Conference turris::cooks

    I know you said that you would definitely want the electric kind
    but you may want to reconsider in favor of the Donvier Ice Cream
    Machine.  This is a fairly new Ice cream maker that needs no ice
    or salt.  The inner canister is stored in your freezer (hopefully
    you have room in yours) and when its time to make the ice cream,
    the mixture freezes agains the canister.  As far as turning a 
    crank goes, you do this 2 or 3 turns only every 2 to 3 minutes.
    This is primarily to scrape the ice cream away from the canister
    walls to let more of the mixture freeze.  The freezing process takes
    about 20 minutes altogether.  Its really not much work!  I asked
    Santa (my boyfriend) for one last year.  We have really enjoyed
    it.  
    
    The only down sides are 1.) If you have a very large family,
    it doesn't make enough. 2.) once this summer on a very hot day,
    the canister seemed to be losing its freezing ability too fast.
    To solve this we just put the thing in the refridgerator.  We 
    only had the problem once.
    
    To me, the BIG plus with the Donvier is that you don't need the
    salt and ice.
    
    Lesa
                           

    Thanks Lesa!  I will reconsider.  I was under the impression that
    the turn by hand types required *hours* of constant turning.
    If my "Santa" had to wait a long time AND turn constantly he'd probably
    just run to the store and by it!
    
    I'm located @WJO in Westford, MA.  Where are you?  Is there any
    particular store that sells this type of machine? 
    
    Thanks Again!

    I think my "santa" bought it at Lechmere.  I have also seen them
    at Caldor.  They come in (I believe) 3 sizes but I recommend the
    largest which is what I have.  I think it makes a quart.  I don't
    know why they don't make a larger one. 
    
    Also, most of the traditional manual ice cream makers do require
    constant turning!  This is one of the nice differences with the
    Donvier.
    
    Now I'm getting hungry for ice cream!!!
    
    Lesa

Even the hand crank ones don't require hours of turning.  About 30-45 minutes 
if everything is properly chilled.  I have an electric one that uses table 
salt and ice cubes.  It's made by one of the blender makers, I think, can't 
remember the name though.  Unless you plan to make ice cream for large crowds, 
DON'T buy a big one.  An old roomie bought one from Sears that made 2.5 
gallons at a time.  On the first try, he made a french vanilla that used about 
3 doz. egg yolks.  Not only did we have to store all the whites in the 
freezer, but we did not have enough containers to store 2.5 gallons of ice 
cream so we used tupperware salad bowls (big and round, and take up lots of 
freezer space).  Then the DEC turkeys arrived (3 of them)!  So, we had lots of 
friends over for turkey and ice cream.  

By the way, one other mistake was the idea of adding strawberries without 
sugar (the ice cream was sweet enough) to the mix.  They froze very hard.  The 
end result was like having ice cream with seeds.

						     
							- JP

    I bought a Donvier for my sister 2 Christmases ago.  Our only problem
    with it has been that her freezer isn't cold enough, thus making
    the cannister unable to freeze the icecream.
    
    I guess that's what heppens when you have an old refrigerator.
    
    	-Nancy

  We have the small Gelataio by Simac. It makes great ice cream, and is
  absolutely the easiest of any machine to set up, use, and clean
  afterwards. To set it up and run it, you pour the ingredients into the
  freezing bowl and turn it on. When it's done, you do have to transfer
  the ice cream from the freezing bowl to another container, but then
  the container pops out and cleans up with no trouble. It's also very
  small - it takes up as much space as a small toaster over.

    I have a Waring electric model.  It makes a quart at a time and
    is quite easy to use.  I don't think it's inconvenient to use ice
    cubes and salt.  We use about 3 or 4 trays (I think) at a time and
    less than a box of salt.  It makes very good ice cream and costs
    about $30.  We've had ours for about 3 years but I doubt the cost
    is much different.
    
    The ice cream these machines makes is much better when eaten shortly
    after it is made.  It doesn't freeze that well.  I seem to recall
    reading this recommendation someplace so it isn't just my machine.
    
