Dash My Pint Ice Cream Maker

I have the Cuisinart ice cream maker but for some reason I don't use it very much. When I saw these I thought oh I'll get two and if more people are here I can make more and if it's just me and I don't want to pig out I can make less. So far that theory is working out well. I follow the directions exactly, making sure to chill the cup well and to have my ingredients well chilled also. They say that it runs for 20 minutes but I think that you can take the ice cream out in half that time, that's just the time it takes before it warms up too much. One thing that I didn't pay attention to in the instructions, which made me think it was broken for a few minutes there, is that you switch it on and then put the dasher/motor on top of the ice cream cup part. If you try to put it on and then start it, it doesn't start. Also it says to let the ice cream chill before serving. But then I had a really hard time getting it out. This was several hours later. So what I do now is as soon as it's done, use the plastic spoon and scoop the ice cream quickly into an already chilled lidded container and stick it in the freezer. Best if you spoon it in lightly do it doesn't freeze into a solid block. I've so far made frozen lemon ice with fresh thyme and lemon zest and a bit of white wine, and a kind of frozen puree of ripe peach and nectarine. And I did leave chunks of fruit, and it turned out very well. I suggest you look up proportion of light corn syrup to sugar. The ratio matters. I went with about three parts syrup to one part sugar. I just zap sugar and water in the 'wave for a few seconds, add the corn syrup, use what I need and put the rest in the fridge.

Instead of buying a very popular ice cream maker with a big footprint and an even bigger price, I opted to get this Dash freezer. I was hesitant to get this appliance because I eat a vegan diet and I have diabetes which means I have to watch everything I eat. Ever since being diagnosed with diabetes, I eat only healthy homemade food and wasn't sure if eating homemade ice cream would work for me. Also, I already have a larger ice cream maker I no longer use because of my health condition. I love ice cream but only eat a couple of spoonfuls once a year on my birthday. I was pleasantly surprised how much I love this little machine because I can make delicious non-dairy frozen treats without all the calories and fat. Since it arrived earlier this week, I have made 3 kinds of frozen yogurt from my homemade non-dairy yogurt in chocolate, coffee with chocolate chips and mixed berry flavors. Since using up all the yogurt, I make a new non-dairy flavor ice cream almost every day and so far have enjoyed maple walnut, pumpkin pecan and peanut butter which have turned out fantastic (see photo of maple walnut). I get 2 servings out of every batch...one-half to eat now and I freeze the other half in a small container for another day. The Dash Electric Ice Cream Maker is the perfect size for 1-2 people, is great if you are on a special diet or just want to limit special treats. The only negative is that the electric lid does not securely fasten to the freezer container and most of the time you have to hold it down with your hand while making the ice cream, especially when the mixture is very cold. A better design would be to have a screw-on secure lid so it wouldn't move around while processing. I am very happy with my purchase of this Dash ice cream maker and have many more flavors in mind to try before I run out of ideas. Now I can eat ice cream more often instead of only on my birthday!

