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

I am having a ball using this machine. I've had a freezer bowl ice cream maker before and switching to a compressor ice cream machine has been a great decision. it is easy to use and it makes just enough ice cream. And if it isn't enough ice cream, I can make more a few minutes later. The machine doesn't take up a lot of space. It will shut off if the motor is running for too long (making 2-3 batches consecutively, for instance) to avoid overheating. It also shuts off when the ice cream gets too thick for the dasher. this happened to me and it didn't take long to cool down. I am grateful for this feature as i haven't yet figured out how long to churn a particular recipe. I don't worry about damaging the machine. This ice cream maker is well made. it looks great. The mixer bowl is solid. it has a chill feature. It feels durable and it's not loud. You get about 2 and a half Ben & Jerry pints out of it. I've only made custard ice cream so far. I have no regrets. Basic custard ice cream recipe 5 egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup full fat milk, dash of salt,1 T vanilla. Adjust to your liking (I like to add an additional 1/2 cup milk). You can find full instructions on YouTube. I suggest a thermometer to help with tempering and cooking the eggs. Don't worry, it's easy. Enjoy!

This is the most excellent ice cream maker we have ever had. The best part is that you can do multiple batches very efficiently. It produces its own refrigeration, so there is no need to keep re-freezing the inner ring, which is common in most ice cream makers. Additionally, there's no inner ring occupying space in your freezer when it is not in use. The Whynter is exceptionally robust and well-made. It features a see-through top that opens, allowing you to add extra ingredients during the process, such as chocolate chips or any other items your recipe requires. I also love that, when making custard-based ice creams, you don't have to waste time pre-chilling the custard in an ice bath or in the fridge before starting it in the ice cream maker. This unit features a setting that allows it to rapidly pre-chill the custard right inside the machine. The Whynter has been a game-changer for us. It's just so easy and efficient. Now we enjoy making ice cream instead of looking at it as a chore.

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 !!)

Why did you pick this product vs others?: I hit a home run with this Whynter Ice Cream Maker! I purchased the Whynter Model ICM-201SB. I did a lot of research before purchasing this particular brand and model. It’s currently Consumer Reports top rated ice cream maker and I can certainly see why. The ice cream maker makes the best ice cream I’ve ever had. I love that I can make whatever flavor I want and can also make gelato and sorbet. The ice cream texture is perfectly creamy even after two weeks in the freezer, I have read that other models produce ice cream that becomes grainy after a day or two in the freezer. I love that I can make large batches because it produces 2 quart batches at a time. I also love that I don’t have to freeze the mixing bowl ahead of time, like many other brands of ice cream makers require. Additionally, the ice cream maker stops turning automatically when the ice cream becomes solid so the motor doesn’t overheat. Then the Extended. Cooling Function kicks in and keeps the ice cream cold until I can take it out. This is really convenient if I’m in the kitchen preparing a meal because I don’t have to worry about taking the ice cream out immediately. Cleanup is a breeze. Hint: purchase an extra stainless steel mixing bowl. That way you can make double batches easily or make two different kinds of ice cream quickly.

Got this for my birthday and it’s already one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. It cranks out legit ice cream in about 30 minutes, which is way faster than I expected for something this size. Texture comes out smooth and creamy, not icy. Super easy to use. Pour in your base, hit start, and you’re basically done. The top opening makes it simple to toss in add-ins like chocolate chips, cookie dough, or fruit without stopping the cycle. Cleanup is straightforward, and the build feels solid. If you want fresh ice cream without a lot of effort or planning ahead, this is a no-brainer.

We are serious ice cream makers. We have been using a 6 qt White Mountain with a motor for years, and a 3 qt hand cranker before that. We even make our own sugar cones, that is how serious we are about our ice cream habit. After years of wanting one of these internal compressor units, doing all the research we decided on this Whynter ICM-201SB. We have had it for 2 weeks and have made 4 batches of ice cream. We absolutely love this unit. We do use modernist pantry perfect ice cream stabilizer so we heat a portion of our base to 180 to activate the stabilizers. We then ad the reaming base ingredients cold, which brings the base down to about 90 deg F. We are putting the 90 degree base into the unit and it takes about 1 hr and 15 mins to get an ice cream ready for curing in the freezer. We made the first batch with a cool base and it only took 1 hr. We could not be more please at the ease of use. It is surprisingly quite with a dull humming as it operates. I deducted a star because it does stop churning sooner than I would like because of the resistance on the motor, which probably could be stronger. We are very happy with our purchase despite needing a slightly longer cure time after churning. This fast and easy to clean unit is allowing us to explore making way more flavors. We are excited to continue our ice cream making adventures with this Whynter ICM-201SB

Intuitive interface, nice looking, replacement parts / additional bowls available if you want to switch between flavors. High quality and works perfectly as described. It comes with a 1yr warranty, so when I had an issue after six months, I reached out to the manufacturer -- and Whynter's customer service was amazing, super responsive, and super helpful. I can't say enough good things about this company or product. Worth the price, absolutely. I find most recipes only take 20-30 minutes, but it gets firmer the longer you let it go softserve consistency is usually about 30 min. Storebought ice cream firmness can take 45 min. Milkshake is like 10-15. Also, the more liquid, the longer it takes. So you can do a smaller batch for a quick snack. I can usually get the equivalent of a pint in 25min min. Pro tip: super easy, lazy ice cream mix = blend a nutition shake with chia seeds and a bit of extra sweetener (I use Splenda), and optionally a bit of peanut butter or coconut cream to make it extra creamy, and you have a super-fast ice cream that you can eat as a meal guilt-free. I love it. (Full disclosure: i've found that a high-quality blender is a must if you're starting from a powdered mix). I make only weird vegan recipes and it still manages to make yummy ice ceam of anything I throw in there.

This was the best gift I have ever received! It is rated top quality by best kitchen. It comes with a quick and easy recipe guide, it makes 2 quarts of ice cream and it does it quickly. The ice cream is soft and delicious and easy to add flavors. The noise level is very acceptable and it allows me to make healthy ice cream without all the chemicals of store-bought. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves ice cream, plus there's no freezing and waiting 24 hours to eat your ice cream, it's quick and under an hour you can have delicious ice cream sorbet or other recipes of your choosing. It's a beautiful appliance, sturdy and holds up well. I have never been happier with an appliance, definitely worth every penny spent! ♥️♥️♥️