    Enjoy!

    We also have a Donvier.  It makes very good ice cream, with little
    work.  Santa bought it last year at Lechemere's.
    
    ScottR, who doesn't get to use it much anymore because of my waistline

    SEARS has an electric ice cream machine that sits in the refrigerator
    turning while the ice cream freezes. It takes about 30-40 minutes
    and when it is finished, there's a speaker that "tells" you that
    the ice cream is ready ( it also plays a few bars of "Happy Days
    are here Again" ).  I found it in a SEARS surplus store for about
    half the price and it works great!
    
    Moe
    

    Is it my (wild) sense of things or is it true that electric machines
    ALWAYS require salt and ice?  Are we talking rock type salt or shaker
    type?
    
    From one previous reply I think I'll skip the "put in the freezer"
    to make mucho gallons type of machine.  Our freezer is usually packed
    (from belonging to a food delivery service).  And it is *old*...
    even older than me!  So ?who? knows if it would get cold enough.
    
    Do the electric ones just: fill, plug in, turn on, and wait --
    right on the counter?
    
    Boy! Can you tell I'm one of the lazier types who are used to just
    buying the stuff!  I can hardly wait to get this => for him! of
    course!
    
    THANKS FOR *ALL* YOUR INPUTS == KEEP'EM COMING!
    
    Cher
                         

>    Is it my (wild) sense of things or is it true that electric machines
>    ALWAYS require salt and ice?
    
>    Do the electric ones just: fill, plug in, turn on, and wait --
>    right on the counter?

  Some electric models need salt and ice. Others have refrigeration
  built in, and, as you say, just fill, plug in, turn on, and wait -
  right on the counter.

  These are naturally the most expensive machines, but they're the best
  for lazy people. They also happen to make excellent ice cream, so you
  don't sacrifice any quality. Be careful when picking one, though,
  because some of them use an alcohol bath to transfer the cold from the
  refrigeration coils to the bowl in which the cream will freeze. These
  are a pain in the neck to set up and clean, and one test in Consumer
  Reports showed that they can leak alcohol into the ice cream. We got
  the Simac machine because it doesn't have this problem. In fact, it
  doesn't have any problems at all. It just makes delicious ice cream
  all by itself in 25 minutes or less right on the countertop. It takes
  up only a little more space than a food processor.

    I, too, have been thinking of the Donvier for a gift, thinking that
    we could make our own 'scream and cut out a lot of sugar and fat.
     Do any of you that have one have lo-cal recipes, or are they in
    the book that comes with it?  Or is the sugar and fat part of what
    makes it work the way it does?
    
    Thanks!
    Terry
    

    When I bought the Donvier for my sister, it came with a recipe book.
    I recall that there were all sorts of recipes for ice creams and
    sorbets as well as for making frozen fruit slushes and frozen yogurts
    and I even think there may have been recipes for frozen drinks,
    etc.
    
    Unfortuneately, we never got to try any of the recipes since her
    freezer was not cold enough.  But, she just moved last month, and
    hopefully her freezer is no longer as warm.

    Well, there are lowER calorie recipes included...  For one thing
    I always use light cream as opposed to heavy, skim milk and egg
    beaters instead of eggs (I have high cholesterol).  It helps some.
    
    The sherbet recipes are usually lower in calories too.
    
    Lesa

    The Donvier comes with a suggestion or two about making low-cal
    desserts, but a little imagination results in some WONDERFUL
    concoctions!  You can sweeten yogurt with Equal, add some fresh
    fruit, freeze the mixture, and you would SWEAR you were eating ice
    cream!  I use a large proportion of fruit to yogurt, thereby reducing
    even further the calories and also minimizing the "sour" taste of
    the yogurt.
    
    You can also freeze pure fruit juice with or without Equal, into
    a really good frozen slush.
    
    I've had mine only a month or so, but I don't know how I ever lived
    without it!
    
    							Pat