Maxi-Matic EIM-520 Automatic Easy, Homemade Electric Maker, Ingredient Chute, On/Off Switch, No Salt Needed, Creamy Ice Cream, Gelato, Frozen Yogurt, or Sorbet, 1 Quart, Blue

I feel like I need to write a response to some of the negative reviews concerning this great product. Following the instructions works! Go figure! Physics are physics. Common sense tells you that the freezing part of this product has to be solidly frozen before you turn it on and put in the ingredients! My freezer is set for -3* F. The booklet says to let the product set upright on a horizontal surface for 5 hours BEFORE you put the bottom part in the freezer. And you need to let it freeze for 24 hours at least before using. The recipe you can make up the day before and put it into the fridge. When you remove the freezing bowl, you should not hear or feel any swishing of the solution inside the bowl, as it should be frozen solid inside and the aluminum bowl inside with the plastic surface outside should immediately start making condensation frost. Connect the motor and paddle, make sure its secure and ruen it on.Then use a funnel to pour in the COLD recipe from the fridge and let it do its thing. I have to say that after 15 minutes I had amazing frozen ice cream that rivals what you get at Dairy Queen! I mean, it simply HAS to work if you use your noggin and do it right. Last note; the container stays frozen for more than an hour. I believe you could make a 2nd batch in this machine before you let it defrost, clean it and put it away for next time.

Great handy appliance to have around the house for when the taste of eating some ice-cream hits your taste buds. The speed is just right and the freeze time is perfect. I would advise to keep the mixer in the freezer, because the salt will leak out.

Freeze time takes to long and it is smaller than it looks in the picture

I used it several times, had it in the freezer for many hours before using it, but I could never get it cold enough to wear. The ice cream was like ice cream.

I did not have much luck with this machine... tried twice and can't seem to get it right.. Comes out like grown milk with icey particles.. back to the store bought kind.. darn.. was trying to avoid all that sugar and additives.. I'll be sticking with my blender and smoothies.If you have more luck.. please share. I would love to try again.

Ah, Grandma's house, 4th of July, every year hamburgers, watermelon, etc. AND last but not least homemade ice cream. She had a ready workforce of kids excited about making (and eating) homemade ice cream. Rock salt, a few bags of ice, and about 40 min. or so of boredom, I think it was 3" of ice and then a scoop of rock salt. Over and over, finally, when the motor stops and you can smell those motor windings burning, that cool retro humming sound, it's time to unplug it. "Oh boy, can we have some now Grandma?" "Oh no, you've got to put it in the freezer to ripen." "How long does that take Grandma?" "Well best to let it freeze overnight, but at least an hour or two." Of course we always badgered her and she caved after an hour, still pretty "soft-serve" like, but we didn't care, we wanted it now! now! now!!!This trip down memory lane was to make clear to those not fortunate enough to have had the experience, or just don't remember as well, even the good ol' machines didn't pop out ice cream on demand. It always has "soft-serve" consistency right from the machine.I've had a couple of the old machines thru the years, always the same. But I think personally I like this cheap, plastic thing better. Much less mess, cost (ice isn't cheap) and hassle.It is a new learning experience. 1st batch, I forgot to buy evaporated milk, it was pure half & half and some vanilla. It was ok, consistency was off because I churned it too long, all pumped with air. 2nd batch was perfect, it was great, just like the good ol' days. Made with heavy whipping cream, evap. milk, vanilla, right out of the recipe book. 15 min. churn time was the magic, perfect. Now making my 3rd batch and I had problems. Being a bit more cost conscious than back then, I saved my evap. milk in the fridge for a few days. It and the whipping cream were very cold and that evap. milk is extremely viscous, I had to scrap it out of the container with a spoon. And that was a problem. It was too thick for the motor. Seen that video on these reviews of the dasher going back & forth rather than round and round? It's the motor protecting itself from a jam. I think pound for pound this tiny motor is more macho than the old electro-shock models, although I must grant they had a tougher job, as they turned the 1 gallon canister around in the ice jacket, while the dasher was held rigid. But anyway, this motor is fine, it's obviously heavily geared down, it barely even gets warm. But everything has limits. So I scraped out as much of the mix as I could back into my Pyrex measuring cup, nuked it for about a minute in the microwave and it began turning the dasher properly. But I don't know if we're going to overcome all the time spent fooling with it and loss of coldness. I'm ok with having a few learning trials with a new machine though, and I'm confident it's a winner in the end.Which brings up another point. I see many people worried about having everything as cold as possible. The freezer container has plenty of retained cold in normal use, and last successful time I used room temperature evap. milk, which I'll do in the future as well.MY errors notwithstanding, I can't find much to fault with this machine. The cheap plastic tabs for the motor concern me, but we'll see. Not fond of the retro turquoise, hey guys, back then everything was white, fridges, stoves, everything, what's wrong with white? It seems to be a generic recipe book that it comes with, but it's just for getting started anyway, you'll find the magic recipe you like eventually. Personally, I like any flavor, as long as it's vanilla. I do kinda miss that shocking dose of rock salt that always leaked inside though, guess I can just put my salt grinder on coarse and add a little.So cons, barely worth mentioning. Buy it, you'll like it, just be prepared to mess up a few times before you get it right.

Cute, small and easy to use.

I like the ice cream recipes. I did purchase item as my Christmas gift. It stopped churning last week and it’s been used less than 10 times. It supposedly has a one year warranty but nobody seems to be able to help me in getting a replacement.