Whynter Upright Automatic Ice Cream Maker, 1.28 Qt, White, ICM-128WS

Great ice cream maker! I've made several quarts of ice cream so far, and every batch has turned out delicious. Not needing to cool a bowel is incredibly convenient, and the included recipes are excellent. Easy to use, reliable, and worth the investment for ice cream lovers.

Original review was one star and: Not only is it NOT freezing to make ice cream, it's actually warming the mixture. It started at 64* -- obviously well above freezing, and is now sitting at 66*. It should be COOLING and FREEZING the mixture - not WARMING it. What a waste. Customer service is non-responsive. Would not recommend. Update: I had spent about 45 minutes on the online chat feature waiting...the chat said my wait time was 'under a minute' - but it was HOURS before they responded and I was already gone. I contacted them via email and they responded immediately. Their said that their chat feature was down and they had no way to respond. After receiving my email, they asked for the proof of purchase and serial number and included some troubleshooting steps. I wrote back with the POP and photo of serial number and gave them a play-by-play of all steps I had already taken and instead of making me return the unit for repair (brand new unit - why would I have to wait for it to be 'repaired'?), they sent me a new machine directly from them. And? Told me to keep the original machine to use for parts (if needed). I truly appreciate their efforts to make things right. The new machine arrived in a few days and I am so very happy to report that this unit works properly and is everything I had hoped for: easy to use, no pre-prep, and ice cream in 30 minutes. Prior to this machine, I had the Kitchen Aid stand mixer ice cream attachment and it was awkward to use and the ice cream churning bowl needed to be kept in the freezer for at least 24 hours. So I either had to remember to put the bowl in the freezer a day ahead of time or keep it in there all the time (which takes up way too much space in my freezer). This machine is fantastic! I mixed a few ingredients together, churned in the machine, and in thirty minutes, I had homemade coconut ice cream. I can not wait to use this machine over and over again. Their recipe book has everything from basic vanilla to Chicken Soup & Dill Sorbet (not appealing to me but I give them credit for providing a wide variety!). Update #2: I took a video of the machine in action. I am obsessed with peanut butter ice cream and adding in chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, cookie dough (not all of them at once, lol).

Great machine. Cleans up very easily and quickly. In less than a minute your set up and making delicious ice cream or sorbet ( or both!!). Be careful not to overfill, as the ice cream expands when freezing. Great consistency when finished, although it needs to be frozen longer in the freezer for hard ice cream. So fun! Highly recommended.

I was unsure of how to rate the stars on this one. The product that was delivered was clearly used. I paid for new. However, it does work perfectly. And I have had no issues, at least none that were not caused by me. So I'm giving it 5 stars since it is a review of the product itself, and not fulfillment. I have used the ice cream maker about 5 times so far and it produces excellent ice cream. I have used recipes from Jeni's cookbook, Dana Cree, Salt & Straw, and Polar Ice Creamery. 2 ice creams, 2 sorbets and a Sherbet. The texture was much better than my old canister style ice cream maker. Depending on how long my mixture has chilled beforehand, sometimes i only need to churn 20 minutes, sometimes longer. One recipe I let run a bit too long and it was very whipped and airy, but had ice crystals after freezing. I love that the cord is a decent length. It enabled me to put the machine in a permanent location and not have to move it every time I want to use it. The machine is louder than expected, but not an issue for me. All of the parts are easy to clean. One important note.. Do not overfill! It will churn and churn but not freeze properly. I overfilled on one batch and thought it was the machine but after removing some of the mixture and starting over, it was fine. I have better results with 1 qt amounts rather than 2 qt. That's fine, a 1 qt recipe is more than enough, and the machine can easily do back to back batches if I need more than that. I'm very happy with this ice cream maker and look forward to using it for many years. I only wish I had been sent a brand new, unopened package. Thankfully it wasn't a gift. Photos to show condition on arrival.