This was totally an impulse buy. I saw an ad browsing the web, looked at a few reviews and next thing I know it was being shipped to my doorstep. I had low expectations when I ordered this but the reviews were positive enough for me to give it a try. Construction Quality There's not much to it and it seems reasonably well built. There is no assembly needed other than putting the pieces together needed for normal operation. The motor sounds a bit "rickety" but in my experience ice cream makers always sound similar to this one. I believe it's because of the gearing needed to have such a small motor churn thick ice cream. I am concerned the paddle may break over time because the two small prongs used to hold it into the motor. These seem like the most likely points of failure in the overall design. My other suggestions to the manufacturer would be to have a way to more securely attach the motor to the chill bowl and find a design that keeps the chill bowl cold longer. Operation It's easy to operate but there are some tips & tricks that you may need to use to get the best results. If you follow the basic instructions you should get satisfactory results. However, there are some tweaks you can use to get better results if you are not satisfied with the initial results (see "Tips & Tricks" below). Pros Compact design takes up little kitchen/freezer space Easy cleanup and care Once prep work is done you can be enjoying homemade ice cream in a matter of minutes Cons Prep work requires you to think ahead to have everything properly chilled before operation Only makes 1 cup of ice cream (not enough for many ice cream lovers) May require additional time and effort if you like your ice cream thick Tips & Tricks The chill bowl can have difficulties remaining cold long enough to produce thick ice cream. To help get the most freezing power from the ice cream maker I have done the following: Freeze everything at least 24 hours (includes every part of the ice cream maker BESIDES the motor). Freeze or chill any scoops, bowls, etc. you will be using to serve or store the ice cream. Chill your ice cream mixture for at least 12 hours in the fridge and then place in freezer until it thickens before making your ice cream (time will vary based on how cold you keep your freezer, the container you put your mixture in etc.) Do not allow the mixture to freeze or become too thick. You only want to start the freezing process so the ice cream maker can have time to inject air into the mixture while the freezing process completes in the chill bowl. Wrap a towel around the chill bowl/cup during the ice cream making process to help insulate the chill bowl so it stays cold longer. Avoid opening the ice cream maker once you've turned it on and started churning. This will inject warm air into the chamber and reduce it's cooling ability. If you prefer thicker ice cream you can place it in the freezer for several hours. I suggest scooping the ice cream into a chilled or frozen container and placing plastic wrap directly on top of any exposed ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming. Properly stored ice cream (see above) can be kept in the freezer for many days so you can continue to make a batch everyday if you want to have more than one serving ready to eat. The included recipe book has only a couple of recipes. You can find additional recipes for other flavors of ice cream on the internet. Just be sure the recipe you are using can be adapted to this maker. For example, recipes that call for the addition of additives (e.g. candy pieces) may require you use less than one cup of cream mixture to account for the space that will be consumed when you add the additional ingredients later on in the churning process. Many recipes are designed for larger ice cream makers so you need to keep this mind. I suggest you avoid adding anything to the chill bowl after you start the ice cream making process. Any additives can be stirred into the ice cream after the churning process has completed. Or you can simply incorporate these additional ingredients as toppings. When making the ice cream mixture be sure to stir it until any sugar is dissolved. I like to store my mixture in a ziplock bag marked with the earliest "use by" date on any of the perishable products you used to make the mixture. The mixture can be stored in the fridge and should be used before this date. The butter fat in the mixture may separate slightly making it look as though the mixture has curdled. This is normal for high fat content cream that is used to make ice cream. This fat will blend into the ice cream when it churns, leaving a smooth creamy consistency to the final product. When making ice cream, fat content matters. It's what puts the "cream" in ice cream. Don't use lower fat milk products expecting similar results. Most ice cream recipes use a combination of heavy cream and whole milk. You should stick to these unless the recipe specifically calls for another type of milk or dairy product. However, if you have lower fat milk instead of whole, you can replace some of the lower fat milk with more heavy cream to maintain the proper overall fat content. How effective the chill bowl is at freezing the ice cream will depend on many variables but the most important is the room temperature. The chill bowl can warm to the point where it is no longer able to freeze the ice cream before the churning process has completed (i.e. 30 minutes). At this point you may experience diminishing returns as the ice cream is no longer thickening but instead beginning to warm. If it sounds like the motor is working harder to churn the ice cream you may want to consider stopping the process there before you reach the point of diminishing returns. Making ice cream this summer I found 20-25 minutes yielded better results instead of the full 30 minutes. I suspect come cooler temps this winter the chill bowl may remain cold longer and support a 30 minute churn.

If I could give it 0 stars I would. Didn't work. I froze the base for 24 hours, added my ingredients and turned it on. The next thing I know the lid keeps popping off, the cord got all tangled up and I ended up with a mess... I thought this would be a quick easy way to make my own ice cream, but it was a disaster. Started the return immediately.

Having trouble making my ice cream but haven’t given up yet. You can also use yogurt to make frozen yogurt, and sorbet.

The key to enjoying this item is to have realistic expectations. It’s not going to preform in the same way as a much more expensive machine. That being said, I’ve had a really great experience so far. There is a pretty steep learning curve and my first few attempts were not so successful. Here are some things that I’ve learned that have attributed to my success: 1. It is small. Like two scoops small. Don’t overfill it or you’re going to have a bad time. If you have two kids you might think about buying two of these. (It also needs a full 24 hours of freezer time between uses.) 2. Make sure to have everything ready to go. It will immediately start freezing around the edges once liquid is added. 3. Don’t make the mixture too thick. Liquid consistency is better. 5. Have enough fat in your recipe. Less fat means more ice crystals and less creamy texture. 6. The lid doesn’t exactly lock in place. It does have some grooves that it will click into. After you set the lid on turn the lid and you can feel it click into place. 7. You’re not going to get rock hard ice cream like at the store. It’s more along the lines of soft serve. If you wanted a more ice cream like consistency you’d need to freeze it after churning. If that’s what you want just buy the big ice cream machine. I have only used this for frozen yogurt but it works really well. I out about a cup of plain Greek yogurt 5% fat) in a bowl and add some almond milk and a splash of half and half. Then I add whatever flavoring or fruit that I want and stir it all up. I get the best results when it is liquid or near liquid in consistency. I’ve found it’s a good way to get extra protein while still satisfying the ice cream cravings. It’s easy to clean. The paddle detaches from the motor. It comes with a plastic spoon. I haven’t used any other spoons but I don’t think metal is a good idea. I hand wash everything and it doesn’t take much time.

