Making ice cream at home, especially when you have a ton of people over for dinner or a barbecue is fraught with headaches when you have one of those machines that only produces 2 quart or 1.5 quarts.You won’t have that problem with the Hamilton Beach ice cream maker. It prepares a whopping 4 quarts of whatever dessert you want to consume.
With production time of about 30 minutes, this Hamilton Beach 4-quart appliance will have your dessert ready for your guests by the time they are done with the main course. The 4 quarts produced will serve up to 6 people with healthy portions.
Features
This model is one of those where you have to mix salt and ice to create the cooling effect needed to chill your chosen ice cream base to perfection. You can get rock salt from most department stores, and crushed ice can be gotten from your ice maker or also at the store (they cost about $3 for a small bag). It’s essential that you have enough rock salt as the rapid melting of the crushed ice is what actually makes the temperature of the device cold enough for ice cream to be produced.
How it works
This model requires no cranking or stirring. You simply fill the bigger bucket with ice and rock salt in layers for even cooling. Next, place the stainless steel bucket containing your dessert base in the middle of this, place the paddle in the mixture and simply plug it in. It turns on automatically and you can leave this baby and it will automatically turn itself off when the ice cream is all done. It comes with an easy lock lid to keep the internal environment at just the right temperature, to ensure your delicious dessert is well frozen.
It produces ice cream of a soft serve consistency. You may want to enjoy it like that, but if you want a firmer texture, place the ice cream n your freezer for another hour.
While you can only make one batch at a go with the Hamilton Beach, its one HUGE batch. 4 quarts of delicious dessert which should be enough to satisfy up to 6 people. Once you have one batch scooped out, you can rinse out the stainless steel bowl, pour another layer of rock salt and ice and have another batch ready to go in a few minutes.
The device doesn’t need its drum to be pre-frozen; therefore as long as you have the ice cream base, the rock salt and ice, you can have your dessert ready in 30 minutes.
Uses
You can also prepare frozen yogurt, custard, sherbet, sorbet, gelato and ice cream with it. The sheer amount of flours and tastes you can achieve with this will have you dizzy with which to create first. Whatever your dessert of choice, the Hamilton Beach Ice cream Maker gives you the have the chance to ‘spoil’ your loved ones with their favorite treats. With this machine, you can easily mix in many extra items that you want, from nuts to cookies to chopped fruit.
Instructions included
The Hamilton Beach 68330R 4-Quart Ice Cream Maker comes with an easy to understand instruction manual and recipe booklet. The manual shows you how to use your appliance and the recipe booklet shows you 20 different recipes you can easily prepare.
Like many ice cream makers, the motor makes some noise when its churning your dessert. The noise is no louder than a dishwasher, and only lasts for 20 – 40 minutes. I put up with the noise because the lovely tasting dessert produced at the end is well worth it.
Cleaning up
Cleaning a Hamilton Beach 4 quart ice cream maker is easy as it separates into parts that are hand washable. It’s also quite easy to clean as the paddles and bowl are easily separated and washed under a running tap.
Dimensions
It is always a good idea to keep in mind the amount of space you have available when buying kitchen appliances. This will let you know the item will fit in its allotted space and can also be easily stored when you are not using it. The Hamilton Beach Ice cream maker measures 12 x 12 x 13.5 inches and is powered by an 80 watt motor. Hamilton Beach offers a 1 year warranty on this product.
While 4 quarts may seem like a ton of creamy dessert, and you may have worries about the motor included with this low-priced appliance may not be able to keep up, I can assure you that the 80 watt motor in this machine is quite capable.
Tips for best use
One issue some buyers had was that the power cord was a bit short. I solved this by simply using an extension socket I had at home. The short power cord on this device reduces tangling, but some people don’t like it, but you can simply buy an extension cord and you will be fine.
The price you pay for a machine that can produce this much creamy delight is unbelievable. Amazon also offers completely free shipping.
Pricing
The sale price of many brands is between $25 and $500. While the more expensive, ‘higher-end’ machines produce ice cream that is just as good, if not better, than commercially available ice cream, there are some gems to be found among the cheaper machines that do just as well.
The Hamilton Beach 68330R 4-Quart Automatic Ice-Cream Maker is one of them.
