Side by Side Comparison of: Hamilton Beach vs Cuisinart

As a vegan, I can happily confirm that this product makes non-dairy ice cream just as well as milk-based!The lack of liquid water in the system is very convenient – it's easy to clean, and as long as you have ice from your freezer, you can start making ice cream without freezing the container first. It still makes more than enough ice cream for a family or even a decent-sized party, needing only ice, salt, and electricity.

Bought this as a present for my daughter. She really likes ice cream :) So far we've made about 5 batches and it has worked very well. The only negative is the noise. Consistent results when following the recipes.

Made delicious peach ice cream from recipe that came with it. Cord is too short for me to use on my island sink. Appears it is designed to use in a sink against a backslash with a very close outlet. I used an extension cord.

While visiting my high school friend of 40 years we searched the entire stock of ice cream at the store looking for a box of sugar-free ice cream. I finally found the only box they had. I wanted to get a thank you gift for their hospitality and this was the perfect gift! I grew up with this brand of ice cream maker and knew it would be a reliable one for them. They agree and said their first batch was a hit! It's perfect size and works great!!

My daughter asked for an ice cream maker for Christmas and after a lot of research we picked this one. It Made delicious ice cream. We used the included recipe for easy vanilla ice cream with cookies and cream. So creamy and amazing tasting. Very easy to do. One word of advice is to be sure to plan ahead for ingredients, ice, and salt amounts. In hind sight we could have halved the recipe but I don't think we will have trouble eating it. We will also invest in a good freezing container for leftovers. I would absolutely recommend to someone wanting fresh ice cream but not wanting anything too complex.

1st, a great value. If you get cream at a bulk store, 6 bucks for a 50 pound sack of rock salt, ice from your freezer, and a few pennies for the other ingredients (sugar and vanilla), you're looking at a gallon of high quality ice cream for 5 bucks or less. Figure you're saving 5-7 bucks a use. That means this unit pays for itself if you use if 6 times, maybe 10-20 times if you're spending a lot on added ingredients.2nd. Simple to use. Really well designed. Can't for the life of me understand people sticking plastic orange juice container parts to "fix" it. If it doesn't work, bring it back! Otherwise, top only goes on one way, and there's a locking feature that means that the unit must be properly assembled to fit correctly.3rd. For people saying "it uses a lot of ice, and I had to run to the store . . . " my lord people, are we that helpless? You own a freezer, right? Make your own ice. All it takes is just a bit of planning. Just a bit people, not invading-Soviet Russia level planning. If you have an auto ice maker on your freezer, just empty it into a very large zip lock 2 or 3 times and you're good to go.4th. The unit stops spinning when the ice cream reaches a given viscosity. I've made several batches of several different types and the only time the ice cream was "runny" was when I didn't break up the cookies and they clogged the mixer holes and caused the unit to stop prematurely - my fault. The other batches all came out about the same - like a very thick yogurt consistency. Into the freezer, and a day later it's getting there and 2 days later it's the same consistency as store bought. If you're getting runny ice cream, you're doing something wrong. BTW - if you use more crushed ice and/or salt, the mixture gets colder quicker, and you'll get more-crystally ice cream. If you use regular ice and/or less salt, the mixing takes longer and you get a creamier texture - adjust to desired consistency!5th. As for using Ben and Jerry's recipes, be aware that this can affect the mixer. Maybe BandJ's recipes require a higher torque motor. We have made several types of ice cream from the instructions that came with the mixer, and they all work great. If you load the ice cream with pretzels and what not, this might not be a powerful enough mixer.Great unit. Highly recommended.EDIT - It's now late July and I've used this mixer one or two times a week since we bought it in March, which means we've done about 30 batches (lots of kids and friends and such). Still on the same 8 dollar bag of rock salt. Have made a dozen or so of the recipes that came with the book. Love it, recommend it even more than I did a few months ago.2nd Update - It's now November, 2012, and the mixer motor is still going strong. Alas! The plastic bucket has a crack in it because a very zealous ice cream making person pounded on it to try to get some sticking salt/rock out after a run (argghh!). The new unit has just arrived. No issue whatsoever with the unit - it made a fantastic batch of vanilla with chocolate chips and walnuts right before its bucket was injured. I suppose I could have attempted to seal the crack, but at this price, I just decided to get a new one and use the old motor as a back up.Regarding some of the negative comments, it's very clear that some folks have unrealistic expectations from this machine. "It's made out of plastic, so it's cheap." The space station has a lot of plastic on it, as do Mercedes cars. "It's too big." Really? The volume of ice cream produced was not concealed! "It never froze the mixture." You're either not using the enough salt rock and ice, or you're putting warm ingredients in - everything must be very cold prior to putting them into the mixer (cream, milk and egg mixture, and so on). "The paddle wasn't stirring because it has to be firmly pushed into the motor." True. The paddle does not stir using magic - it must be affixed to the motor. "Ice cream was not completely frozen." Correct - it's a slurry to somewhat solid when it's done. Mix a bit by hand, then put in freezer until solid! "It doesn't make Ben and Jerry's flavors." Too much stuff in the mix will hinder the mixer - go buy Ben and Jerry's. This machine works well, but it's not an industrial ice-cream maker, nor is it intended to be. Used properly, it will provide you with gallons of home made ice cream with the ingredients you choose and without chemical preservatives! Great deal.

