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Ice cream makers/machines

mhadam

By mhadam
in Kitchen Consumer

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ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted

I have the Breville Ice Cream Smart.  It makes excellent ice cream but i haven't used it much since the Creami came along.  As @weinoo says, you can easily have a few mixes on the go, ready to spin.  I currently have Mango, blackberry and vanilla in the freezer along with some blueberry ice cream pops.  It is so convenient.

20240707_155611.jpg

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Sid Post

Sid Post

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, weinoo said:

6 people happily shared a full pint of farmer's market strawberry sorbet on July 4th this week, garnished with fresh watermelon.  2 quarts sure seems like an awful lot for 2, 3, or even 4 people!

 

I grew up on a farm and still live on one so, I guess I'm a big eater because a pint to me is a small serving size.  Growing up with mom, dad, and the three kids put a really hurtin' on a 6qt batch ice cream many weekends of Summer.  Once and while we 'might' have a quart left for the freezer.

Edited by Sid Post
typo/autocorrect (log)
Sid Post

Sid Post

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I have the Breville Ice Cream Smart.  It makes excellent ice cream but i haven't used it much since the Creami came along.  As @weinoo says, you can easily have a few mixes on the go, ready to spin.  I currently have Mango, blackberry and vanilla in the freezer along with some blueberry ice cream pops.  It is so convenient.

20240707_155611.jpg

 

Strong arguments for the Ninja Creami!

weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, Sid Post said:

I guess I'm a big eater because a pint to me is a small serving size.  Growing up with mom, dad, and the three kids put a really hurtin' on a 6qt batch ice cream man weekend of Summer. 

 

15 minutes ago, Sid Post said:

Strong arguments for the Ninja Creami!

 

Maybe get two.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

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Sid Post

Sid Post

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Maybe get two.

 

If I do the Creami, I'll definitely do the updated pint and half model and get some extra jars.  Having 2 or more flavors ready seems like a great plan for hot Summer days.

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

My original creami came with five containers.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, weinoo said:

I think, depending on where the purchase is made, a Ninja Creami may come with different numbers of containers.  My original came with two; I purchased an additional three containers.

 

Yeah, mine came with three and I bought 2 more.  I see all sorts of options in the Creami ads peppering my feeds over this holiday season and lead-up to Amazon/Walmart/Target days. 

 

19 hours ago, Sid Post said:

The newer Cremi from Ninja though looks like it be a winner since it also does lots of frozen drinks and similar things to slushies.  Being able to do frozen yogurts and slushies adds a lot utility to the ice cream maker.

I agree that frozen yogurt is nice to make but I already have a blender that makes good smoothies, milkshakes, frozen drinks and slushies in quart-plus quantities with no need to pre-freeze anything other than ice cubes so there's no big advantage there for me (who believes 1/2 a pint to be a VERY large serving of ice cream but can empty a pint of a watermelon frozé slushy in no time on a hot day) YMMV

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curls

curls

Posted
Posted

You could also go with one of the compressor ice cream makers. They have come down in price and I see several on Amazon around $200.
 

I currently use the Ninja Creami. I also have a Cuisinart ice cream maker, the type that uses a pre-frozen canister. I don’t make large quantities of ice cream or sorbet so these options work very well. If I need to make a lot, I’d look into a compressor ice cream maker. @weinoo posted a link to the one he uses a bit earlier on this topic.

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Sid Post

Sid Post

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

I agree that frozen yogurt is nice to make but I already have a blender that makes good smoothies, milkshakes, frozen drinks and slushies in quart-plus quantities with no need to pre-freeze anything other than ice cubes so there's no big advantage there for me (who believes 1/2 a pint to be a VERY large serving of ice cream but can empty a pint of a watermelon frozé slushy in no time on a hot day) YMMV

 

For frozen drinks and slushies, I never had much success with any blender I tried.  They always ended up tasting like a watered down drink because all, or most, or a lot of the ice melted.  Freezing a "mix" I can taste test before I freeze it also would add consistency since the water/ice ratio to "mix" doesn't change.

 

Smoothes and milkshakes end up in a Ninja blender built for that specific use that was a Black Friday deal. 

