Andrew James Premium Ice Cream Maker | Fully Automatic Professional Electric Machine with Compressor | Make Soft Ice Cream Gelato Frozen Yoghurt & Sorbet in as Little as 60 Minutes

i don't usually write reviews but thought that I should with this because I am so impressed with the product. I previously had a Magimix Gelato Chef 2200 which made excellent ice cream for a while but was not a good design and easily broke. i had two motors and after 4 years I eventually threw it away when so much of it was broken and the freezer no longer worked. i deliberated for several months before purchasing the Andrew James and was very tempted by the Sage ice cream maker. But at around £300 I couldn't bring myself to buy it, especially as it was only 1 litre. I eventually settled on the Andrew James and am so glad that I did. The instructions did not tell me to put the machine in place and then wait several hours before switching it on but I did anyway because you always do that with fridges and freezers. if you don't the refrigerant doesn't settle and from then on it will be inefficient. So I put temptation aside and waited overnight before trying. I cooled the ice cream maker for 10 minutes prior to putting in my chilled mix and was away. I have now made several batches of ice creams and sorbets in under half an hour each. My only failure - which was still quite edible, was when I chilled the machine for 20 minutes and put a small amount of mixture in. It froze too quickly around the sides and because I didn't have sufficient mix it was too solid and had to be scraped off of the sides. Other than that it is incredibly quick and efficient. The larger size means that everyone gets a sufficient amount too. I now only set the timer for 30 minutes and usually my ice cream is done before that. It is still quite soft, like a whippy, but that is the same for most machines. it was when the the magimix was performing at its best when it was new. A couple of hours in the freezer and it is perfect.The machine itself is robust. Because the paddle is driven from below it is much stronger than the gelato chef. I don't hesitate to empty one lot of ice cream out, give it a quick wash and put another lot in to churn. You have to make sure that the container is quite dry before you re-insert it or it will be difficult to remove when the ice cream is made. An alternative is to put a little alcohol or salt between the inner bucket and the outer container.The paddle is quite fiddly to get the ice cream off but that is my only niggle with it. And that is only a very small point.I have read a lot of the other reviews and many seem to be referring to the previous model which was smaller and more complicated. This machine is quite different. Simple to use, simple to clean and easy to put together.At about half the price of the Sage i really can't see why anyone would buy anything else. It is a far superior machine to the magimix and much cheaper than that too. It really is a good buy and if you want a simple to use ice cream maker that isn't going to break the bank then buy this one.

For several years I made ice-cream using one of the "put the container in the freezer for 24 hours first" products. It worked Ok but was a bit of a pain. However, it allowed me to experiment with recipes etc. I then decided to invest in an automatic maker. What a difference! It's moving from the Iron Age into Civilisation. This is smooth, quiet, efficient and makes an excellent end product. It is easy to use and easy to clean. The recipe book that came with it provides some interesting ideas- though I would recommend buying a number of books in order to get a flavour (sorry!) of what you can do in terms of taste, texture etc. There is no hassle at all with this ice-cream maker: no bother with barriers between machine and container; no intrusive noise; no fiddly bits to clean; nothing to leave in the freezer overnight. Just mix your ingredients, pour into the machine, switch on and set the timer- and try not to forget it. After the timer has alerted you, remove the inner pot and there is your ice-cream...all ready to serve, or to put in a container in your home freezer. Wash the inner pot, reassemble machine, make up the next batch and well within an hour (maximum) you have another flavour ready too! What used to take me a week- making several varieties- can now be done in an afternoon.It is quite large so a small kitchen might not be ideal- though you could work around that one. It's definitely value for money. And the after sales service from Andrew James was- in my experience- first class. (The motor rattled...even though it worked OK. I phoned them & was sent a replacement first class mail without any bother.)I just wish I'd bought one of these sooner. It's going to be a fun summer using.....Andrew James Professional Fully Automatic Ice Cream Maker With Built-in Compressor + Free 128 Page Ice Cream Maker Cook Book