Customer Reviews

Hawaiian Shaved Ice and Snow Cone Machine Party Package

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I think this is a great deal if you're looking for fun and tasty treats. The machine functions noticeably better if the included ice molds are used. Ice cubes work, but they take much longer to shave down and you will get chunkier shavings (which do not hold the flavor as well). When using the ice molds, make sure to let the ice block sit out for five to ten minutes before shaving ("tempering"), and you will end up with icy shavings closer to a snow texture.

The included syrups are tasty, sugary and perfect for drizzling over your shaved ice. I would recommend refrigerating your flavors, even though you don't have to, to slow down how fast they melt the shave ice. The other accessories are fun and would be great for a party, but I think reusable cone cups would be a better solution for day to day snacking.

Overall, I am very happy with this purchase. The machine works well and isn't outlandishly loud (quieter with ice molds), and can turn out a full cone of shaved ice in under 30 seconds. The texture isn't what I experienced in Hawaii at the famous Waiola Shave Ice, but for the money, this is pretty close.

Tasty Tip: Place a ball of ice cream in a bowl and cover it with shave ice and syrup for a twist on this delicious treat.

MY 12 year old son asked for an electric sno-cone maker for Christmas. After comparing pricing, and features on many sites I found this to be the best fit. If you are looking for a fast way to crank out a cool treat in just a few minutes this is the thing for you. I wouldn't suggest this for heavy use as it looks like the shaving blade will eventually wear down. This is perfect for a small family. It includes a set of two plastic round containers that need to be simply filled with water and frozen. You then insert one into the top and place the cover on and press down. I love that I don't have to spend the energy or time to hand crank the ice. I also love that this set included everything we needed to get stared. After a quick wash, we where enjoying sno-cones within 5 minutes! I have seen many other options in the electric range but none at such a great price! Just be prepared..it can be a little loud, as long as you aren't making sno-cones around sleeping people or at 2am you should be fine. Enjoy!

I've spent quite some time looking online for a good snow cone machine. I wanted a snow cone machine that just works and provides fine shaved ice quality that actually absorbs the flavors. After looking through the mixed reviews of several options found on Amazon, I decided to just go with this option and hope for the best. Fortunately, this snow cone machine works well and is exactly what I was looking for.

Operating the machine is simple - load ice into the machine, put the lid on and firmly press down to get shaved ice. Inside the machine is just a single blade at the bottom with a narrow slit for the shaved ice to fall through. Inside the lid is a metal plate that spins whenever you press the button on top of the lid. This metal plate is supposed to spin the ice inside the machine while you apply pressure down on the ice so that the blade can shave it thus giving you a snow cone. This package comes with 2 ice molds to create ice that looks like hockey pucks, which works the best in getting very fine snow-flake-textured ice. I was also able to use regular ice chunks like the ones you get from a bag of ice, but the hockey pucks work the best. One hockey puck of ice can probably make at least 6 snow cones. However, the moon-shaped ice cubes from my refrigerator do not work well since they just spin around while completely avoiding the blade. The blade is very sharp, but the machine is safe since the lid completely covers the ice-shaving action.

The ice is so fine that some of it melts as soon as you pour on the flavored syrups. I recommend compacting the shaved ice with a straw or spoon before adding the syrup. Since the ice is so fine, it is perfect for absorbing the flavored syrup and makes for a tasty and refreshing snow cone. After familiarizing myself with the machine, I was able to fill up a snow cone cup and a little over the top in less than a minute. My favorite flavor by far is grape, but the cherry and blue raspberry flavors are good too.

This machine works great, just make sure and use the provided ice forms when you shave ice. My kids love it!

I had strong cravings for sno cones so decided to buy my own sno cone machine. Narrowed my search down to two, this one the hawiian and the second one the Hamilton. I bought both. My favorite and the one I use the very most is the HAMILTON it is awesome it makes the sno cones automatically, this one here you have to work it manually but it puts out good ice. Both are the same price if you were to buy the hawiian one alone with out the flavors. My choice hands down is the Hamilton. The Hamilton has a cleaner design and more professional look as well.

