cream I added chocolate pieces and nuts. Next I want to try peaches with the Peaches and Cream recipe that's included. Tips: For the ingredients and the freezer bowl, the colder the better. The ice cream will set up better and faster if it's really cold. I'd leave the freezer bowl in the freezer for at least 2 days. Start your ice cream immediately after removing the bowl from the freezer. When you add nuts and stuff wait until the ice cream is beginning to set up really good. And don't leave the finished ice cream out too long, homemade ice cream melts way faster than store-bought.

My daughter loves the Hamilton Beach Ice Cream Maker. I received this product in red and I love it. It is easy to assemble. It comes with a book of recipes for ice cream. We used those recipes to make our own ice cream and later we added nuts and chocolate chips to it. It is also delicious and I highly recommend it. It is something you can do with the family or something you do can if you love to try new things. You can add different flavors or fruits to make it your own. There is only one thing you must do, and that is freeze the container that comes with the ice cream maker. If you do not freezer the container, it will not make ice cream. I recommend you freezing it at least 24 hours in advance or leave it in the freezer for future use. It is easy to use. After freezing the container, place it on the displayer and pour your ingredients inside and turn it on. The machine does all the work. After 20 to 30 minutes your ice cream should be complete. You place it in the freezer for an hour and it is ready for everyone to enjoy. It only makes about 4 cups at a time.

I made strawberry ice cream with this product. I was careful to chop the strawberries into small chunks. The ice cream was not as hard as store bought ice cream, but it was very tasty. The key to using this machine is to follow the instructions about the temperature of the freezer bowl and being careful to chill the mixture in the fridge. I ended up with mush the first time. I made my ice cream perfectly on the second try. The first time was a disaster, but that was my fault. I didn't check to see if my freezer was at the right temperature, and I admit I was careless about chilling the bowl. Lesson learned. The amount of the mixture is limited to one quart. Ice cream does need room to expand. I didn't know that. I've seen online complaints about how loud the motor is once it's turned on. Didn't seem that loud to me. I also suspect that folks who didn't get the desired results were a little careless like I was the first time and refused to admit it. This ice cream maker does come with a very detailed instruction book and a few basic recipes for ice cream, sorbet and gelato. I haven't tried to make sorbet or gelato just yet. I'm just getting started and having fun with this machine. Care and clean-up is fairly simple: the base can be wiped with a damp cloth. It's not immersible. The freezer bowl, cover and mixing paddle can be washed in the sink. I'd recommend this product to someone like me who's just starting out with homemade frozen treats. There are plenty of books out there (like the one by Ben and Jerry's) with even fancier recipes. I think I'll try some old fashioned vanilla ice cream next.

This ice cream maker was a hit in my home. My fourteen year old twin daughters could not wait to try it. So, I decided I would supervise as they gave it a try. They gathered all of the ingredients in a snap. The ice cream maker comes with a recipe booklet. One of the recipes in it only called for FOUR ingredients!! That is awesome in my world! So, the girls did that particular recipe. They were able to get the contents in the machine in a flash! I made sure to freeze the inner container a day prior as instructed. The girls turned on the machine and WHAMMO…the liquid started turning. The big negative I had was, this machine is SOOOOO LOUD! I could not stand the noise. I ended up in the other room with the door shut. My cousin did not think the noise was that bad, but I completely disagree with her. It is louder than our dishwasher, blender, and food processor. The ice cream was done in twenty minutes. We got out the chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and sprinkles. We were able to feed about five people an one through two scoops of soft serve ice cream. If you want the ice cream to be hard you would have to store it in the freeze for a couple hours. We LOVED it just the way it was. So, even though it is a loud machine we WILL be using it again!

I had never purchased an Ice Cream maker before and the Hamilton Beach 1.5-Qt Ice Cream Maker was reasonably priced and looked pretty easy to use. It came securely packaged and was easy to remove. The red color was very nice. The machine comes basically in 4 parts. There is the electrical base, the freezer bowl, the blender blade and the clear plastic cover. Included in the instruction booklet are several ice cream recipes, which I found helpful as I had never made homemade ice cream before. After washing all the components I followed the directions and put the freezer bowl in the freezer overnight in anticipation of making ice cream the next day. I chose to follow the easy vanilla ice cream recipe that was in the instruction booklet because it did not contain eggs and I was going to be serving it to my young grandchildren and it was quick. After preparing the ice cream base I took the freezer bowl out of the freezer as directed, added the base and turned on the machine. The directions say that the ice cream would be ready anytime between 20 and 40 minutes so I set my oven timer on 20 minutes just to see. After 20 minutes you could definitely see that the mixture was becoming thick but it did not look like ice cream yet so I set the timer for another 10 minutes. After 30 minutes it was definitely thicker so I added some mini chocolate chips at that time and let it go another 10 minutes. After 40 minutes the mixture had pretty much doubled in size and became very thick so I shut it off and quickly transferred it to a covered container and put it int he freezer for about an hour to let it set up for a bit. After taking it out of the freezer I served it up to the kids. I found that it really wasn't very creamy and it tasted more like ice milk than ice cream. It was probably just the recipe so next time I Will definitely look for a better ice cream base recipe but all in all the machine did what it said it would do. I have say that the machine, while running, is pretty loud so be prepared for that but all in all I was pleased with the machine and would recommend it.

The Hamilton Beach ice cream maker arrived and my husband and I got to work making ice cream. First, we put the Churn bowl in the freezer for the recommended 8-9 hours. Directions say it can be in there up to 22 hours. Next, we looked over the instructions. There were only about four or five basic recipes. I chose the first one, requiring a little prep work in a heavy sauce pan. I added some things like cocoa and fresh strawberries that I chopped. Following the directions I chilled the ingredients overnight. We decided the next afternoon to put it to work. Careful not to make more than a quart of ingredients, as the ice cream rises to a quart and a half after whipped in the churn bucket. The machine is very noisy, so don't plan on making ice cream while you entertain guests. The ice cream was delicious, but we made a rookie mistake by not churning the ice cream longer. Ours had a bit of liquid. However, after putting the ice cream in the freezer, it has hardened nicely. It was a fun experience and I am looking forward to the next batch of ice cream. I plan to look for sugar free recipes so we can make a healthier version. This would be a nice gift for anyone.