Panasonic BH-941P Ice Cream Maker

Why go buy the "expenive" ice cream? Because with this machine *you* control what ingredients you want to use. You don't have to use cream or half-and-half; use skim milk if you want (it will be runnier than that with more milkfat in it). Make it sugar free by using one of the replacement sugar products, or use honey as your sweetener. My husband can go thru a 5-gallon bucket of ice-cream a week - he is an ice-cream afficiendo! We all love the taste & flavor of homemade ice-cream. I had my doubts about this machine, but after the first batch, my husband wanted to throw away our other electric ones that require ice. With our deluxe ice-cream, we use it to top off desserts (apple crisp ala mode), and if you use cream, it's so rich you don't want a huge bowl full; it was enough for our family of 5. I was very pleased with the ease of use, and most of the parts went right into the dishwasher and cleaned up great (can't put most of the metal containers of the other kinds of ice-cream makers into the dishwahser or they'll rust). Name brand pint of deluxe ice cream = >$3. Homemade version (after cost of machine) = <$3 for ingredients + $1 per use of battery + satisfaction of putting exactly what you want into it and no extra "unpronouncable" ingredients.NOTE:There IS a battery included in the box, you'll need to look for it in the packaging.It is *not* supposed to constantly churn like a regular ice cream machine, it will turn a couple of times, then "rest", then churn again.

OK, I got one of these a while back because it was cheap and...well, that's about the only reason. I figured it might be good for some fun with my daughter, but I also figured it would probably quickly land on the same shelf that holds that ice cream maker with that you have to pre-freeze before using (Donvier), and the traditional ice cream maker that requires rock salt and all that nonsense. I don't use the former because I never plan far enough ahead to clear space in the freezer and freeze the thing down, and I never use the latter because it's just too much of a hassle.OK, so the question is: Is this one any better?And the answer is: Resoundingly YES! This ice cream maker does not require any advanced planning. All you do is drop the ingredients in the (room temperature is fine) bowl, snap it together, and put it in your freezer. That's it. A few hours later: Ice cream. And it's GOOD ice cream that's ready to eat! One of the problems with the Donvier-type makers (pre-freeze the bowl type) is that they aren't cold enough to make real ice cream. They make ice pudding. To get that pudding to freeze to the right consistency, you have to put the pudding back in the freezer after you've made it and let it harden for a few hours. With this Panasonic ice cream maker, when the job is done, it's DONE. The ice cream is ready to eat.OK, as for the brass tacks:Pros: Easy to use; don't have to plan ahead; requires no user intervention--just set and forget and come back to ready-to-eat ice cream; The physical dimensions of the ice cream maker are small, so you should be able to find room in your freezer for it (a major consideration!); The ice cream it makes is really good (well, depending on what you put into it, of course!)Cons: Uses two lithium CR123A batteries to power ice cream maker. You should get 20 or more cycles out of a fresh set of batteries, but you will need to eventually buy more batteries (a set is included with the ice cream maker). Expect to pay between $1.50 and $5.00 each ($3 - $10 a set) for the replacement batteries (shop around on the net and eBay and you should be able to find batteries at the lower end of this price range). Assuming you get the batteries at a good price, that works out to about $3 per 20 uses or $0.15 per use; The small size, although a plus because it makes it easier to find space in your freezer, also means you won't be making huge amounts of ice cream. It will make about 1.5 pints, which is enough to dainty desert portions for a family or small dinner party, not enough for a big party of any type, but surely enough to push Dr. Atkins to roll over in his grave if you eat it all yourself :-)At the current blow out price, I'd say this is a no brainer.

I got an ice cream maker for 9.99. I saw others had a similar problem of poor or no mixing. It does start for exactly 5 seconds and then stops. Does not restart. Called amazon and had replacement shipped out. Same issue. Called Panasonic: Nightmare customer service. DO NOT BUY PANASONIC PRODUCTS IF YOU WANT THEIR CUSTOMER CARE. After over 45 minutes of hold on 3 occasions, finally got a kitchen small appliance rep who told me that products bought from Amazon are not covered. Finally, got to return both the makers. It was an awful experience, not worth the money: cost of going to UPS store 2x, retaining all packaging, trying to call Amazon and then emailing them, trying to call Panasonic for support. Very stressful experience: much better and faster icecream from store for 1.99/0.5 gallon including fat free, sugar free Splenda made.

This ice cream maker attempts to solve one of the problems of low-cost ice cream makers, which either use a freezable bowl or ice and rock salt: the need to plan ahead. It sounds like a wonderful idea to be able to pop the whole unit it the freezer and magically get out ice cream, but the way that good, smooth ice cream is made is to freeze the mixture _fast_. Having ice or a bowl with frozen gel allows heat to quickly conduct out of the ice cream mixture, discouraging the formation of large ice crystals and creating a smooth result. This unit, however, relies on the cold freezer air to freeze the ice cream over hours. The result is a grainy mess. High-fat mixtures do a little bit better (the formation of ice crystals is limited by all of the milkfat), but forget ice milk, frozen yogurts, or frozen fruit desserts. The result, quite literally, will not be much different than if you just placed a bowl in the freezer.

I bought this ice cream maker for its convenient size after reading some of the mostly good reviews here on Amazon.com. I've made 2 batches of ice cream so far - the second batch is a lot better than the first one - but it tasted more like sorbet than ice cream.I am a raw foodist. I of course used the recipe from one of my raw recipe books. I suspect that my failure was due to the lack of dairy products ( milk, eggs, whipping cream, etc.) in the mix?I also feel that this machine doesn't stir frequently enough. Isn't it true that the more it churns, the more air it gets in the ice cream and the smoother the ice cream becomes?