Whynter Ice Cream Maker Machine Automatic 2.1 Qt. Upright with Built-In Compressor, LCD Digital Display & Timer, No Pre-Freezing, ICM-201SB, Stainless Steel

I've had mine for a couple of weeks too, and I think it's fantastic. A couple of things- -- I know it shows in the manual that the mixture should not go above these things on each side of the churner, BUT I found it better be a half inch BELOW that. It still gets on the underside of the plastic cover as it churns, but then at least it keeps the mix a bit lower and stops any chance of overflowing the bowl. I actually think it wouldn't matter anyway as the bowl seems to sit in a pretty tightly gasketed ring, so maybe I'm being overly cautious. Either way, I'm still quite happy to get 2 Qts (4 pints) of really good ice cream instead of the 2.5 Qts it claims to make. To get the most actual ice cream out of it, add any mix-ins (choco chips, nuts etc) into it AFTER it has finished freeze churning. When it's done churning, it is soft serve consistency... so I turn it out into a big bowl, THEN I mix in the mix ins (gently so as not to incorporate a lot of ice crystal forming air into it). Then I pack it in pint containers tightly, (using the handy plastic flat spatula thing that came with the machine), cover with a circle of parchment paper against the top of the ice cream, and put them all away in the freezer at least overnight. --- If your ingredients are cold (should not be frozen) when they go into the churn bowl, it can take substantially less time than the 60 minute timer is set to default for. If you come back in 60 minutes and the machine is not still churning, it has probably stopped churning and already gone into 'just chill' mode. This will make it more difficult to get the churn bowl out. That plastic spatula thing that comes with the machine is handy here. First try to hold the handle on both sides of the bowl close to the bowl's top (instead of at the top of the handle) at both of the handle's hinges. Try to pull straight up wiggling a tiny bit. If your churning stopped minutes before and it went into keep cold mode, that bowl will be really tightly held to the frozen sides of the machine. Take the flat spatula thing and (GENTLY) put it between the very top of the bowl and the side of the machine it's against (BUT ONLY about 1/4 inch down!!) and move it back and forth. It will sort of break a vacuum hold. Do it 4 or 5 more times in different places around the bowl and then try again to pull it up. Just be careful not to jam that thing down too far or back and forth to hard. This has always worked for me with no apparent damage to anything. Most of my ice cream recipes include 2 TBS of some kind of liqueur (raspberry, hazelnut, coffee, cherry etc) which will help it from getting so rock hard. It shouldn't be added until the last few minutes of churning, as it can affect the freezing too early) OR after churning and after it's gone into another bowl to add mix ins to, before packing (my preferred method). Commercial ice cream has up to 25 percent more air whipped into it- more money for the manufacturers for less actual product- which makes it more 'fluffy' and also less hard in storage. You can leave the liqueur out of course- either way your homemade will be more dense (more flavorful if you ask me). As to the hardness- 2 things can help- keep it in a freezer that's part of your fridge as opposed to an upright or chest type freezer. Or.... don't worry about any of it, and just leave the pint out on the kitchen counter to soften a tad, for 10 minutes, before you dig in. OR dig it out when rock hard, put in a bowl and microwave for 10 seconds or so. You really can't go too wrong, right? The very few recipes that come with the machine (in the manual) are pretty useless to me (for the egg reason). I went on their web site but couldn't even find any there. I got 5 books from Amazon for ice cream recipes (and sorbets, sherbets, etc). Since I make egg free ice creams only (since 'custard-style' recipes are WAY TOO MUCH work with the cooking and tempering the eggs with the dairy), I have found only one book that has more great egg free (also known as 'Philadelphia style') recipes. That was the 'Perfect Scoop' by David Lebovitz. Very nice book, great recipes, great photos. A favorite recent recipe I made was Peach, Vanilla, Pecan ice cream- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk; 1 pint (16 oz) of half and half; 3 cups of uncooked peach puree made from unpeeled (but washed), pitted & chopped peaches pureed in a bowl using an immersion blender; 1 TBS vanilla; 2 TBS raspberry liqueur (added along with the nuts AFTER it came out of the churning bowl into another bowl before packing); 1 cup chopped pecans. I'm sorry to say I don't remember how much this made (ounce wise), or whether I might have also added al cup of whole milk to it also. But the combo of sweetened condensed milk, half and half and whole milk is a great EASY way to get ice cream fast. For chocolate= instead of the peaches- add 4-5 TBS dutch process (dark, european-style) cocoa and 1/4 cup of hersheys syrup, with 2 teaspoons of vanilla, to the dairy combo. Instead of nuts, add in (after freezing & churning and turning out into another bowl) 1/2 to a cup of mini chocolate chips and instead of raspberry liqueur add 2 TBS of Kalua (coffee liqueur) either a few minutes at the end of churning, or with the chips. Don't be afraid to TASTE the mix before you freeze/churn it!! There are no eggs so it's safe to taste- it can then be most to your liking (less vanilla etc). I must say this taller machine fits much better in my kitchen than the wider would. It is quite heavy (as all compressor machines are), so it's not something you want to put on a lower shelf to pull up to the counter to use. But all summer long, this sucker will be sitting on my counter and will be keeping me in ice cream heaven. It appears to be well made, quiet enough when in use, easy to clean, easy to use and I only need to make 16 batches of 4 pints each to pay for itself (our favorite was 5$ a pint before). I think this machine will have no trouble managing that (certainly better than my husband and I can manage eating it all- so it's been a great summer gift to friends !!)

