Customer Reviews

Total Chef FT02-G-2X Double Treat Ice cream Maker

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

 

 

It's inexpensive, doesn't have to be plugged in and doesn't need ice or salt--three things plenty of folks are looking for in an ice-cream maker!

The ice cream turns out pretty good (if you use a good recipe!), and it is just the right amount of ice cream for 2-4 people after dinner--just start it about 4 hours before! Also, since it's such a small amount of ice cream, you don't have to worry about hard-to-find additives that will make it still "scoopable" the next day--it will be eaten by then!

It cleans up easily, as long as you don't overfill the cups and rubberband the top on so it doesn't slip.

IT'S STILL CHEAP, THOUGH. I use mine a couple of times a week, and it definitely shows some wear (gears slip occaisionally). In my case, having this machine for a few months has convinced me that I WILL make ice cream often, and therefore a heavy-duty machine will be cost-effective for me.

But for people who will only use the machine a few times a month and are on a budget, this ice-cream maker is ideal!

This ice cream maker takes AA batteries and your refrigerator's freezer to work. It takes 4-5 hours for it to complete the ice cream. The results? Two scoops of creamy tasty ice cream. If you are willing to wait so long for so little reward, this ice cream maker is well worth it.

I've used this unit 3 times now with unsatisfactory results each time. Long before the 4-5 hours specified in the manual were up, the motor -- which is only driven by 4 AA batteriess after all -- stopped having enough oomph to stir the thickening liquid. And if you patiently wait for the alotted time to expire like I did at first, trusting that it was sitting in your freezer working as it should, you end up with a very solid, very un-ice-cream-like lump of frozen crystalized cream.

I had slightly better results by checking on it after a few hours and manually stirring a bit to break up the biggest clumps and get the blades going again, but it still wasn't what I would call a good experience.

I regret purchasing this thing, and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I Purchased this back in December and still haven't been able to get this to work correctly. Sure, the Ice cream maker will mix up everything when the "PRE" button is pressed, but we were not able to get the "pro" (only other button on the device) to work. What the "PRO" button is supposed to do is mix the ice cream mixture in the bowls at regular intervals while the device is in the freezer -this way you won't end up with a frozen block of whatever it is that your making while it is freezing.
Wish I could say that this device did that - nope, the button light would be lit, indicating that it was ready to do it's job, but each and every time the ice cream maker was put in the freezer - the "ice cream" would end up never having been mixed, just one solid, frozen mass. We've tried "fresh" batteries and still no luck with seeing any attempt by the machine to even try to mix anything after the "pro" button was set. Opening up the device to see what might be the problem didn't offer any clues other than the insides are pretty basic and the circuit board made by cnnbst (?) is another cheap, useless product from China (why expect quality?). Anyway, save our money or think about spending it on something else that actually works. Even if you are lucky enough to get this thing to work, don't expect it to last long. Wish I could rate this less than I did since I can't get my money back or the time I wasted trying it.

I think this is a great idea and it works...sort of. It is battery operated and anyone that lives in a cold climate will tell you bateries don't like to work in the cold. Batteries also don't last long in the cold. The ice cream maker has a spot to plug in a 6v AC adapter but it doesn't come with one! Luckily I found one at Goodwill and now it works much better. So if you are going to buy this make sure you buy a 6v AC adapter to go with it.

The mixing blades are made out of the cheapest plastic imaginable and they broke simply assembling the unit. Do yourself a favor and throw your money on a fire instead.