I am having a ball using this machine. I've had a freezer bowl ice cream maker before and switching to a compressor ice cream machine has been a great decision. it is easy to use and it makes just enough ice cream. And if it isn't enough ice cream, I can make more a few minutes later. The machine doesn't take up a lot of space. It will shut off if the motor is running for too long (making 2-3 batches consecutively, for instance) to avoid overheating. It also shuts off when the ice cream gets too thick for the dasher. this happened to me and it didn't take long to cool down. I am grateful for this feature as i haven't yet figured out how long to churn a particular recipe. I don't worry about damaging the machine. This ice cream maker is well made. it looks great. The mixer bowl is solid. it has a chill feature. It feels durable and it's not loud. You get about 2 and a half Ben & Jerry pints out of it. I've only made custard ice cream so far. I have no regrets. Basic custard ice cream recipe 5 egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup full fat milk, dash of salt,1 T vanilla. Adjust to your liking (I like to add an additional 1/2 cup milk). You can find full instructions on YouTube. I suggest a thermometer to help with tempering and cooking the eggs. Don't worry, it's easy. Enjoy!

We had a "freezer bowl" style ice cream maker for 10 - 15 years. We used it a lot. We did the whole "science it" thing to determine exactly what ice cream base we thought was best. We had fun riffing off of flavor combos that we liked (coconut chocolate chip and peppermint candy cane chocolate chip being our favorites). We enjoyed it so much that after a while I got it in my head that I wanted to upgrade. Why? Sometimes, we forgot to put the bowl in the freezer. Or I wanted to make more batches at a time (note: you can always buy a 2nd freezer bowl, if you have the space in the freezer). In the end, we enjoyed making it enough that we thought it was worth the splurge on the chance that the quality of ice cream will be better. So, I sat on this idea for about a year. It is just the way we work - we are not impulsive. I did my research, learned about compressor models, and focused on this one. Then I pulled the trigger a few weeks ago. Enough background, here are my thoughts: 1. Using the exact same recipes, the ice cream is an upgrade. It isn't night and day or anything. But it is definitely there. The ice cream is just ... creamier. Say like a 10 – 20% improvement. 2. The thing is stupid easy to use, at least for ice cream (I haven't tried the other features yet). Make your mix, dump it in, press start. That is it. 3. Cleaning is relatively easy. The parts are not dishwasher safe, which is a bummer. And when you hand wash you cannot just rinse things off - the fat content won't let you get away with that. But everything comes out pretty easily and it isn't too much of a chore to get them cleaned up. Oh, and it is possible to overfill the bowl, in which case the mixture runs down into the freezer chamber in which the bowl sits. Not a big deal, but you do have to wait until the freezer chamber warms up to clean it properly. 4. Coming from a freezer bowl model, the bowl looks very small at first. I did worry that there was no way that thing was going to hold a full batch. But relax, it still makes the same amount of ice cream. 5. I find the timer kind of strange. I mean, it is really easy to read - it starts at 60 minutes and counts down. Simple. But I haven't figured out why it counts down from 60 minutes. The ice cream is usually ready w/in say 35 – 40 minutes. I guess the extra time is so that it can firm up a little bit more (even after the dasher stops moving, the machine keeps freezing the ice cream). 6. There is also not any sort of indicator that the ice cream is ready for mix-ins (nuts or chips or whatever). And if you put it in too early, it falls to the bottom and jams up the dasher. I have figured out – wait until between the 30 – 35 minute mark. At that point the mixture will look like ice cream. Do not put in mix ins until the ice cream looks like that. Also, do not wait too long because when the ice cream starts to get too stiff the dasher will stop turning. At that point, you will have to put in the mix ins manually when you move the ice cream to its container. Not the end of the world, but not as easy as letting the machine do it either. 7. I do find the clear lid kind of finicky to close. You have to put it on and twist it but it usually takes me several tries to get it lined up correctly. Maybe there is a trick I haven’t figured out yet. 8. If you let the machine run to the end of the 60 minute timer, the ice cream is firmer than it is as the end of a cycle in a freezer bowl machine. It is still soft – I wouldn’t immediately scoop it and put it on a cone – but it is firmer. But the question is: since a freezer bowl machine is done in about 30ish minutes, would that ice cream be just as firm after 30 minutes in the freezer? I am not sure. Bottom line: Do I like it? Yes. Do I regret buying it? Nope. Do I think it is for everybody? Nope. You have to really enjoy making ice cream to spring this much on a machine and have one of these things on your countertop. If you are just dipping your toes in or think you will just make it once every few months, go for a freezer bowl machine. If you fall in love with it like we did, you can save up and buy one of these.