Got mine this week and tried it out for the first time for a gathering of friends. I used two of the gelato recipes right out of the manual and it worked to perfection. I followed the directions and refrigerated the mixture for two hours and made both batches right after each other. I can't wait to try other recipes. Two batches (different flavors) was enough for 13 people to have a scoop of each. This will pay for itself in no time! Highly recommended!

LOVE this machine. I've made two ice creams so far, and it's very easy and fool-proof. I make coconut milk ice cream, and find that rather than the 40-50 minutes recommended, it's more like 35. But it's easy to test it part way through. This machine is perfect if you want to eat dairy-free ice cream without emulsifiers and binders.

My wife and I just love this ice cream maker. We eat a lot of ice cream and this machine has made it so easy to fix. We have varied the vanilla recipe a few times but have now settled on the one in the instruction booklet. Yesterday my wife tried making strawberry ice cream using the recipe in the instruction booklet and we will be trying it out for quality in a couple of hours..It is so easy for we old people to now make ice cream.Just wish we had bought this machine a long time ago. As others have warned however, read the instructions and don't put more ingredients into the freezer to freeze then the instructions say or you will end up with a mess to deal with. Also with the freezer weighing what it does, I would plan on leaving it in a set location if possible.

This makes the best homemade ice cream. I found a Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla copycat recipe online (we were going through severe withdrawal since the Blue Bell ice cream recall :) and made a few batches in this machine. It turned out awesome!! Nice and creamy. I did chill the base for a couple of hours before churning and once the machine had done it's job I froze the ice cream overnight. Perfectly scoopable, creamy ice cream!! This machine will only hold about 4 cups at a time, so I did have to make several batches from the one recipe. Don't do like I did and try to squeeze in more because once the ice cream starts freezing it expands and I had an overspill mess! But, I learned my lesson and it's been smooth sailing since. I do highly recommend this machine for ice cream lovers! I would definitely buy it again!UPDATE: Long story...I ordered this machine on Amazon, ICE-100. Love it. Decided to order an additional bowl so I wouldn't have to wash between ice cream batches. I ordered the bowl that they claim goes with this machine, part no. 100BL online from cuisinartwebstore.com. The bowl arrived and it looked identical to the original bowl. HOWEVER, it did not fit!!! It would not slide all the way down into the machine. (See pics) When I measured it I found that the new bowl (100BL) is 1/8" larger in circumference than the original bowl. Called the company. They kept saying that was the correct part for my machine. Finally after talking to about 4 different people, they gave me another phone number to call. This person asked for the serial number shown on the bottom of the machine (hard to see as it is in black raised numbers on a black background). After getting the serial number, she said that I needed part no. 100NBL for this machine. I don't know if there were some defective bowls made that were labeled as 100BL and they had to make new ones and assigned them the number 100NBL or what the deal is, but I DO know that bowl 100BL does not fit this machine as of 02/15/2016. I have not received the other bowl yet. I will update regarding the fit as soon as it arrives.

