Sephra Classic 18" Home Fondue Fountain - 6lb Capacity - Serves 30-40 People

Update: I used the fountain for my daughter's birthday party again yesterday and once again it was a HUGE hit! I used the same Sephra real milk chocolate and had several people comment about how great it tasted. The fountain worked just as great this year and we went through 4 pounds of chocolate again with about 20 kids and 15 adults. It has been worth every penny!I bought this chocolate fountain to use at my daughter's 8th birthday party (Lion King themed). It worked great and was a HUGE hit among the kids and adults! I was nervous on party day because I didn't try it out first as I didn't want to waste chocolate or deal with clean up. It was very easy to set up. I chose to use the Sephra brand chocolate that you do not have to add oil to. It was very simple to use as well, just microwave in the bag, massage bag, and repeat until liquid. I preheated the chocolate fountain for about 5 minutes then it took me about 10 minutes of melting and massaging to prepare 4 pounds of chocolate. I dumped it in and turned it on. It flowed but didn't cover nicely so, per the instructions, I "burped" it. You just turn it off wait 20 seconds and turn it back on. It flowed beautifully after this (just like in the picture I posted). This fountain requires a minimum of 3 lbs of chocolate and has a maximum of 4 lbs. I used the 4 pounds for about 50 people (about half kids) and it was just right. When I turned the fountain off and dumped it there was probably 1/2 - 3/4 lbs left. I turned the fountain on about 3:15 and off about 7. It ran nicely the entire time with zero maintenance from me. It didn't flow as smoothly once some of the chocolate was eaten but that was to be expected and still worked just fine. I did find 2 dropped apple slices in the melted chocolate when I dumped it but that didn't seem to bother it either! I was really dreading cleaning this thing up but that was nearly as bad as I expected. I chose not to save any chocolate as that just didn't seem very sanitary to me after food (and probably kids hands) had been dipped in it. I would suggest a pair of gloves for clean up so your hands aren't covered in chocolate. I used the gloves to pull the tiers and the augur our. This was just a bit tricky because it was slippery so I had someone hold on to the base while I pulled and that was very helpful. I wiped as much of the chocolate as possible off with a paper towel (didn't want it in my pipes) then rinsed in hot water. This was very easy and these parts are dishwasher safe. I dumped the leftover chocolate out of the base onto the plastic disposable tablecloth it was sitting onand rolled it up and threw it away. I wiped the chocolate out with a paper towel them cleaned with a wet cloth. I'd say clean up and disassembly took about 20 mins. That was worth it for the joy the kids got from it! I was also concerned about it being hot around kids but that was not an issue either. The fountain keeps the chocolate warm but not hot and the base doesn't get too hot either. I can't wait to use it again!

Sephra Classic 18 Inch Home Fondue FountainI bought this cautiously after reading Amazon reviews. I had never even seen a chocolate fountain before, but the doctor I worked for wanted to have 2 going for a Ladies' Nite he was hosting at his clinic. Everything went without a hitch and they were the focal point of the party.My biggest concerns after reading the reviews was that it wouldn't work, or that it wouldn't work right, or that it would be hard to clean. However, I found the instructions very, very clear and simply followed them to a "T". The instructions aren't hard, long or really detailed, and they seem to be written to take care of any potential problems beforehand.From this experience, I will tell other novice users a couple things I learned that aren't in the manual that may have contributed to this being such a positive experience. First, I bought the Just Melt It fondue that is specifically made for chocolate fountains. I melted the chocolate in the tubs they came in, and I preheated the units (there's a switch for the heat and a switch to turn the auger to make the fountain work and I just turned the "heat" switch on) for 5-10 minutes before putting in the melted chocolate. Second, I kept the bottom basin of the fountain fairly full and made sure I only put in warm chocolate. Third, for cleanup, since the party ended late, I put the top assembly gently in a garbage bag, dumped out the remaining chocolate of the bottom and wiped out the basin fairly well with dry paper towels. I protected the bag from getting bumped or smashed when transporting the unit home, because the plastic will break. The next morning, I ran hot sudsy water into my sink and put the auger, tube, and other plastic parts into it and let them soak for 5 minutes or so. Most of the hardened chocolate melted off, and when I swished the parts in the water, the more came off. Then I drained the sink and ran more hot sudsy water into it and the parts got most of remaining the oil layer off. I used a cotton swab for 4 areas, and then put them into the dishwasher to sanitize. I don't even think I would have needed the second wash if it hadn't hardened on. For the basins, since you can't submerge them, I put a cup of the hot sudsy water into them and washed well.Since many of the negative reviews seem to be older, perhaps this product had a bad instruction manual then or was designed differently. However, I felt that everything was pretty straightforward and since I used two of them all evening and got the same result, I would recommend this unit.UPDATE on 7/19/2014: I still own this unit and have used it several times since writing this review. I would only add 3 tips to new users for it:1) Be sure to be gentle with the tube plastic pieces when they are assembled, because I accidentally snapped off a tab when I wasn't thinking and stressed the unit. The assembly still works perfectly fine.2) if the fountain is not having the pretty uniform draping effect, simply turn the auger off and wait until the chocolate drops down back into the bottom. This has happened for me more than once and I kept thinking it had something to do with the chocolate when it was simply there was air in the system. It happens mostly when the unit has been running for many hours and/or the chocolate level in the bottom basin gets too low. Because of that...3) Keep the chocolate in the basin all the way to the rim of the curve of the basin, allowing the straight edge to show (about 1" from the top).