We purchased this a year ago. I wanted to get some use out of this before writing a review. I would say this is one of our best purchases. This machine is easy to use and easy to clean. It is not self cleaning but when you make this amount of ice cream in one batch that is okay. We have made so much ice cream and it is still working like new. It is heavy so moving it from counter to storage is a challenge so we only move it off the counter twice a year. My wife does not like things on the counter and thid had a pretty big foot print so make sure it will fit the counter space you have. For our money this has been amazing. The cost is reasonable for the amount of use we get out of it. No ice or salt just set it up and go. We have tried several recipes and I still go back to the vanilla bean. I wasn’t sue when we spent the money but after a year of saving on chemicals in our ice cream I am truly impressed. Don’t wait get yours today you wont regret it.

I've had mine for a couple of weeks too, and I think it's fantastic. A couple of things- -- I know it shows in the manual that the mixture should not go above these things on each side of the churner, BUT I found it better be a half inch BELOW that. It still gets on the underside of the plastic cover as it churns, but then at least it keeps the mix a bit lower and stops any chance of overflowing the bowl. I actually think it wouldn't matter anyway as the bowl seems to sit in a pretty tightly gasketed ring, so maybe I'm being overly cautious. Either way, I'm still quite happy to get 2 Qts (4 pints) of really good ice cream instead of the 2.5 Qts it claims to make. To get the most actual ice cream out of it, add any mix-ins (choco chips, nuts etc) into it AFTER it has finished freeze churning. When it's done churning, it is soft serve consistency... so I turn it out into a big bowl, THEN I mix in the mix ins (gently so as not to incorporate a lot of ice crystal forming air into it). Then I pack it in pint containers tightly, (using the handy plastic flat spatula thing that came with the machine), cover with a circle of parchment paper against the top of the ice cream, and put them all away in the freezer at least overnight. --- If your ingredients are cold (should not be frozen) when they go into the churn bowl, it can take substantially less time than the 60 minute timer is set to default for. If you come back in 60 minutes and the machine is not still churning, it has probably stopped churning and already gone into 'just chill' mode. This will make it more difficult to get the churn bowl out. That plastic spatula thing that comes with the machine is handy here. First try to hold the handle on both sides of the bowl close to the bowl's top (instead of at the top of the handle) at both of the handle's hinges. Try to pull straight up wiggling a tiny bit. If your churning stopped minutes before and it went into keep cold mode, that bowl will be really tightly held to the frozen sides of the machine. Take the flat spatula thing and (GENTLY) put it between the very top of the bowl and the side of the machine it's against (BUT ONLY about 1/4 inch down!!) and move it back and forth. It will sort of break a vacuum hold. Do it 4 or 5 more times in different places around the bowl and then try again to pull it up. Just be careful not to jam that thing down too far or back and forth to hard. This has always worked for me with no apparent damage to anything. Most of my ice cream recipes include 2 TBS of some kind of liqueur (raspberry, hazelnut, coffee, cherry etc) which will help it from getting so rock hard. It shouldn't be added until the last few minutes of churning, as it can affect the freezing too early) OR after churning and after it's gone into another bowl to add mix ins to, before packing (my preferred method). Commercial ice cream has up to 25 percent more air whipped into it- more money for the manufacturers for less actual product- which makes it more 'fluffy' and also less hard in storage. You can leave the liqueur out of course- either way your homemade will be more dense (more flavorful if you ask me). As to the hardness- 2 things can help- keep it in a freezer that's part of your fridge as opposed to an upright or chest type freezer. Or.... don't worry about any of it, and just leave the pint out on the kitchen counter to soften a tad, for 10 minutes, before you dig in. OR dig it out when rock hard, put in a bowl and microwave for 10 seconds or so. You really can't go too wrong, right? The very few recipes that come with the machine (in the manual) are pretty useless to me (for the egg reason). I went on their web site but couldn't even find any there. I got 5 books from Amazon for ice cream recipes (and sorbets, sherbets, etc). Since I make egg free ice creams only (since 'custard-style' recipes are WAY TOO MUCH work with the cooking and tempering the eggs with the dairy), I have found only one book that has more great egg free (also known as 'Philadelphia style') recipes. That was the 'Perfect Scoop' by David Lebovitz. Very nice book, great recipes, great photos. A favorite recent recipe I made was Peach, Vanilla, Pecan ice cream- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk; 1 pint (16 oz) of half and half; 3 cups of uncooked peach puree made from unpeeled (but washed), pitted & chopped peaches pureed in a bowl using an immersion blender; 1 TBS vanilla; 2 TBS raspberry liqueur (added along with the nuts AFTER it came out of the churning bowl into another bowl before packing); 1 cup chopped pecans. I'm sorry to say I don't remember how much this made (ounce wise), or whether I might have also added al cup of whole milk to it also. But the combo of sweetened condensed milk, half and half and whole milk is a great EASY way to get ice cream fast. For chocolate= instead of the peaches- add 4-5 TBS dutch process (dark, european-style) cocoa and 1/4 cup of hersheys syrup, with 2 teaspoons of vanilla, to the dairy combo. Instead of nuts, add in (after freezing & churning and turning out into another bowl) 1/2 to a cup of mini chocolate chips and instead of raspberry liqueur add 2 TBS of Kalua (coffee liqueur) either a few minutes at the end of churning, or with the chips. Don't be afraid to TASTE the mix before you freeze/churn it!! There are no eggs so it's safe to taste- it can then be most to your liking (less vanilla etc). I must say this taller machine fits much better in my kitchen than the wider would. It is quite heavy (as all compressor machines are), so it's not something you want to put on a lower shelf to pull up to the counter to use. But all summer long, this sucker will be sitting on my counter and will be keeping me in ice cream heaven. It appears to be well made, quiet enough when in use, easy to clean, easy to use and I only need to make 16 batches of 4 pints each to pay for itself (our favorite was 5$ a pint before). I think this machine will have no trouble managing that (certainly better than my husband and I can manage eating it all- so it's been a great summer gift to friends !!)