 

In terms of frozen drinks in general, a pair of 24oz drinks in contrasting flavors seems better for me versus a Super Big Gulf in a single flavor!  What can I say, sometimes I'm fickle thinking the 'grass in greener' on the other side of the fence!  🤣

 

When I have company over or like when my Mom came for a visit, being able to easily do a Mango/PassionFruit/whatever for her and a nice Vanilla for me seems like a useful feature.

 

That being said, I have been looking at the Vevor compressor Ice Cream machines which are ~$200.  Amazon Whynter, Breville, and others are pretty spendy at >$350.  The Coswar and other brands are a mystery to me but are likely ODM with a simple label change and a clone of other popular models.

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ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted (edited)

@Sid Post. I have been wondering if you were affected by the power outages.

 

I recently froze 200ml (7 ounces?) of ice cream mix to see if that was enough for 2 servings when accompanying pie.  The answer is yes, but after I washed the Creami pint I noticed that the blades had gouged the container.  You can see them near the top of the picture of the container.  Did this happen because the machine didn't have enough mix to work with?  Or is there some other reason?  

20240714_171110.jpg

Edited by ElsieD
Added pic (log)
weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think the blade has a decent amount of clearance from the sides of the container;  perhaps more of a misalignment situation?

 

Per Ninja:

 

Quote

 

If the pint is frozen unevenly, put the pint in the fridge to allow the ingredients to melt. Then whisk to make sure the ingredients are combined. Refreeze, making sure to place the pint on a level surface in your freezer. - To avoid damaging the unit, DO NOT process a pint that has been frozen at an angle. DO NOT process if the pint has been scooped out of and then refrozen unevenly. - Always smooth-out the surface of your ice cream before re-freezing.

 

There is no minimum fill line. We recommend filling the pint at least half way to the MAX FILL line to achieve the best output texture. Filling below this level will not harm the machine, but adding a very small amount of ingredients to the pint may result in an output with suboptimal texture.

 

 

Edited by weinoo (log)

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Sid Post

Sid Post

Posted
Posted

Without a pivot point on both ends, I don't see one in the cup to support the motor side, a half batch size will put a lot of uneven torque on the shaft spinning the blade and likely causing it to 'wobble' a bit.

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I recently froze 200ml (7 ounces?) of ice cream mix to see if that was enough for 2 servings when accompanying pie.  The answer is yes, but after I washed the Creami pint I noticed that the blades had gouged the container.  You can see them near the top of the picture of the container.  Did this happen because the machine didn't have enough mix to work with?  Or is there some other reason?  

I've spun a lot of half-size batches but haven’t experienced any scratching or gouging of the containers yet. Ninja said that down to 1/3 was OK with a level surface. Maybe contact them?  It seems to be an issue that's reported fairly often.

 

Edited to add this from the FAQs in the Ninja Creami website:

Is there a minimum fill line for ingredients added to the pint before processing?

There is no minimum fill line. We recommend filling the pint at least half way to the MAX FILL line to achieve the best output texture. Filling below this level will not harm the machine, but adding a very small amount of ingredients to the pint may result in an output with suboptimal texture.

 

 

Edited by blue_dolphin (log)
ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted

@weinoo. The ice cream mix was perfectly level as I freeze it directly on the freezer shelf.  It had not been touched.  The spun product was exactly as is should be except i did notice a bit of a hard layer of mix after it was spun.

@blue_dolphin. I remembered you saying something to the effect that smaller batches could be made which is why I tried the 200ml. batch.  From your quote it says that smaller batches will not hurt the machine but doesn't say anything about the pints.  Your suggestion to contact them is a good one which i will do.  I'm not keen to eat plastic with my ice cream.

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Sid Post said:

Without a pivot point on both ends, I don't see one in the cup to support the motor side, a half batch size will put a lot of uneven torque on the shaft spinning the blade and likely causing it to 'wobble' a bit.

 

I can't envision this at all.  Could you explain further?  (I often spin half pints.)

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Sid Post

Sid Post

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I can't envision this at all.  Could you explain further?  (I often spin half pints.)

