Donvier 837450 Manual Ice Cream Maker, 1-Quart, White

I had been researching all kinds of ice cream makers from electric, to compressor style. We used to have a donvier ice cream maker years ago, worked very well, and made great ice cream. Was so excited to see that donvier is still made.When it arrived, I put the canister into the freezer in my frig. Wrapped canister in plastic bag first, to make it easier to handle.Let canister freeze overnight, then made a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream base sweetened with stevia. I remembered from the past that the tricky part was putting the rubber gasket/seal on the canister, so soaked the gasket briefly in some hot water to warm it up so it would be more flexible, then was able to pop the gasket right onto the canister with no problem, poured in about 1 qt of my ice cream base which I had chilled overnite in frig.And away we go! Turned handle several times, let ice cream maker sit 3-4 min, then turned again, repeated. After about 15 - 20 min, ice cream was at a nice soft serve consistency.Turned ice cream out into a glass dish, added homemade blackberry sauce, and swirled the sauce through the ice cream. Scooped this all into a carton, popped on lid, and into the freezer it went. Absolutely delicious vanilla blackberry swirl ice cream.I still had quite a bit of ice cream base left over, which I stored in frig. Next day, I strained a quart of unflavored, unsweetened nonfat yogurt, through a sieve to remove liquid, then blended the yogurt with remaining ice cream base. Added frozen thawed strawberries, mashed and sweetened lightly with stevia to the yogurt/ice cream base. Again, the little donvier turned out fabulous strawberry yogurt ice cream.And here's the best part: After the first batch of the yogurt ice cream, I still had about 3/4 qt of base left. Scooped out the first batch of yogurt ice cream into carton. Poured remainder of base into donvier, and wondered if it would make another batch back to back, with no return of the canister to freezer. It worked! Took a little longer this time, about 25 - 30 min or so, to turn into a nice med/soft ice cream. This is the most amazing little machine. Love that it doesn’t require electricity, very few parts, easy to clean, easy to make. I store the canister in the freezer so it is always ready to go. So glad I purchased this.

I love this ice cream maker almost as much as the ice cream it makes. I have been following a low carb diet for six months now and with this machine I can have ice cream every day and still lose weight. I usually use the recipe for basic vanilla ice cream in the book that comes with it, substituting stevia for sugar. One cup of ice cream has about 10 grams of carbs done like this, so I can fit it into my diet. Sugar free store bought ice cream can't come close to that carb wise. A cup of my home made ice cream does have a lot of calories however, which is good for me since I often have trouble getting enough calories and fat in my diet. I've lost 30 lbs since going on the low carb diet, and 10 of those pounds came off since I started eating ice cream every day for the last six weeks. I store the excess ice cream in 1/2 cup containers, so I can choose to eat 1/2 cup or more of the ice cream in the evening, depending on my carb count for the day.I did have one problem with this ice cream maker that I have now resolved. As it turns out, my deep freeze ice chest was set to as cold as it would go. I don't have a thermometer in there, but zero is in the middle of the dial. The freezer bucket for the Donvier was getting so cold that it was very difficult to get that first turn of the handle. The paddle would distort and pop off of the peg in the bottom of the freezer bowl. Since I turned the temperature control on the freezer down to just below zero, making ice cream is now fun and rewarding.

I ordered one for myself and one for my son. Mine was fine but his looked like it had been used. It did not look brand new.

I had a Donvier that I got as a wedding gift 40 years ago, I had lost the rubber ring and was unable to replace it so I purchased a new one. I use it every week to make ice cream, it is quick and easy and the ice cream is far better than anything yo will purchase in the store. My son took the my old one and uses it with out the plastic seal!!

Returning this obviously used and broken, overpriced ice cream maker. The box was undamaged and the box it was shipped inside of was also undamaged but the clear plastic lid is cracked in two places, the plastic rim on the base also has a small piece chipped off and the rubber seal will not fit properly. I might have accepted it's condition had I paid a lot less for it but for nearly $100 I expect superior quality.

Wow! I first read about the Donvier manual ice cream maker in Linda Watson's book "Wildly Affordable Organic," (which I also recommend). I wanted to get one, but frankly, I didn't want to spend the money. I was also slightly leery. I had an ice cream maker before that was a real pain. It was electric and had to be packed with rock salt. The motor rivaled a plane at take-off - - I had to put it out in the car port, where it ground away for an hour, probably bothering the neighbors. I ended up using it very seldom and finally gave it away.But finally, after searching in vain for ice cream that didn't have guar gum and other weird ingredients, I decided to break down and try an ice cream maker again. Time to invest in the Donvier.Are we impressed! We have enjoyed making our own concoctions - like strawberry-pretzel and maple-walnut. Next up will be flavors from my childhood in Brazil - avocado and dried plum. The Donvier is amazingly easy to use. We like the low-tech (non-electric) set-up, with no special ingredients or supplies needed. I honestly cannot see myself buying ice cream from the store again. Thank you, Donvier, and thanks to Linda Watson, without whom I would not have heard of this great product. My only concern is what seems like a flimsy plastic crank. I wish it was metal so I didn't worry it breaking. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, we'll be enjoying our homemade ice cream. What to make next? Cranberry? Sweet potato?