Automatic At-Home Soft Serve Ice Cream Machine Makes Batches of 35 Ounces Perfect for Soft Serve Ice Cream, Slush Drinks, Milk Shakes and More

The unit arrived package well in custom cut foam. Since the machine was delivered on its side, I followed the instructions allowing the machine to sit upright for 24 hours before power up. The machine is rather heavy but I expected this after reading the specifications prior to buying the machine in the first place. The weight (~45 pounds) could be a sign of quality in some cases. I know it gets cold very fast. After some use, I purchased a nifty cart with wheels from Amazon that I call the ice cream cart. The outside of the machine is made of very shiny plastic. After use, any sticky residue seems to easily wipe away with a wet sponge or cloth. I may have preferred a stainless steel exterior but I’m not willing to pay hundreds of dollars more for stainless. That said, I’m perfectly happy with the white plastic which is more dent resistant than stainless anyway. The seams look straight and the exterior fit appears well done. To me, the machine looks nice and resembles a traditional, high priced, soft ice cream machine. This is good and bad. Children recognize the machine right away. If they see it, they want ice cream right away whether you have the ingredients or not. The power cord is a hefty three prong version at a good length of about 4 feet. Where is the power switch? Why would someone put a power switch on the bottom? Then it occurred to me that sticky liquids are poured into the top of the machine. Spills could quickly find their way to the switch and add difficulty in cleaning not to mention a potential electrical issue if the switch was not 100% waterproof. This placement could also make manufacturing easier. The switch remains clean and dry. There is no problem getting to the switch as long as you know where it is. The machine’s feet keep it high and dry. The funnel is made of the same slippery material which makes cleaning easy. When most funnels fill up, they tend to gurgle and spit out small bits of liquid when the air escapes. This machine has a baffle where the funnel fits to allow air to escape while you are filling the machine. No spitting or gurgling. This is another thoughtful design feature. There is a dispense sensor just under the spout that turns on the churn motor anticipating the user’s intention to dispense ice cream. It’s the little black square in the photos. If you are using a glass dish, you may need to rotate your hand and block the window to turn on the motor. This is easy once you know about it. The dispense sensor window has a lip over it. Drips, if any, just go around the window to prevent blocking it. That’s thoughtful. This machine is rather loud when the churn is running. I expected this as I have used other motorized churning machines. It’s a machine, it’s a churn, and it needs to be strong. It’s going to make some noise. I was worried about how much ice cream would be wasted in the mechanism when you are done. I took a couple photos of what is left in the machine, not much. A couple of teaspoons maybe. This is pretty good. If you watch some of the videos, cleaning really is that easy. While the instructions say parts are dish washer friendly, I always wash the parts wash by hand. The rinse function gets nearly everything out. Then I take it apart and clean the parts with soapy water. Margarine does make a good lubricant for the seals. I clean the seals carefully as well. The 3 seals look like good quality silicone. My machine came with a couple of tube brushes to help if needed. I have used the machine about 7 times so far. I’ve mixed homemade recipes from the machine’s website as well as the free mixes that come with the machine. It comes with a pretty wide variety of common flavors with double doses of the typical favorites. I’ve started experimenting with my own homemade flavors. That will take some trial and error. It helps to read up on soft serve ice cream. Things like dry milk, fat content, and natural thickeners can really improve the texture. Follow the instructions and go back to a known recipe if you need practice. The vanilla recipe from the website is very good. I’m going to try others as well. When I bought this machine, reviews were sparse. I felt I was taking some risk but now I’m pretty happy with the purchase. I hope this review is helpful.

Update: Anyhow, this story actually gets worse. The company first ignored my request for a return for a couple of days. Then, when they finally responded, they basically told me that it totally sounds defective, but if I return it and it turns out to not be defective, they'll retroactively charge me shipping costs and a restocking fee. We went back and forth on this for a couple of days, with them periodically disappearing and NOT sending a return label. I finally got the return label and sent it back and it arrived this morning and they haven't "inspected" it yet. So this company has had almost $500 of my money for almost a month and I've got nothing and I can only HOPE that they deign to give me all my money back. DO NOT BUY!!!!!!!!!!!!! This thing is awful! First, the quibbles: 1) It's NOT the only home/ internal freezer soft ice cream maker out there. I believe it's the only one currently available, but I've had two others and I know of one more that was previously available. 2) It may technically fit under your cabinets, but you won't be able to use it if you put it there. You need to fill it from a hole in the middle of the top of the thing and you won't be able to do that if it's under your cabinets. 3) On their website, the company brags about being an American company. The ice cream maker is made in China. I'm not averse to globalization, but I really hate this kind of disingenuousness. There ARE a couple good things: 1) Customer service has been responsive and helpful. When I've asked questions, they've responded pretty quickly. Additionally, while it arrived well within the promised delivery window, it actually shipped a week after I was initially told it shipped. I'm presuming because I asked about this a couple of times, they included a big box of 20 mixes, instead of the promised 5. 2) It's very nicely packaged. I don't think I've ever seen a box with something heavy in it that didn't have any dings or broken styrofoam. Why I hate it: 1) First experiment - I asked after I received it if I could dump a ready to drink protein shake in it and was assured it would work. I did so and set the suggested time. After a few minutes, it started making a high pitched grinding noise that was pretty scary. This is the same noise my previous soft ice cream maker would make when the ice cream was freezing to the sides and thus slightly beyond ready. I went to dispense some shake and it came out liquid, so I poured it back in and left it for another couple of agonizing (remember the noise) minutes. I finally couldn't take it anymore, so I went and dispensed my "shake." It was still liquid with a tiny bit of slushiness. 2) Second experiment - I asked before I bought the thing if it could make one serving. I was assured it would. This time, I used one of their mixes. And made 2 servings, to be safe. Again, after a few minutes, it started making the high pitched grinding noise. I dispensed some and it was still liquid, so I poured it back. I gave it another couple of extremely noisy minutes and tried again. It came out a little more solid, but not quite. I thought it might have a chance. Another minute later, I tried again and nothing came out. It was all frozen to the sides of the machine. Unfortunately, though I had high hopes, I'm going to have to return this.

ice cream

Really a nice machine. I was a bit worried since there were not a lot of reviews and kind of all over the place, but I decided to order one and try it out. It came quickly, packaged very good and came with some ice cream mix samples. We tried out the vanilla one right away and it worked great. The kids loved it. It is a pretty simple to use machine and turns out great soft serve. It sure beats all those other kinds out there with the basket you have to freeze. One thing to note, the instructions that come with the machine are not very good. If you go to Nostalgia Electrics website and search for FDM1, they have a better set of manuals for the machine and have a nice recipe book too. Also, per the instructions, they want you to register your machine on the ice cream depot website, but when you go there, such a page does not exist.

It is loud, it makes a very little amount at a time. Just not worth the price

Product came nicely packaged. Item is easy to assemble and easy to clean. Only issue I have found so far (haven't had it very long) is that the ice cream doesn't dispense easily. Package states that it makes 9 servings, but when I put in half of the mixture in the machine I barely got 2 servings out of it. I do think that I may have let it run to long however so that may have made the difference. I think the stated 15 minutes may be a bit off, but maybe it is because I don't use an entire package at one time. I will have to keep adjusting the times and find out what works best for me.

this is a great machine, it's so easy to use and the clean up is even easier. You have to play with the recipes to get the right consistency. looking forward to having it for the summer.

This product actually does what it says it does. It's easy to clean, the ice cream depends on your recipe. I only use my own recipes. I am totally happy. Very rare something does what it promises to do. Highly recommend if, like me, you have a need for a soft serve machine at home.