I am ashamed to say that I never write reviews. But, this product is so terrific that I was compelled to write. I've wanted one of these ice cream makers for a long time but was afraid I'd use it like crazy for a week or two and then I'd donate it to Goodwill! Well that's not gonna happen! This baby makes the smoothest, creamiest, best ice cream ever. Tastes nothing like the stuff you buy at the grocery store...even the most expensive premium brands can't beat this confection. It's super fast, super easy, and cleans up in an absolute snap. Don't be put off by the advice to chill your mixture for a couple of hours before pouring into the machine. That admonition is probably true for custard-style ice cream but for simple ice cream it's so not necessary...be sure your milk and cream are super cold though. I don't even take the milk and cream out of the fridge 'til I've set up the machine and gathered all other ingredients. Anyway, get this wonderful invention. You will love it,,,promise.

This machine is amazing! I bought it about 5 months ago. I make gelato for my restaurant and for friends at the hospital where I also work. I often make 3-4 batches at a time. I create my own recipes. To streamline the churning process, I went to another website and purchased an additional bowl, gelato blade, and lid. This way, as soon as the first batch finishes churning, I can put the second batch in to churn without waiting on the clean up. There have been no issues with overheating. It's not loud nor is it very heavy. Clean up is easy. When I finish the final batch, I carry it over to the sink to clean the rim and inner part if any gelato dripped in there. It sits on top of my compact refrigerator, when in use or not In use. In other words, it does not run hot during operation. If you want to make your own frozen desserts, I highly recommend this machine.

Worked great, even when doing a full gallon. I just wish someone could create an ice cream maker that was reasonable quite. I couldn't use it in my kitchen as it is deafening. I put it in a room down the hall, closed the door, and still had to increase the volume on the TV.

Purchased this as old one motor stopped we had ice cream ready to mix so instead of wasting it, placed in the refrigerator ordered new one and 2 days later we made ice cream. Works very well and churns fast.

I've only used this once to make a vegan ice cream recipe, because it's expensive and loaded with sugars in stores. I made a banana ice cream, followed the directions, and it came out delicious and perfect! It was the consistency of a nice soft-serve right out of the machine, and I froze it overnight and made milkshakes the next day. So good! I took off a star because of the noise--it's very loud!! Other than that, I am happy I bought it and would suggest to a friend.

I've been making home made ice cream for forty years or more. I used to have a White Mountain freezer, which I had for many years. That freezer finally quit working, after several years. I can't really afford another White Mountain freezer so I thought I would try this one. This freezer seems to work great. I have only used it once, but I'm very happy with how it performed. The ice cream was pretty firm, which is a big deal when making your own ice cream. Other freezers I've used didn't seem to freeze the ice cream to a very firm consistency. My only complaint is that I wish is was a six-quart canister instead of four. However, as I mentioned previously, this really does a nice job. I would recommend it, and I'll probably buy another one should I need to.

It works and does a pretty good job. It will get you a great soft serve before it stops churning..then you can either harden it off in the bucket or move to a freezer container. I use a large roasting pan to sit it on my countertop instead of the sink as they have recommended...not sure many outlets close enough to reach from most sinks..this cord is short. Also...do NOT remove the paddle until you check it with a spoon and it is to your soft set liking...you can not put it back in and restart it..the paddle will not turn, let it run until it stops on its own. I use about 12lbs of ice and 3 cups of rock salt for each batch. Buy your ice cream salt at Walmart and Target..only about $1.50 for 6 cup boxAll and all...I love this little machine and I am having a blast learning how to use different milk products and recipes