It took me a couple of years to decide on buying the machine and I wish I hadn't hesitated for so long. I've made multiple batches of ice cream since receiving it and they've all been delicious and creamy. Everything from standard chocolate gelato to vanilla, banana butter pecan, peach and pistachio. I'm looking forward to summer for cantaloupe or lemon sorbet. More flavors to follow I'm sure. I'm allergic to soy and almost all commercial ice cream makers use gums derived from soy or guar gum which is a close relative of soy and can cause digestive issues. Now that I have my own machine I have total control over the ingredients so I can safely eat ice cream made with fresh organic ingredients , soy and gum free. My family has been thrilled with the ice cream too. The machine is small enough to store in the pantry and move to the counter when needed, it runs quietly and finishes in an hour or less. On top of that it's very easy to clean, I can't ask for more. I found Wynter's customer service to be excellent. When I first got the machine I had a small issue. I contacted the company asking for advice and spoke with a very nice and knowledgeable woman who resolved my issue immediately. No fuss no muss.

I am having a ball using this machine. I've had a freezer bowl ice cream maker before and switching to a compressor ice cream machine has been a great decision. it is easy to use and it makes just enough ice cream. And if it isn't enough ice cream, I can make more a few minutes later. The machine doesn't take up a lot of space. It will shut off if the motor is running for too long (making 2-3 batches consecutively, for instance) to avoid overheating. It also shuts off when the ice cream gets too thick for the dasher. this happened to me and it didn't take long to cool down. I am grateful for this feature as i haven't yet figured out how long to churn a particular recipe. I don't worry about damaging the machine. This ice cream maker is well made. it looks great. The mixer bowl is solid. it has a chill feature. It feels durable and it's not loud. You get about 2 and a half Ben & Jerry pints out of it. I've only made custard ice cream so far. I have no regrets. Basic custard ice cream recipe 5 egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup full fat milk, dash of salt,1 T vanilla. Adjust to your liking (I like to add an additional 1/2 cup milk). You can find full instructions on YouTube. I suggest a thermometer to help with tempering and cooking the eggs. Don't worry, it's easy. Enjoy!

Wow. Just wow. This thing is incredible. Every ice cream we’ve made has been more delicious than store bought and excellent texture. I am so incredibly impressed and would 1,000% purchase again. As long as you have storage space for it, get it. That is the only reason I’d hesitate in that it IS big. But it’s worth it. The compressor does a good job. If you want true ice cream texture you will want to freeze the ice cream in the freezer probably overnight. You can certainly eat right away but it’s a softer texture. We made fresh peach froyo and did eat that one right away. Amazing. It was even better the next day when it was a bit firmer. But if you’re think g store bought ice cream texture, it does not come out of the machine like that so plan ahead. Also, but containers. You’re going to want to make all kinds of things and maybe even gift some. But a pack of disposable pint containers so you can share your creations with grandma or the neighbor. You’ll be so impressed that you’ll want everyone to try it. So far my favorite was the peach froyo and the Lucky Charms marshmallow ice cream. OMG. Divine. I bought it to try some protein ice creams and haven’t done that yet because we’re having too much fun with it to get healthy yet. Also, it’s a great way to use up your about-to-rot fruit. Almost dead bananas? Make banana ice cream! Too soft to eat peaches? Peach ice cream. This is one appliance you’ll wish you’d bought sooner.

Great machine. Cleans up very easily and quickly. In less than a minute your set up and making delicious ice cream or sorbet ( or both!!). Be careful not to overfill, as the ice cream expands when freezing. Great consistency when finished, although it needs to be frozen longer in the freezer for hard ice cream. So fun! Highly recommended.