I bought this chocolate fountain and it was a nightmare from the start. The chocolate arrived melted and streaked, making it completely unusable. Their “solution”? Microwave the chocolate in the plastic packaging. Unsafe, ridiculous, and utterly unprofessional advice for a product that costs this much.When I followed their instructions, the machine barely worked—dispensing chocolate tablespoon by tablespoon. With an event starting in an hour, I had no choice but to give up, clean it, and return it.Here’s the outrageous part: I had to pay for return shipping, and then they refused to refund 50% of my purchase because I had “used” the machine. Let me get this straight—you sell a defective product, give unsafe instructions, and punish me for trying to use it? If this were any normal appliance, tool, or gadget, testing it safely before returning it would not cost me hundreds of dollars.Plugging in a machine to test if it works is not “use” that should justify slashing my refund. This is not just poor customer service—it’s a blatant ripoff.Avoid this product. It’s defective, their advice is dangerous, and their refund policy is a scam. I will never, ever buy from this company again. Amazon should take this listing down.

Love this fountain! It was a hit at my daughter's graduation party. It was EZ assembly and directions were clear and specific on how to operate. Don't cut corners on the chocolate you use. I ordered the Sephra Belgium chocolate and everyone was asking what kind I used it was so tasty. I also ordered bamboo sticks separately. They worked well for a large party instead of the limited amount of fondue forks that come with the fountain. Can't wait to try cheese fondue next!

I recently just bought the Sephra Classic home fondue fountain and I would recommend it because this product was worth the price. I use the chocolate fountain for my fruit/candy table I provide for my clients. In order to catch people's attention with the table, the main attraction that draws people in is the chocolate fountain. This fountain really does an amazing job with, standing out, being easy to assembly, no motor noise, and capacity.The fountain compared to others is incredibly easy to use. All that you must do is assemble the tops which is easy and quick to do. There are six total pieces you must assemble. You put both pipes together and stick the swirly part inside the pipes, which will allow the chocolate to rise, then finally adding the three tops to the pipes. On the back it has two buttons for heating up the bottom bowl that holds the chocolate and the other to start the flow of the chocolate. Like I said, extremely easy to use with working the machine and assembling it.The chocolate flow is very smooth and even, and it does not get any gaps in the flow on any side. Once putting in the melted chocolate there should be no problem with it getting stuck or drying up. The chocolate is not maintained super-hot, but just enough to stay in liquid form. The bottom bowl keeps it warm enough to have that nice soft silky look and texture. When putting a fruit in to get covered in chocolate it does not ruin the dynamic of the flow or overload any other area. You can also tell when it needs refilling because the flow becomes lighter, but what I like about it is that it does not disrupt the flow of the chocolate or start spacing in between.Something I find helpful and appealing about this fountain is that the motor does not make any noise. This helps if you have someone who helps set up and organize the fruit/candy table with you, because it allows you to hear each other and communicate easier. When you’re using the chocolate fountain and it is on during the event or occasion people do not want to hear that loud motor noise. It kills the attraction of the elegant chocolate fountain to a noisy machine and people end up looking around for the noise instead of enjoying the fruit/candy table.The chocolate fountain is big like shown in the picture and described in the details and has a lot of capacity. It can hold maximum six pounds which can serve 40-60 people. Of course, you must refill once it gets on low, but the 6 pounds lasts a great period of the event. The tops are a good width giving the illusion of it being big and it is also tall which looks great. It is not small which is good, because it makes the fruit/candy table look better. Some tables have small fountains that do not look right, but this is one fits just right because it is not to small you cannot see it, but it is also not to big that it is taking over the whole table leaving no space.Overall, I think it is worth paying for you if you plan on reusing it. The material is great, so it does not break easily and when I ordered it, I had no problem with packaging either. I found it to be the easiest from the ones I have seen and tried personally. I never had a problem or technical difficulty with this product so far. I have already used it several times and it has worked fantastically. Unlike other fountains you can also use cheese instead of chocolate if someone wants to use cheese instead of chocolate. It just works amazing, and it has so many benefits that others do not offer, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fountain.

