Andrew James Ice Cream Maker 1.5L – Ice-cream Maker, Gelato & Sorbet Machine for Home, Homemade Frozen Dessert Maker Ice Cream Machine, Ready in 20 Minutes – Black

My ice-cream maker arrived last week, so I've only had time to make two recipes (Dark chocolate sorbet and Salted caramel ice cream), but both have been absolutely outstanding! Smooth, creamy, and a fraction of the price of buying shop-bought equivalents despite being far superior. Having read some of the single star reviews on here, I suspect it's probably worth adding a couple of points so that people understand what they're actually buying though... Firstly, I suspect that the people claiming that the bowl doesn't fit in a "normal" freezer actually have a freezer compartment in a fridge - an icebox, as they are sometimes referred to. It certainly fits fine in the freezer part of our fridge/freezer. The instructions do clearly say you need to chill the bowl to at least -18 degrees C. This does mean a "proper" freezer, so I doubt an icebox would work even if it could take it. The bowl dimensions are included in the description, so not difficult to check. Secondly, don't expect this to give you fully frozen ice cream straight out of the mixer. That's simply not going to happen without a built in freezer element. What you will get is a very think, very cold mixture similar to ice cream which has started to melt, and which will then solidify (and indeed go rock solid) when you put it in the freezer. So, at this point, you might be wondering what the point is, when you could just put the mixture in the freezer to start with? The point is that the machine ensures it is close enough to frozen that the freezer can take it the rest of the way to frozen without forming ice crystals in the mixture. That's effectively what you're buying here. The ability to make perfect ice cream without ice crystals. Just view that hour or so in the freezer as the final stage of the process (rather than the point where it comes out of the machine), and you'll be delighted. Finally, for the people complaining that the ice cream goes rock solid in the freezer, I'm sure there's an ingredient in commercially made ice cream to help minimize this, should you wish to add some - although even then, a freezer will turn commercially made ice cream rock solid too - but to let them into a secret, it doesn't turn it solid permanently! All you need to do is take the ice cream out of the fridge 10 minutes before you want to scoop it out and it's the ideal consistency. As a last little tip, if you put your bowl into the freezer when you take the ice cream out, that'll keep it from melting the ice cream too quickly when you serve it.

Very easy to use. Assembly is very straight-forward and the included instruction book is clear with easy to follow starter recipes. Once the bowl is ready to use (the instructions suggest leaving it in the freezer for 24 hours), it takes approximately 30 minutes to make a really good milkshake. If you want proper ice cream you then need to transfer this semi-frozen mixture into a container (as the freezer bowl doesn't have a lid which seems a bizarre oversight in my opinion!) and wait for it to freeze. When running the machine is much louder than I expected it to be and can be heard from the lounge over the TV with the kitchen door closed. Once frozen, the ice cream is VERY hard. Your cheap £5 ice cream scoop isn't going to cut it here. I invested in a Zeroll GD616 Original Ice Cream Scoop, Size 16 which is rock solid and produces a good sized scoop. I am experimenting with different recipes to see if I can get something more similar to shop-bought soft scoop. Things to be aware of: The freezer bowl is large so you should take note of the measurements and check it will fit in your freezer before ordering! You can't make ice cream straight out of the box. It takes 24 hours to cool the bowl down before being ready to use. Many ice cream recipes require you to boil the ingredients, which then needs to cool down before use so factor this time in too. The machine is really noisy. This sounds like a negative review, so why have I given it four stars over all? Because it is extremely easy to use and easy to clean and, despite its short-comings, I love being able to enjoy excellent homemade ice cream! So far I have made Bounty and Malteaser flavours, and delicious Fior de Latte. You can't beat it!