 

With this ice cream machine scoring the jar, it suggests the blades were allowed to wobble with the shaft.  This could be caused by flex in the underlying motor mount or wear between the shaft and motor allowing some "flex" and wobble, hence scoring the jar.

 

Mounts on both sides of the shaft allow a lot more support to prevent the wobble.

BeeZee

BeeZee

Posted
Posted

I did read a comment on the Wirecutter site (NYT) about potential issues with blades scraping the plastic, so it's apparently not an uncommon problem.

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"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
On 7/16/2024 at 12:03 PM, Sid Post said:

With this ice cream machine scoring the jar, it suggests the blades were allowed to wobble with the shaft.  This could be caused by flex in the underlying motor mount or wear between the shaft and motor allowing some "flex" and wobble, hence scoring the jar.

 

Mounts on both sides of the shaft allow a lot more support to prevent the wobble.

 

I still don't see how any lateral force applied to the shaft would be greater when the container is partially filled rather than full.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted

I have been back and forth with Ninja about the gouged pint.  In the first instance, I was told that if it was still under warranty, they would send me the newest version and two extra pints.  Unfortunately, I discovered it was way past it's warranty date, so so much for the upgrade.  I'm now at the point where they have offered two new pints for half price and in another conversation a new bowl at half price.  The downer is that I have to pay for shipping.  If they are offering both, it may be worthwhile.  I need to talk to them again.  Since that happened, I have made blueberry and chocolate but we haven't eaten enough of either to be able to tell if those pints have been damaged.  Meanwhile, I'm no closer to understanding why that happened, which is what I really want.  

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Meanwhile, I'm no closer to understanding why that happened, which is what I really want. 

I think that either they don’t know, or there are too many different possibilities that they can’t clearly diagnose individual cases remotely or they don’t want to say. Early on, they tended to blame it on non-level freezing but that’s certainly not true in your case. 
I found this in the Ninja Creami Facebook group:

 

Spindle Grinding into the Paddle/Blade

Sometimes the paddle disconnects from the spindle when the ice cream is processing.  This could happen for many reasons, none of which have been confirmed by Ninja.  Without more info from Ninja as to why this happens, no recommendations can be given to prevent it.

The paddle is connected to the spindle with a tiny magnet.  If the paddle gets off center or knocked loose from the spindle while processing, for any reason, the spindle can start to drill down into the paddle.  This can cause issues with the machine. 

1.    The paddle can get damaged

2.    The spindle can get damaged or bent

3.    The magnet that connects the spindle to the paddle can get damaged

4.    The motor can get damaged- can cause the machine to smoke or start on fire

5.    The containers can get scraped 

You will need to reach out to Ninja directly to resolve this issue. Contact Ninja through their customer service phone number or through their Facebook page.

Warranty number: 1-866-826-6941

Customer Service US: 1-800-365-0135

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ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted

@blue_dolphin. Thanks for that info.  I have been speaking with a Ninja Canada customer service rep and you may well be right -  that they don't know what causes the issue.  I am calling them again when I can check the last couple of batches for gouges  .  It's really hard eating all that ice cream (snicker) but we should manage within the next couple of days.  Depending on the state of my pints, I'll decide how I want to approach them.  I'll post my result.

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sverreef

sverreef

Posted
Posted
On 7/15/2024 at 12:46 AM, ElsieD said:

Or is there some other reason?  

20240714_171110.jpg

 

I've had this happen once myself (but just barely visible). Do you remember which processing mode you used  when this happened? For me it happened when I selected the ice cream mode instead of light ice cream, which I normally use.

 

My theory is that the reduced rpm and shorter processing time of the ice cream mode resultsled in excessive torque on the spindle when it was used in conjunction with a hard and/or cold ice cream mixtures.

ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted

H

51 minutes ago, sverreef said:

 

I've had this happen once myself (but just barely visible). Do you remember which processing mode you used  when this happened? For me it happened when I selected the ice cream mode instead of light ice cream, which I normally use.

 

My theory is that the reduced rpm and shorter processing time of the ice cream mode resultsled in excessive torque on the spindle when it was used in conjunction with a hard and/or cold ice cream mixtures.

 

 I used the ice cream mode.  I emptied another pint the other day and it too, was gouged.

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