We were planning to rent a snow cone machine for our daughter's birthday but decided to purchase this unit instead. It is sturdy, easy to use and delivers a flavorful shaved ice treat that is much better than the chunky traditional snow cones. It was a big hit with kids and grown-ups alike and I anticipate we'll be putting it to good use this summer!

My mother and I purchased this machine for our annual family reunions. Our family was delighted as it was ridiculously hot that day!
We practiced making the shaved ice beforehand.
I took charge of shaving the ice at the reunion. Here are the pros and cons, tips and my general opinion.
Pros
1. The quality of the ice was very nice. Much better than just crushed.
2. The machine is simple in design. You push down on a block of ice while a single blade rotates to shave the ice into a cup.
3. Held up well. It didn't seem to mind us making 30 servings in a row.

Cons
1. You MUST use the containers that are included to preform your ice for shaving. You cannot use ice cubes at all. My mother used some Smart Spin containers to suppliment our ice making and they didn't work as well, but they were not a total waste either.
2. A good 15 percent of your ice block will not shave. You have to dump the machine upside down to remove it so you can add another block. Adding another block of ice on top of it does NOT work. When you push down on the top of the machine to shave the ice, the top holds the ice block in place so the rotating blade can shave it. When there are different layers of ice, the bottom layer just spins around with the blade and nothing is shaved.
3. There is no place for storing shaved ice. This is not unusual. In Hawaii they shaved the ice after placing your order.
4. It is too short to overfill the cup with ice. It will only fill to just over the edge of the included paper cones.

TIPS:
1. Find a utensil for removing the ice block easily before putting it into heavy usage.
2. Have another cone or rounded cup ready after filling the cone cup with shaved ice as much as you can. Fill the other cone or rounded cup with ice and turn it upside down on top of the paper cone. It looks much nicer!
3. Make some of your own syrups. My mother make a wonderful pink lemonade flavor with Kool-Aid. It was very easy.
4. Refridgerate your syrups or they will melt a good portion of your ice when you add it to your cone. If you are going to be outdoors in the heat, keep them in a small handy cooler with ice. We chilled ours beforehand, but they warmed up quickly.
5. Keep paper towels or real towels handy to clean up the mess (water) as you go.

We are pretty happy with our purchase, but wish it had cost a little less. My kids LOVED it and wanted it to come home with us (we live 700 miles away).

Our daughter received this Christmas of 2010 so we've only had it two weeks. We've used it on four separate occasions and have had no problems yet. We have not used the ice cups, but rather our own moon-shaped ice cubes from the auto-ice maker in the fridge and they've worked just fine. The ice is almost like snow on the finest setting so we use a coarser setting that produces snow-cones.

My kids and I are having a blast with this.

My 4-yr. old saw an advertisement for one of these machines somewhere and got it into her head that she was getting one for Christmas--kept telling everyone she met, "I'm getting a Sno-Cone maker!" So, of course, I had to find one. I was so afraid it would end up being a piece of junk that wouldn't work and would disappoint her. Fortunately, that's not the case. It works great!

We've only tried it with the included ice molds (not with cubes from our freezer). One ice mold makes 3 nice-sized, packed-down cones. It's fast (only takes about 30 seconds to fill a cone), not overly noisy, and simple to use. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to set it up and make it work, but once we got going, it was a cinch. My only concern is that eventually the blade that shaves the ice will dull and I'm not sure if there are replacements. I guess I should check that out...

Oh, and don't forget to put your syrups in the fridge ahead of time so they're nice and cold and won't melt your "snow" when you're ready to use them.

Overall, I would buy this product. The only two substantial comments I have are: 1) it's really important to let the ice pucks melt a bit before using them or the motor spins and no shaving occurs and 2) the Hawaiian Ice syrups aren't that wonderful and do NOT taste like the ones from the stands on street corners. That's all! :)