I love dash products! Have a few of the, but this one is not so hotsy topsy. I love the idea of having just a little ice cream. Especially since I knew what the ingredients where. Well, I followed the instructions and used the recipe and didn’t have very much luck. First, I followed the instructions for plain old vanilla (happens to be my favorite) I took out the heavy cream and whole milk, both of which I rarely use, got out the sugar and pure vanilla extract. okay 2 cups of cream, 1 cup of milk and the other two ingredients were mixed into a bowl then plastic bag and place in the freezer for over 2 hours. (Instructions said 1-3 hours.) The chilling bowl part of the maker had been in the freezer for a week, so it should have been plenty cold. After two hours, ice creamer mixture was lumpy and semi frozen. Got out the make, put it together (very easy) and started to add a three up mixture into a one cup chilling cup. Okay no problem but the instructions didn’t say how long to mix the cream before it was ready. It did say the chilling bowl was best used within the first 20 minutes. Hum? Okay so, I turn on the motor and wait, and wait and wait. After 20 minutes, to say it was soft was a understatement. Okay I took the mixture (which had to go back into the freezer) out to refill another cup of the mixture and tried it again. That faired even worse. No texture at all. Just a soup of sweet white cream. No sense trying the third cup and it sits in my freezer, frozen solid and where it shall stay until trash day. This was a very disappointing experience. Doubt I shall be attempting this again. Must say, I love Dash’s waffle maker, bundt cake maker and egg cooker! Great little gadgets! But this one was a bust!

I highly recommend this little Dash ice cream maker. I have been making ice cream for years. First, I had the old-fashioned kind of ice cream maker, where you had to add salt to the ice. Then I had the kind where you froze the metal inner part, and cranked it by hand. Then I got a Cuisinart electric ice cream maker, and it makes a quart or so, effortlessly. Now, it's just my husband and me, we are retired, and we are cutting back on our sweets. We can't eat a quart of ice cream by ourselves anymore! This Dash ice cream maker is perfect! It is like the kind where you freeze the metal inner part, but it is electric, so you don't have to do any cranking. So, wash and dry everything. Put the inner part of the Dash into the freezer (the plastic cup with the handle comes off, and doesn't need to be in the freezer); freeze it 12 to 24 hours right at zero degrees. Then make your ice cream mixture. I like real ice cream, with egg yolks and heavy cream, but you can make whatever flavor you particularly crave. Here is my coffee ice cream recipe: Coffee Ice Cream: 1 egg yolk, whisk it in a bowl Add: ¼ cup sugar, whisk it again Add: ½ cup heavy cream from refrigerator, whisk it again. Add: ¾ tsp. instant coffee (espresso), and whisk it (I use the espresso coffee that comes in 1 tsp. packets, it's a yellow and red small box) In 1 quart pan: put ½ cup heavy cream, heat until boiling, whisking continually. As soon as it bubbles, take it off the heat, and whisk it gradually into the egg mixture in your bowl. Put the whole thing back into the pan, and heat until boiling, whisking continually. As soon as it bubbles, take it off the heat, whisking. I use setting 8.5 on my electric stove, and it only takes a couple of minutes to come to bubbles. As soon as you see bubbles around the edges, take it off the heat. Pour into a container, you should have about one cup. Add: ¼ tsp. organic vanilla extract Stir it occasionally for about 40 minutes while it cools. Then pour it into a quart Ziploc bag, seal, and put it into the freezer for 1 hour. You can churn it then, or you can put in the refrigerator overnight. Put into the cold Dash Ice Cream Maker, lower the beater while it is running, and churn for about 18 minutes. Can serve right away as “soft serve,” but it’s best when a little firmer. For firmer ice cream, put into a container and freeze for 3 hours. There is no need to churn more than 20 minutes, freeze it for harder consistancy. Don't put it back in the freezer in the Dash ice cream maker, put it in another container. If it becomes frozen really hard, put in microwave for about 10 seconds before serving. If you're eating it with cookies, cake, or pie, this is two servings. If you are pigging out, eat it all yourself. Awesome.