I use this maker quite often and at first I really liked it , but I think the motor is getting weakerThe motor is only 80 watts and will stop as soon as a load is placed on it (will churn for 15-20 min and as soon as the mixture starts to freeze it will stop. the sides of the container will be frozen but the center is still very soft. Even when you scraped the ice cream off the sides, it will still not rotateI usually make a soft serve.8/09/2014 I Cut 1/4" off the sides of the paddle, and it made all the difference, which means it churns longer with out the paddle getting frozen to the side of the bucketAlso I have compared it to an RCW electric which has a wooden bucket and a 5 quart canister.Using ice cubes from the home freezer it was a constant battle of freeing up the canister (small space between canister and bucket and the ice cubes would catch on the wood bucket, also it froze up, not due to the churn in the canister but from the ice build up in the bottom of the bucket.(never did freeze up properly)

Would rate as 3.5. Feel like there's always a mad scramble to scoop the ice cream out of the freezing bowl so than I can put it in the freezer to harden even more but it's hard to get the ice cream out of the plastic scraper with its many grooves. There's also a significant amount of ice cream that gets frozen to the side walls due to the gap between the scraper and the surface of the bowl, although I hear that this is a common issue among ice cream makers.Makes really good tasting ice cream, although I have a feeling that the ice cream recipe and technique you use might have more to do with this.

The machine works good. I've made maybe 10 batches by now. But it has a major flaw and that is it'll over flow the bucket as the gelato expands. It gets in-between bucket area and the body of the machine. I've been using a tooth pick and paper towels to try clean in that seam. I combat that problem by ending the sequence earlier. Instead of ending it after 50 minutes of turning I stop it at 40 mins. It'll just start touching the lid by that time. It doesn't seem to have any effect on the quality of the gelato.I would give it 5 stars except for the above design flaw.

Works fast and no problem with freezing. I like it because I can make up low fat ice creams. In just 30 minutes it is ready. Use almond milk and bananas, or vanilla almond with rum flavoring, etc.Did not like having to keep a cylinder frozen, like with other models. The refrigeration unit works well. Gave it 4 stars only because the door on the plastic lid dropped out and broke. Still works but may try to replace the door flap on the lid.

I like it, but the Ice Cream is usually a little too soft and runny. When I'm in the mood for this it's great, because I just pour in a few ingredients and wait 40 minutes. Freezing your ice-cream is not the solution, because part of what makes icecream smooth when frozen is the size of the ice crystals. Freezing Ice Cream from this machine takes too long, and consequently it'll be a little grainy after it's frozen.Unless you have a blast chiller than can freeze your ice cream very quickly, I recommend not making more than you and your friends intend to eat, which shouldn't be an issue since it also doesn't make that much ice cream (seems like about 1.5 - 2 quarts).Inexpensive little unit for experimenting with flavors, but you probably won't use it as much as you think. I generally (95%) still buy haagen dazs rather than using this.

Just got this Gelato maker two months ago. It does a great job. The only comment I'd make is that the mixing bowl gets VERY cold by the time your batch is done .... makes sense that it does, but as you're trying to clean the Gelato off of the mixer paddles, your fingers can get a bit chilled. This maker is definitely a bit messier than just going into the Gelato shop .... but .... I like having the ability to control the ingredients .... like limiting that amount of Sugar that is used or partially mixing with low carb. or sugar free ingredients .... I don't get that option at the Gelato shop.All in all a good quality machine that works well. Not as convenient as buying Gelato at a store (what homemade stuff is??), but if you like homemade Gelato or Ice cream this is a good way to make it.

Makes great ice cream. I use use the Jeni's recipes and they come out SOOOOPER! The machine make a loud screeching noise which is VERY irritating. It didn't do this the first few times then suddenly started. The colder the machine gets the louder the noise becomes. If you can tolerate the noise it is a good maker. Don't use this maker if the baby is sleeping.

Smaller than I thought it would be. I have a tall ice maker that broke. It was less expensive to purchase the this than replace the parts. It still works and actually makes just as much ice cream. I use this to enjoy ice cream, my weakness, now and then and still control the ingredients I put into my body. You can still have a treat and good fuel at the same time! It only takes 25 minutes and 3 ingredients to make a yummy ice cream treat that has no ingredients in it you can't pronounce. There are also great recipes using protein powder, like Shakeology or Juice Plus Complete. So I definitely recommend it.

