Hello y’all. I found an ice cream maker with a unique twist on the classic hand crank model. We have a 1 quart machine that runs totally on muscle power. Talk about going green.
You will have seen those 4 quart or 6 quart monsters from days gone by that needed pails of ice and rock salt to make ice cream, not forgetting the oodles of elbow grease needed to turn the darn crank. Well, Donvier took the best bits of those and combined with the freezer bowl method to produce something really unique.
Main Features
The Donvier 1- Quart is a freezer bowl ice cream maker, with a twist. Literally. You have your standard freezer bowl and you also have the hand crank mechanism on a much smaller and easier to use scale. No salt, no ice, just meshing of 2 parts of existing tech to create summin’ new. Talk about innovation. This makes the Donvier 1-Quart quite portable, compact and darn easy to use.
The appliance is made up of the following parts:
- Bowl – Made from a heavy-duty, durable plastic. The lid is made from the same light yet tough material.
- Aluminum canister (freezer bowl) standing at 7 inches and 6 inches in diameter is small enough to find some space in my crowded freezer for. Being aluminum, ensure you don’t scrape out ice cream with anything metal. You will damage the canister. Use a rubber spatula or a plastic spoon.
- The 3 parts that assemble to form a hand crank.
That’s all folks. Talk about easy…
Ease of use
Not content with being a breeze to put together, the Donvier is also really simple to use. Simply freeze the aluminum bowl for up to 24 hours, this is much easier due to its small size.
When ready to use, pull out bowl and place in the outer shell. Make sure you position the plastic ring on it and ensure the slots in the ring line up with the slots in the bowl. The ring is used to hold the canister in place inside the bowl.
Stick in the well designed and wide paddle, in the groove made for it. Place the transparent lid, and assemble the crank arm.
There you go. All done in 40 seconds.
Let the cranking begin. Don’t be alarmed though. Unlike other hand crank ice cream makers, the Donvier only requires you to crank every 2 minutes. The beauty is that you can decide to churn ANYWHERE you want. No power cords or wires, hence no restrictions. Set it down and turn the handle full circle every 2 minutes, while you watch TV or read a few chapters of that book you have had lying around. The wide paddle scrapes every inch of the bowl preventing build up and ensuring creamy consistency.
After about 15 – 20 minutes, your ice cream will be ready and come out as soft serve. If you want it any firmer, you need to stick it in a container and let it ‘ripen’ in the freezer for up to 2 hours.
The ease with which ice cream is made using the Donvier is nothing short of amazing. You are only limited only by your imagination. Setting up the gadget is so darn easy to set up as all its parts slot neatly and firmly in place.
Cleaning
The aluminum freezer bowl is easily cleaned. Simply rinse in warm water as soon as all the ice cream is out.. The outer shell and lid are also easy to clean as they are plastic. It is really easy to separate the parts and so break them down for washing up.
Design and Looks
This really efficient appliance stands at 9.5 inches high, just tall enough to fit under a shelf.. The fact that there are no cords or cables, allows you to move it to any location that suits you, whenever you need to. Weighing in at 6.5 pounds, it is reasonably light too.
The patented Chillfast cylinder, a double-walled freezer cylinder, provides the required level of insulation. Folks, the 1 quart size is quite appealing as it is suddenly easier to experiment with flavors and mixtures before committing to creating larger batches.
One thing I absolutely love about this is this is the first ice cream maker I have seen that produces absolutely no sound, Absolutely no noise since no motor.
Extras
A bog-standard instruction manual with a few recipes included. An excellent ice cream recipe book is Ben & Jerry’s ‘Homemade Ice-Cream & Dessert Book‘.
My opinion
The Donvier outshines many ice cream makers, with the following pluses:-
- Reasonable price point
- Extreme ease of use
- Capable of being be made into a fun activity,
- No fuss or mess involved in its use,
- It is eco friendly
Dare I say this, but this may actually trump a couple of electric ice cream makers.
Pick up the Donvier for a steal on Amazon, with free shipping.
Photo Credit: yummy sorbet
