2 Responses to “Hamilton Beach Half Pint Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker, Pistachio”

1. wendy says:

   July 4, 2011 at 3:59 pm

   90 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

   
   My research paid off, October 27, 2010

   By 

   wendy (Manitoba) –

   This review is from: Hamilton Beach Half Pint Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker, Blueberry (Kitchen)

   I really love this little ice cream maker. I live alone, but often have an extra for dinner, and this is perfect. I had a larger one from when my kids were all at home, and when it died, I knew I wanted a way to make small batches. Homemade ice cream does not store well. I searched for a long time before I made my decision.

   This little one is perfect, and it works like a charm. I keep both bowls in the freezer, so I can make two different flavors if I choose. I can’t understand how anyone could claim it is hard to clean. The paddle and lid pop apart easily, and into the dishwasher. The freezer bowls take a swish of hot water, dry them and back into the freezer.

   Most important — it works. I make my own yogurt, and easily make frozen yogurt in minutes with no strange ingredients. I set it running while we eat — usually takes about 10 minutes. I hop up to take the paddle out, and let it sit until we are ready for dessert. A quick stir, and it is perfect consistency. You can make up to 12 oz in one bowl — perfect for two people. I especially love that it works equally well when I am making just a tiny amount for just me. If you love to experiment with exotic flavors that may be wonderful or awful (or expensive), you can make tiny batches to perfect your recipe.

   I’ve been making ice cream for over 20 years, and I am having more fun than I ever did with my big machine. Easy to use, easy to clean, easy to store, makes great ice cream, and is as cute as can be — what’s not to love.

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2. Teresa says:

   July 4, 2011 at 4:20 pm

   42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

   
   Easy and fun!, November 11, 2010

   By 

   Teresa (Everett, WA) –

   This review is from: Hamilton Beach Half Pint Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker, Pistachio (Kitchen)

   My husband and I have used this little guy a few times now and it couldn’t be easier. The directions are really simple (almost annoyingly so) and include pictures for every step. There aren’t really a lot of steps. You freeze the little bowls for at least 12 hours, mix up some ice cream mix (recipes included – takes about 4 ingredients,) pour 6-12 oz of the mix in the bowl, put the little lid on – it’s kind of ribbed so it will stay put while it churns, then turn it on. And then you wait a few minutes and you have soft serve ice cream.

   Clean up couldn’t be easier. Since it’s ice cream it just rinses off with hot water. You can’t submerge the motor, you just wipe that off, the paddle detaches and can be rinsed off. If you do it right away, dripping isn’t a problem getting it to the sink, even if you’re on the other side of the kitchen.

   As for the consistency of the ice cream, you just have to figure that one out for yourself. You can get anywhere from milkshake to regular soft serve. If you want it harder than that, just put it in the freezer for a while.

   I did find their recipe for chocolate ice cream to be a bit grainy and way too chocolaty. But the next day the graininess was gone as everything had had a chance to dissolve. I then mixed it 3:1 with the vanilla ice cream mix to cut down the chocolate and it was perfect. Also, they suggest that to make frozen yogurt you can just put in a container of yogurt. That tasted just like… yogurt. It won’t be TCBY by any means. I won’t try that a second time.

   As for the ice cream sticking to the side of the bowl. This is how these ice cream makers work. The bowl is frozen, the side of the bowl freezes your ingredients. Naturally the ice cream on the wall of the bowl is going to be the coldest. Wait a few minutes and the ice cream peels off the walls easily with a spatula. No big deal and it makes some pretty ice cream curls.

   This is my third ice cream maker, my second of this style – where you freeze the bowl. This is by far the most fun and easiest of them all. Just make sure your ingredients are very cold and your bowls are very frozen (24 hours in the freezer is best.)

   It’s nice to be able to mix up two different bowls of ice cream and have it be ready so quickly. In the past we always had to compromise, as we have one chocolate lover and one not-so-chocolate lover.

   All in all, it’s a fun and simple machine. Now I just need a couple of extra bowls!

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