Love the results using this ice cream maker! It is efficient, and really did do a good job mixing and freezing my ingredients. The result was ice cream with a really good mouth-feel and consistency. My only negative is that it is rather noisy. QUITE loud, actually. I had to turn music up to tolerate the noise for the hour that it was running. Other than that, not a terrific value, a bit on the pricey side… which is completely unjustified considering the racket it makes while running. I have icemakers that don’t even make that much noise 😬 I think 3.75 stars is more accurate, but we’ll go with 4 because 3 is not really fair. Not certain yet if I would buy it again, haven’t used it enough to justify.

It’s very impressive, with all stainless body and churning bucket, and fits easily onto my counter that has cabinets above it. I never measured so I was a bit relieved that is wasn’t as big as it seemed than the low profile designs. Easiest controls and operation of any appliance on my kitchen including the coffee maker and microwave!! Wow. With short freezing times, it’s almost fresh ice cream every night. Less than an hour. Not loud either. I’m very excited and happy with this.

We had a "freezer bowl" style ice cream maker for 10 - 15 years. We used it a lot. We did the whole "science it" thing to determine exactly what ice cream base we thought was best. We had fun riffing off of flavor combos that we liked (coconut chocolate chip and peppermint candy cane chocolate chip being our favorites). We enjoyed it so much that after a while I got it in my head that I wanted to upgrade. Why? Sometimes, we forgot to put the bowl in the freezer. Or I wanted to make more batches at a time (note: you can always buy a 2nd freezer bowl, if you have the space in the freezer). In the end, we enjoyed making it enough that we thought it was worth the splurge on the chance that the quality of ice cream will be better. So, I sat on this idea for about a year. It is just the way we work - we are not impulsive. I did my research, learned about compressor models, and focused on this one. Then I pulled the trigger a few weeks ago. Enough background, here are my thoughts: 1. Using the exact same recipes, the ice cream is an upgrade. It isn't night and day or anything. But it is definitely there. The ice cream is just ... creamier. Say like a 10 – 20% improvement. 2. The thing is stupid easy to use, at least for ice cream (I haven't tried the other features yet). Make your mix, dump it in, press start. That is it. 3. Cleaning is relatively easy. The parts are not dishwasher safe, which is a bummer. And when you hand wash you cannot just rinse things off - the fat content won't let you get away with that. But everything comes out pretty easily and it isn't too much of a chore to get them cleaned up. Oh, and it is possible to overfill the bowl, in which case the mixture runs down into the freezer chamber in which the bowl sits. Not a big deal, but you do have to wait until the freezer chamber warms up to clean it properly. 4. Coming from a freezer bowl model, the bowl looks very small at first. I did worry that there was no way that thing was going to hold a full batch. But relax, it still makes the same amount of ice cream. 5. I find the timer kind of strange. I mean, it is really easy to read - it starts at 60 minutes and counts down. Simple. But I haven't figured out why it counts down from 60 minutes. The ice cream is usually ready w/in say 35 – 40 minutes. I guess the extra time is so that it can firm up a little bit more (even after the dasher stops moving, the machine keeps freezing the ice cream). 6. There is also not any sort of indicator that the ice cream is ready for mix-ins (nuts or chips or whatever). And if you put it in too early, it falls to the bottom and jams up the dasher. I have figured out – wait until between the 30 – 35 minute mark. At that point the mixture will look like ice cream. Do not put in mix ins until the ice cream looks like that. Also, do not wait too long because when the ice cream starts to get too stiff the dasher will stop turning. At that point, you will have to put in the mix ins manually when you move the ice cream to its container. Not the end of the world, but not as easy as letting the machine do it either. 7. I do find the clear lid kind of finicky to close. You have to put it on and twist it but it usually takes me several tries to get it lined up correctly. Maybe there is a trick I haven’t figured out yet. 8. If you let the machine run to the end of the 60 minute timer, the ice cream is firmer than it is as the end of a cycle in a freezer bowl machine. It is still soft – I wouldn’t immediately scoop it and put it on a cone – but it is firmer. But the question is: since a freezer bowl machine is done in about 30ish minutes, would that ice cream be just as firm after 30 minutes in the freezer? I am not sure. Bottom line: Do I like it? Yes. Do I regret buying it? Nope. Do I think it is for everybody? Nope. You have to really enjoy making ice cream to spring this much on a machine and have one of these things on your countertop. If you are just dipping your toes in or think you will just make it once every few months, go for a freezer bowl machine. If you fall in love with it like we did, you can save up and buy one of these.