We purchased this fountain for our parent organization to use at school functions. Our first use of the fountain was at prom, serving 80-90 teenagers and chaperones, and we used 8lbs of chocolate in total, although 6lbs would have been plenty. We used the Sephra Premium Milk Fondue Chocolate and pre-melted the first 6lbs in the microwave at home. We started the fountain with 4lbs of chocolate and then added an additional 2lbs right after turning it on. We noticed that there were some gaps in the curtain, so we stopped the fountain and allowed it to "burp" as the instructions say to do. That took care of the problem, and we had no issues the rest of the evening! The last 2lbs we had the facility melt for us in their kitchen later on in the evening and we added it to make sure we didn't run out.Cleanup was easy once we got the machine home (take one plastic garbage bag to hold the "chocolate-y" parts in the car on the way home, and another one for any leftover chocolate that needs to be thrown away--it should not be dumped down the sink). The stainless base screws off of the bottom of the fountain so you can clean it without fear of getting water inside the machine, and the plastic parts are dishwasher safe. I soaked them in hot soapy water and then rinsed them before placing in the dishwasher. This machine worked better and only cost a few dollars more than the rental machine we used last year! We are very happy with this purchase.TIP: Plan on using an extension cord if you are not placing this on a counter with an electrical outlet VERY close. The cord on the machine itself is short.

Sephra is on the top of every home-use chocolate fountain, so I went with the recommendation & it performed as it should (one use so far, so this is not a longevity review). I will say that it has the worst instructions & even the you tube videos are flooded with manufacturer propaganda :) I just wanted the basic checklist & unfortunately the instructions were filled with how to use the machine with their branded chocolate. Fortunately, I found a website that gave the recipe for unbranded chocolate ratio (I cup bittersweet chips to 1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil...costco has a great price). You must load the machine with the proper amount of chocolate, I did 6 pounds of chocolate & it lasted for a 4 hour open house with lots of guests. Clean up was a snap with the removable base: but you must clean right away before the chocolate cools. The machine was super quiet. I wonder if some of the bad reviews didn't the proper amount of product. Included is a funnel so you can test viscosity & you must use a proper weight of product otherwise it will not flow down the tiers.... you can't test it with a small amount of product.

I had been renting a fountain from a party supply place for years and finally I decided to buy my own. Why did I wait so long!First off for those who have complained that it's hard to clean- yes, you're dealing with what is basically a foot of chocolate covered plastic and it can be a mess if you don't know how to do it. Having used mine 20+ times now I'm a pro. First of all you MUST clean this as soon as you turn it off or the chocolate will get hard. The sooner the better. Rinse the chocolate off with HOT water. Don't even bother scrubbing at it. Just run hot water over it and it will melt off, then give it a soapy wash and you're done. No you cannot "submerge" the unit in water but you CAN pull off the plastic fountain parts and clean them in the sink in the hottest water possible and then unplug the fountain and place the basin of the unit- the part that holds the chocolate- under hot running water. As long as you don't get water into the sides of the unit where the motor is located you're fine. Sometimes I even just put the whole thing in the sink and just fill the chocolate basin with hot water and let it sit for a minute before rinsing it with hot water. Hot water and a little dish soap takes it right off.I get this thing cleaned in like 5 minutes.If you don't feel like messing with the plastic fountain (you're in a hurry, the event is small one or you just plain don't feel like cleaning it later) just leave that off, turn the heat on the unit and use it like a fondu. Then you don't have to clean all the attachments. Rinse the basin of the unit with hot water and you're done. Another tip is to use wrapping paper on the table. There will be chocolate drips and you don't want that on your table cloth or wood. I take a small kid's table which is the perfect height for the little ones who want to reach the fountain, wrap it with festive wrapping paper. Then I just tear off the wrapping paper and toss it at the end of the night.This unit is a decent size. I have hosted work events, block parties and more and have used this and it's perfect for a crowd of 20-45 without having to refill the chocolate. You'll need 2-3 bags if you want the fountain to flow properly.You can get the chocolate at Joanne's or Michael's too- no need to buy it on here. Just pop the bag in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes and bam, you're ready to go. Please note, you do need to heat the basin for a few minutes before putting in your chocolate and make sure not to burn your chocolate or it will seize and won't flow. The little chocolate disks should be just melted. You can tell if they are melted by kneeding the bag with your hands.It is so quite that I actually got mad that the one I had been renting all these years was so dang loud! I have used this almost every week since I got it. The kids LOVE it. I just put out some pretzels, marshmallows and fruit and let them have a go. It makes every dessert fun and fancy. I highly recommend owning this. It's been a great investment.

子ども＆大人の30人規模のパーティーに使用するために購入しました。過去にレンタルで使用したことがあるので、使い方など問題なく使用できました。輸入家電なので、コンセントの差し込みに変換が必要なのでその注意と、日本語の取説があれば☆5つです!!