Customer Reviews

Hamilton Beach 68220 1.5-Quart Capacity Ice Cream Maker, White

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

OK, first off, all the 1.5qt ice cream makers on the market -- this one, Cuisinart's, and Krups' -- are fundamentally the same. It's a metal bucket full of some fluid that you put in the freezer; it gets very cold, cold enough to freeze 1.5qts of ice cream mix. That, and it's a motor with a mixing arm. That's really it.

So I figured, when I bought this one, that I was getting a deal; it's the cheapest of the three. Now that I've used it a few times, I'm wishing I'd just splurged, spent the extra twenty bucks, and gotten either of the others.

The mixing blade on this model doesn't seem to actually mix very well. I made a cantaloupe sherbet last night and I looked into the bowl as the arm turned, and it was just shoving the sherbet around in a circle. It wasn't churning. The sherbet wasn't frozen solid or anything, it was still pretty slushy. The arm just seems poorly designed.

I think the motor's pretty weak, too. It turns so slowly that it doesn't need to be very strong, they just gear it way down and even a weak motor can push pretty hard. But this routinely gets stuck on bits of ice cream that freeze in a layer on the bottom of the bucket. I made a frozen yogurt, which you have to put in the bucket to start (vs. pouring it through the opening while it's running) because of the thickness of the yogurt, and it had real problems churning after that. I ended up having to churn it by hand with a spatula for a while at the end.

Finally, there are just design details that aren't very good about this. The top of the motor / lid assembly is sloped, and the on/off switch is on that surface and protrudes a bit.

When you take that motor / lid off and set it down, the obvious way to do it is to rest it on its top (with the mixing arm sticking up.) This invariably hits that switch and turns it on. Whenever I'm taking it off, I'm trying to move quickly, stir the ice cream or scoop it off into a container to put in the freezer, so it's always irritating to take that lid off, quickly set it down, and have it turn on, the mixing arm starts turning, ice cream splatters, etc. This happens every time. There's not really a better way to set it down. So I have to unplug it whenever I want to put it down on the counter. It's just not very well thought-through.

Similarly, the locking mechanism involves pivoting that big blue arm up and over from one side to the other, which is cumbersome; the electric cord gets in the way, and even when you get it right, it's not a terribly snug fit; the motor can rock back and forth a bit.

Overall, you get what you pay for, and the other brands really aren't that much more expensive. Don't be a tightwad like me; splurge for one of them instead of this.

My new Hamilton Beach 1.5 Qt Ice Cream Maker has become my most cherished kitchen appliance. It makes delicious ice cream, and allows me to be creative by using basic recipes and adding ingredients - you ought to taste my Chocolate-Orange ice cream! I have even taken my Ice Cream Maker to a friend's home, and in the course of a nice visit (since I had pre-frozen the freezing well, and kept it so until time to prepare) and had as much attention as the television program we were supposed to be watching before dinner. Needless to say, my H-B was more than equal to the test - and I got the kudos! It's a good and reliable product, available at a reasonable price, and is well worth every penny that I spent for it!

I bought this product on a really hot summer day when I was craving ice cream but wanted something fat-free and sugar-free and finding a product like that in the store seems impossible. This machine is awesome! Not only did it make delicious fat free, sugar free ice cream, it also made amazing real ice cream! The recipe book it comes with has lots of great flavors you can make and with a little creativity you can make many more! The product works well, is super easy to use, cleans up with warm water and is something I find myself using all the time. If you buy this, you won't be disappointed. My only advice is keep the cylinder in the freezer all the time. That way, you never have to wait to have homemade ice cream in minutes!

For less $ than most of the others on the market, this is one of the best of the small "freeze ahead of time" type ice cream makers. Unlike most of this type, it has enough cold stored to both freeze AND ripen the ice cream. I'm going to buy another so I can make two batches at a time.

This Ice cream maker is outstanding. And so inexpensive. Forget all the negative reviews here. The top locks on very securely, it operates very quietly, and makes ice cream quick and deliscious. So easy to clean fast. The motor top is plastic encase so it can be rinsed off. The bowl rinses quickly too. No one mentioned in the other reviews that it holds a freeze for almost 2 hours. Time enough to make a second batch of ice cream on the one freeze. Heck...for $29 you really can't go wrong. Im making 4 batches of it for the holidays.

This may be a smaller ice cream maker than other machines but for someone with an always-full freezer I like that! If it was a huge container I would end up NEVER making any of my frozen desserts.

As a foodie, I have to have treats in the summer and refuse to turn on my oven. This leaves me few choices for desserts and since I bought my ice cream maker I have made fat-free coffee sherbet, lime sorbet, frozen strawberry yogurt, strawberry ice cream, mango sorbet, orange ice cream...

Yes, the paddle attachment is not going crazy churning away like an industrial machine but it works just fine. I have never had a problem creating homemade anything when it comes to my frozen treats.

This product is a great price, does not completely take over the freezer and works just great! I love mine and have already used it three times this spring despite the cold weather. I just could not wait to make my frozen treats again even though the hot weather continues to elude the east coast.

After reading reviews here at Amazon, I decided to go with this ice cream maker and I'm very happy with it! It's very quiet as opposed to some of the other ice cream makers reviewed here that are noisy. The manufacturer recommends just keeping the bowl in the freezer at all times and that seems to work out well. I have a very small kitchen and this ice cream maker is nice and small, the only part I have to worry about storing is the motor, and it's quite small. It's also VERY easy to clean. I've had it two days now and have had fun trying different recipes - I'm on Weight Watchers and wanted to try to make my own fat free, sugar free ice cream, but I'm finding I can also add yogurt and use fat free lactaid milk since I'm lactose intolerant, and it still tastes great! You can also use it to make frozen yogurt and sorbet. I bought mine at Target for a very reasonable price, and for instant gratification as I didn't want to wait for it to be shipped.

This is a nice little machine; easy to use and fairly quick. There's a certain amount of trouble involved. You have to make sure the canister is thoroughly frozen and the ice cream mixture is chilled, which means you have to think way ahead. But it's not that difficult. It doesn't really make a lot of ice cream, so if you want a lot, real quick, then go to the supermarket. But for that homemade taste, this is a good choice, and it's enough for about four people. I'm glad I got it.

I bought this after reading the reviews here-after using it twice I am totally happy-everything as claimed. Great texture ice cream, quick churning, easy to use and easy to clean. Great recipes included. Tip for those in tropics-like me-freeze the mixture for a couple hours before pouring into bowl.

This makes the best ice cream we have ever tasted. We checked the temperature of our freezer before beginning and everything worked simply and successfully. The custard-type recipe is very smooth and creamy, not grainy at all. We used half the amount of sugar in the recipe and didn't miss it (we made up for it with the toppings, I guess.) We plan to do some fun experimenting.