WhynterIce Cream Maker Machine Automatic 2.1 Qt. Upright with Built-In Compressor, LCD Digital Display & Timer, No Pre-Freezing, ICM-201SB, Stainless Steel

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 !!)

The Whynter ice cream maker is a powerful, compressor-based machine that makes smooth, creamy ice cream without needing to pre-freeze the bowl. It’s fast (30–45 minutes per batch), easy to clean, and great for frequent use. it’s a bit bulky and slightly noisy, but its performance and convenience make it a top pick in its price range. Ideal for serious home dessert makers who want consistent, high-quality results.

TL;DR: It’s nice to make something that tastes so good and can easily be made with just a few simple ingredients. It’s a big step up over mass-market ice cream or sorbet, much better even than the premium brands.After much research, I decided to get a Whynter ice cream machine. I wanted a large capacity and chose this one because it’s vertical and fits my storage space the best.I’ve made 5 batches so far: 4 ice cream and 1 sorbet. Every batch has turned out great and was very easy to produce. The machine is actually very simple to use, with only a couple of controls besides the power button. Each batch completed in 25 to 35 minutes. The timer is set to a default time of 60 minutes, but that’s a maximum, not the actual time required. The time required varies based on the size of the batch and the starting temperature. My longest churn time of 35 minutes was with my hottest starting temperature of 42°F (5°C). Also, 60% of the bowl is the maximum fill capacity (top of the mixing blade), so I made sure not to exceed that.Taste, texture, and flavor depend on the recipe you use, but they provide a book with dozens of recipes. Thousands of additional recipes are available online as well.Maybe the best part of the machine is the simple cleanup. It’s really just cleaning the stainless steel bowl and the plastic mixing blade, that’s it. The manual says not to put them in the dishwasher, but since they’re so easy to clean, there’s no need to do that anyway.

Easy to use and clean, makes great texture of ice cream - making both dairy cream based and sorbet, it's upright so saves counter space, and the container is reasonable size (compared to other brands and chose this also due to the container size). Don't get anything smaller if you're a family, this is the minimal size of a container. The noise is really ok, I was concerned it'd be worse, it's something in the background and it doesn't disturb sitting in the kitchen when it works.

I love home churned ice cream. I previously used old fashion wood churn with electric motor, ice, and rock salt for freezing. Home made is the best. I decided to get a more automated home churn and researched types. I chose the Whynter ICM 201SB Automatic compressor Ice Cream Maker. One of the best items I have purchased! It is extremely well built. Very well designed. Very simple to use with great recipes. From start to finish, it made 2 quarts of delicious fresh picked peach ice cream in about 45 minutes!!! The machine is very quiet and can easily have conversation right next to machine. My old wooden motor churn was so loud, I had to take it to the deck outside. Very impressed!

Nice machine; heavy but solid. Easy to use, not too noisy, makes the texture of ice cream that suits you. Plays well with ice cream recipes from many books beyond the recipes in the enclosed manual.

After searching product reviews, I opted for the Whynter stainless steel model and have no regrets. The entire machine is well made, easy to run, runs efficientl, makes perfect ice cream every time, and clean up is easy! I really like having a built-in compressor. Trying to find room in my freezer for a mixing bowl was always a problem and this is probably why my old less expensive ice cream machine ended up in my basement and collected dust. Wife and I couldn't be happier with the Whytner!