I picked up a few of these little machines when they were on clearance after Christmas intending to use them as gifts throughout the year. I tried one out just to see if it would be a good gift and was pleasantly surprised. I have to admit that my first impression was that there was no way this thing was going to work. It was too small and really rather cheap looking. What really concerned me was that it took four AA batteries and was not plugged in. That just seemed like a recipe for disaster. Surprisingly, it wasn't though! All you do is mix up your ingredients, pour them into the two little cups, put the top on and push the button and then put the entire thing in your freezer. That's it. This does make good ice cream and it's just enough for two people to have their own cups for dessert. What I really liked was that there is no inner liner that has to be frozen for 24 or more hours before you want to make ice cream. You just pop this in the freezer as is. What I didn't like was that you have to plan to freeze it for four hours! Yes, four hours. But, if you plan ahead it's not that bad. It's very important to use the recipes included and not use a custard based recipe. The mixture has to be completely cold before freezing it or it will never freeze up. Just use the recipes included and everything will be fine. I've tweaked them here and there by adding different extracts and such but never used a recipe that was not in the book. Overall this was a fun purchase and I'm glad I picked up so many. They will definitely make fun gifts and I certainly enjoy mine.

capers01

Vernon Rockville, CT