Have had this for two years now and it rocks. Highly recommended.

Cannot say good enough things about this unit. As with all Whynter products I've bought (Have a portable dual hose AC unit ARC-14S) it's all about the build: No fancy crap internet connected doodads and thingamagigs. Rock solid and made to last. A couple suggestions: First make sure to fill it WELL BELOW the top paddle... I did it and since it expands as it freezes it tends to start popping the lid which disengages the paddle and "jumps". Second: For those complaining about the paddles and how convoluted they are, I use a chopstick or small silicone spatula to clean it off nor prob. Ya'd think they're expecting the machine to feed it to them? Seriously? :-) All in all TOP NOTCH and well worth the price. And just to be clear: The machine churns about 16oz and anyone says it makes 1qt is talking about the RECIPE (I do vanilla). The machine CANNOT freeze 32oz in one go. With the Vanilla (which I might add is a process LoL!) it takes 2 runs to do the entirety of it.

Comes with US plug and US voltage but this information is nowhere written

La máquina funciona excelente. Sí, es más cara que otros modelos que existen en el mercado pero tiene una ventaja superior a otros productos y es que esta siempre está lista para trabajar sin tener que congelar tanque o conseguir hielo. También es muy fácil de limpiar. Recomendada!

Product boxes had been previously opened. Candy sprinkles all over. Product was definitely not handed to me even though multiple people were home at the time. Very flimsy ice cream scoop and removable “pot” which isn’t even stamped as being 304. The removable “carrier” pot might be some kind of SST but the inner pot which gets scrapped is just a real light metal like aluminum. Manuals not is separate bags. No bags were tied closed. Not acceptable for a food machine.