I bought this after reading a lot of reviews.My choice was based on a number of factors.I have owned a hand-crank, ice-and-salt ice cream maker in the past - it made great ice cream but was messy; I didn't want yet another appliance that I had to find where to store; and I have owned and liked my KitchenAid stand mixer for a number of years.
This is basically a double-walled, sealed mixing bowl, with the space inside the walls filled with some liquid (presumably like the refreezable ice packs).It comes with plastic paddle.The basic steps are:
1Freeze the bowl (I keep mine in the freezer)
2Make and cool an ice cream custard, or a fruit mix for sorbet
3Assemble the frozen bowl and the plastic paddle on the stand mixer
4 Switch the mixer on lowest speed, add the custard
5Let the mixer stir the mix until it freezes (to a "soft serve" consistency)
6Transfer the ice cream to a bowl with a lid, and freeze until firm
Here are my comments:
First, take a black marker and obliterate all the nutritional information about the recipes in the instruction book.We know that ice cream is full of fat and sugar -- that's why we like it!We don't need reminding.
*Try a dry run to assemble the bowl and paddle.This is designed to fit many models of KitchenAid mixers, and it's not obvious.You don't want to be figuring this out when you are ready to make your first batch.
*Freeze the bowl for longer than the suggested 18 hours
*MAKE HALF QUANTITIES:the two-quart recipes fill the bowl, and I had a couple of overflows as the ice cream expands as it cools.
*Also, filling the bowl means that the ice cream takes longer to freeze.The first time I tried this, it didn't freeze as the bowl had not been frozen long enough to handle the two quarts.
*Get a good recipe to use up the egg whites.I make meringue from the New York Times Cook Book. I guess an omelet would be good too.
*There's mistake in the instruction book.In one place it suggests adding the fruit, nuts etc half way through the freezing process, and in another place it suggests adding these ingredients at the end of the mixing cycle.
* Use enough mix (custard or fruit puree) to at least fill half of the bowl -- this way the paddle will mix the entire batch.
* Remember that freezing enhances the sweet taste -- so do not over sweeten the mix before you freeze, otherwise the ice cream or sorbet will be too sweet.
* If you're making a fruit puree for sorbet, a blender makes a *MUCH* smoother puree than a food processor.I think this makes a difference in the texture of the final sorbet.
* After preparation, you need to cool the custard or puree in the fridge for a few hours.Use a jug that has a decent pouring lip: this will make it much easier to pour into the freezer bowl than if you just use a regular mixing bowl.
* There is very little space between the edge of the bowl and the paddle -- this can mean a mess when you fill the bowl.It **really** needs a pouring spout designed to fit
* Getting the semi-frozen desert out of the bowl can be messy - there is no handle on the bowl and it has smooth, slippery sides.
* Use a container for the final freezing that has a little air space after you fill with the semi-frozen ice cream -- this allows for additional expansion of the desert, and prevents the need to squash the final product into the bowl.
* I've used recipes from The New York Times Cookbook and Fine Cooking magazine -- all delicious, better than store bought, and slightly different than the regular recipes for vanilla, cookies and cream, etc.
* Use the freshest eggs you can find -- not the ones that have been sitting in the fridge door for a month
Update February 2008
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Thanks very much to all the kind comments that folks have left. For those of you who haven't read the comments on this review: it's worthwhile taking a few minutes to do so as some of the commenters have additional suggestions and ideas.
Update December 2009
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A couple of the recent comments have asked whether the inside of the bowl is aluminum or non-stick. It *appears* to be metallic, but with plastics these days, it's anybody's guess. It is light gray so could be aluminum, but I'd wager that it is some sort of alloy. It is definitely NOT the type of non-stick found in Teflon-type frying pans.
BTW - I've had this for nearly four years and am still loving it. Long term durability seems to be good.
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KitchenAid KICA0WH Ice Cream Maker AttachmentProduct Description: Creating up to 2 quarts of fresh ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbet at home only takes about 25 minutes with this unique attachment. The stylish ice-cream-maker attachment quickly converts any KitchenAid stand mixer into an easy-to-use ice-cream maker. After storing the freeze bowl in the freezer for at least 15 hours, it's ready to go. Simply turn on the KitchenAid stand mixer, pour in the batter, and let the dasher and freeze bowl do the work. For quick cleanup, the dasher, drive assembly, and adapter ring are all dishwasher-safe. The freeze bowl should be hand washed with warm water and mild detergent. The ice-cream-maker attachment measures 10-8/9 by 10-2/7 by 10-2/7 inches and carries a one-year hassle-free replacement warranty.
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I've only used this once, to make plain vanilla ice cream (following the recipe in the manual), and the ice cream was excellent.Like other machines out there, it is a bit deceiving to think you can have fresh ice cream made in 30 minutes; the reality is the inside container must be frozen for hours before-hand, and many recipes require that the mix be refrigerated for several hours before being made.It is also a fairly loud machine while in use, so I won't be using it when my children are sleeping.The end result, however, is very good.