Does the job, VERY noisy. Took lomger than 30 minutes to freeze, almost twice that.

Supposedly the ice cream maker is 4 quarts or a gallon. Will actually hold a half a gallon to the fill line.

I really wanted to like this ice cream maker but there are others that are so much better and don't require as much ice (10 pounds) and no rock salt. It really is just too much of a hassle to work with this one. Go with another that has a bowl you can place in the freezer instead of having to use 10 pounds of ice.

I have used this a handful of times and the last time seemed like the motor was going out and wouldn't churn the ice cream. I haven't used it since. I'm kinda afraid to put all my ingredients in and it's not going to work. I have another I bought for my camper, so I guess if that's the case I will get that one out...well the top motor part.

I received this machine for my birthday. I used it approximately 6 times before the gears in the paddle broke. I called Hamilton Beach for a replacement since this was still under warranty. After speaking with customer service they happily shipped me a new machine. I did have to pay a nominal amount for shipping, but that was still cheaper than buying a new machine. The customer service experience was speedy and fast. I have no complaints.I do feel like this machine is best suited for summer months since it is quite noisy and can be messy with the ice. If you do not make the ice cream outside (which is great in the summer time), consider placing the entire machine in your kitchen sink. This minimizes water issues when the ice begins to melt as the machine works.

The first one stopped working not long after I received it... My kids love it, only reason I rated a 3 stars.

Great piece of equipment when it works. I purchased it in April 2015 and used it 2-3 times a month to make ice cream. The recipe book is excellent, instructions clear, and the machine worked flawlessly . . . until May 2016 -- just after the return period ended. We made ice cream mixture, put it into the maker as usual, turned it on, set the time, told it to START . . . and nothing. It sat there and got cold but the paddles would not turn to stir the ice cream.I decided to fiddle around with it. On the bottom is a black plastic piece held in place with three #15 Torx screws and two tabs. Remove the three Torx screws, press the tabs, and take out the plastic piece, which reveals the drive train. The drive train consists of a small plastic wheel that drives a rubber belt that drives a train of three plastic gears. None of the gears would turn. I squeezed the belt together and felt something pop. A very small piece of hard crap fell out and suddenly the gear train was free . . . I could turn it by hand. I put everything back together and it worked fine for a month or so then I had to repeat the performance. Unplug it, turn it over, remove the bottom plate, fiddle around with the rubber belt and gears until they turn freely, put it back together. All in all, I've "repaired" it five times, tonight being the fifth. I have no idea what causes the drive train to hang up . . . there's no hardened grease or any other foreign objects in the gear compartment. The little piece of crap that fell out the first time appeared to be a piece of dry, hardened ice cream but I could not find any way it could have gotten into the drive train. If I can find a parts list I'll order the entire drive train. Until then, I just keep my #15 Torx screwdriver handy.

My wife likes it OK. She made many great ice cream and sorbets. The kids love it.Wife wishes the bucket were larger. Ice ream expands while churning and if it reaches the edge it will be difficult to clean up.Also if you do multiple batches back to back the bucket can get stuck in the machine (pour some water in the bucket to melt the ice that formed between the bucket and the cooling element.)

For the price and commercial quality, I was disappointed. It took twice as long for the ice cream to freeze and the taste and texture of the ice cream was no better or smoother than my lower priced ice cream maker. I expected the ice cream to have a better flavor and smoothness. I am going to return this and purchase a few more ice cream freezer bowls.

Quality ice cream maker, but I found it at another website costing much, much less, even with the clipped coupon discount ($20). Do not think Amazon matches prices or not, but shop around for the best deal.

Awfully loud. Good consisten results.

We loved it...until we tried to make our second batch of ice cream and the motor burned out. We dont eat ice cream often so it was a few months later and i dont have the box to return it :(

We returned this as it took FOREVER to freeze the ice cream even after freezing the bucket and adding ice.

This item was purchased as new but arrived with a dinged canister and chocolate still on the blades of the churn. I wouldn't buy from this seller again.

Hate it. Stopped after 10 min the sides freeze up and the motor is too slow and week to thicken it. Just freezes and stops. Worst product and costs as much to return. Waste of money.

Good: It made ice cream just fine and it only took about 40 minutes.Bad: The problem is the cord is very short and even worse, the motor noise is incredible. I couldn't even hear my cell phone ringing when it was right next to me. I wouldn't but it again.

When our 35 year old Sears ice cream maker gave up the ghost, I looked for a new one to replace it and purchased this Hamilton Beach model based on the mostly good reviews. I wish I could have revived the Sears model instead. In addition to having a VERY LOUD motor, the Hamilton Beach model has several design flaws. First, this is the first bucket I have seen that does not have a handle so you can carry it. You can grab it under the lip and carry it with both hands, but it is awkward and prone to sloshing the brine all over.The second flaw is also in the bucket design. There isn't a drain on the side to prevent the brine from overflowing and possibly ruining a batch of ice cream. Since this machine is so loud that we can't stand being in the same room with it, having the brine creep up over the top of the ice cream canister is a real possibility. Fortunately my husband is talented at fixing things, he drilled a hole in the side of the bucket below the top of the ice cream canister and inserted a short piece of copper tubing. We now can place an empty coffee can under the drain to catch any overflow. Also, since the bucket itself is not double walled, be careful where you set up to make the ice cream. You will end up with a puddle under the bucket from the ice that forms from condensation on the outside of the bucket melting.The third design flaw is that you cannot see the ice cream mixture while it is freezing. The old Sears model had a completely transparent canister lid so you could monitor the ice cream's progress. That was an excellent feature to help you decide if you should add more ice and/or salt or if you could just wait a few more minutes for the freezing to finish. To fix this issue my husband cut out a couple of windows in the canister lid and epoxied in some clear plastic so we can more closely monitor the freezing progress.Another issue is that the canister does not actually hold 4 quarts of finished/frozen ice cream. The first few times I used my recipes that make a gallon of ice cream with this machine, I had a huge mess to clean up as the ice cream expanded up out of the canister. And yes, the ice cream mixture was below the fill line marked inside the canister. After adjusting the volume of milk or cream in my recipes, we've stopped the overflow issue.We've been making ice cream for over 30 years, so we have a pretty good handle on what ratio of ice to salt to use to achieve a good texture to the ice cream in a reasonable amount of time. But when using this Hamilton Beach model the motor itself (did I mention that its loud?) has yet to stop when the ice cream is finished, it just keeps turning away. At this rate I expect the motor to burn up at any time. Which will be a good thing, since then I can pitch this ice cream maker into the nearest garbage can and find another one, hopefully one that has a better design. They should make engineers actually use products they design.

Where do I begin? I purchased this because the price was really good ($239), and my experiences with Cuisinart products were mostly positive.The first thing I noticed after unpacking the ice cream freezer was that the directions were sadly lacking in detail. For instance, how do you tell when the ice cream is "ready" to go into containers? They fail to tell you that the dasher will literally stop turning, and then the freezer goes into its "Keep Cool" function.Filling the freezer to just shy of covering the top dasher (as recommended) virtually guarantees a mess, as the ice cream expands in volume. A better idea would be to fill it to the bottom of the top dasher.The machine's ability to blend the ice cream mix is only fair. And when making a sorbet, the mix froze around the edges, but the center stayed liquid after an hour in the machine.All of this could have been things for which I could have found a work around. But on the 4th batch, the motor began squealing: a high pitched squeal that could be heard OUTSIDE the house. It was suggested that this meant the ice cream was nearly frozen. Nope. I had just begun the batch. Another person suggested using a bit of vegetable oil to lubricate the inside of the dasher. No joy. As a last test, I disassembled everything, cleaned and dried the parts, reassembled, and turned the machine on with no mix in the bucket. The squeal was still there, loud and ear splitting.I packaged it up and returned it to Amazon today (inside the 30 day return period). And I ordered the Whynter ICM-200LS. With any luck, that one will do a better job.If you have good luck with your Cuisinart, I am very happy for you. I had expected to love this machine. It just didn't work out that way.

Its small capacity means that for most recipes you have to make 2 batches, the small parts are hard to clean, and it is a bit noisy.For nearly the same price you will be happier with the Whynter ICM-200LS

I wanted to move up to an ice cream maker with a compressor. I wanted to be able to make more than 1 batch without waiting for the container to freeze again. I used recipes that I have used in the Cuisinart ICE-20 Automatic 1-1/2-Quart Ice Cream Maker, which makes good ice cream in about 25 min. The Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream Maker at 45 min was still very soupy. At 1 hour it was barely soft serve. I made several different batches and let some run 80 min. I never got more than a very loose, soft serve consistency. (it wouldn't stand up on a cone) I get a more solid ice cream with the ICE-20. I like the idea of the two paddles for ice cream and gelato. I also liked the removable container and better motor. If it would get colder and make a more solid ice cream in less than and hour I would have kept it and rated it better. I sent it back. If you want very soft ice cream then it is ok.

Machine is fine but the plastic lid cracked and the manufacture has been terrible and unresponsive to warranty it out.

Had to return this item. Very loud and the paddle rubbed the side of the tub to the point that it removed the finish on one side during the first use.

While this product does make frozen treats, it is horribly LOUD. Even in the next room with the door closed it is not pleasant; it putters like a factory compressor and it is very harsh on the ears. I can't see making ice cream or sorbet on a whim with company over or with family -- as it's an industrial task (ear protection recommended).

I ordered this model because in the comparison chart it said that this one is made of metal. The only thing that is made out of metal is the aluminum (very thin) barrel. the motor casing, the bracket that holds the motor to the bucket and the bucket are all plastic. The information in the comparison is an out and out lie.

I ordered this as a gift for my mother. The inside canister arrived with a dent at the top and prevented the lid to form a seal.

I had to replace after a couple weeks because the motor stopped working

Broke after the first time using it. Poorly designed and built. One of the cogs, the one that turns the canister, came out of it's mount. There was a rubber gasket that I assume was supposed to help hold it in, but it slid up out of the socket. Will post pictures if able. Will be returning and buying another brand.

Didn't work straight out of the box. I bought this item to make ice cream for our family reunion and it never worked. What a disappointment. Had to return it. But no ice cream for the picnic.

This unit broke after the 1st use. I was expecting great results after all of the glowing reviews but boy was I disappointed. The first batch came out great. The noise this machine made was unbearable though. Then I needed to make a batch for a Bridal shower this weekend and after setting it up with my mix and locking the lid in. Nothing, no churn, no nothing. So very disappointed. It's going back!!!

Stopped working after 6 uses.

I followed the directions precisely and although it's turning and making an appropriate sound with the buttons working properly, there is no ice cream being made and no cooling effect. It's just as liquid and same temperature as when I first added the mixture. What a disappointment! My poor children were so excited!

Received and would not cool. Set it out for 24 hours as recommended and ran for about 90 minutes (one cycle, rest, then again). Not even a little cold, in fact, lukewarm - warmer than when the liquid was cooled in the fridge. Returning and ordering a second one. In between ordering and replacing price dropped $10. Will update review if the second one works.

Followed instructions exactly. Tried twice to make ice cream. The mixture would not freeze on both attempts.

Piece of utter crap so far. Set the machine out upright for 24 hours and I've tried 3 recipes since then to the T and the machine isn't properly freezing the Ice cream the consistency that goes in is what comes out. Not sure if it's even reaching freezing tempatures. Would not recommend. Plan on returning very soon.

Made a loud grinding noise about half way through the cycle. Checked and the ice cream bowl was warm and ice cream mixture was liquid. Smelled like burning electrical components. I was able to send it back for a refund but I am going to purchase the Breville Compressor Ice Cream maker from Williams Sonoma. It's more expensive but if there's a problem I can return it locally.