You’ll need a strong spatula and a bit of muscle power if you go that route.Īfter solidifying, my ice cream was still delicious. The height of the canister also makes it tricky to get all of the ice cream out. The provided canister can be sealed and placed in the freezer, but it was slightly too tall for mine, so I opted to transfer to a Tupperware. To create scoopable ice cream, you’ll need to transfer the mixture to the freezer to harden. At the end of the instructed time, my ice cream was fluffy, creamy, and delicious. Then, I reassembled and churned for 5 more minutes to incorporate the treats and finish off the ice cream. One potential drawback, this bucket component of this machine is fairly large.Even with everything tucked inside, the Nostalgia Ice Cream Maker is too large to store anywhere in my kitchen.Īfter 25 minutes of churning, I paused my ice cream maker to add walnuts and shaved chocolate. The lid makes this process more cumbersome than on models where there is an opening into the canister. If you’re hoping to swirl in nuts, candy, or other mix-ins, you’ll have to pause the machine, remove the motor, open the canister, add any additional ingredients, and then reassemble the machine. The lid also presents another challenge of determining when to add mix-ins. You’ll have to trust the clock since the semi-opaque lid makes it difficult to watch the progress of your ice cream as it thickens. Instructions say to churn the ice cream for 30 minutes. It could be the more exposed motor, or the canister rubbing against its icy surroundings, but this machine emits a fairly loud noise. My first impression was that this machine is much louder than other countertop ice cream makers. The Best Ice Cream Scoops For Sundae-Worthy Spheres Performance: Loud, but churns delicious ice creamĪfter packing the ice and salt around the canister, I poured the ice cream base into the metal canister, inserted the churning paddle, popped the lid on, and attached the motor. If after a few minutes of churning your ice still looks mostly solid, pour on some more salt. The instructions also advise stirring and periodically adding more salt during the churning process. The amount of ice and salt used will impact the temperature of the liquid surrounding your ice cream canister, which will impact the texture of your final ice cream, so these instructions don’t exactly set you up to get consistent results. During testing, I used about 1.5 medium bags of ice and about 3 cups of salt. The instructions recommend using 1-2 medium bags of ice and 2-4 cups of salt. If you don’t add enough salt, the ice mixture won’t melt enough or get cold enough to create smooth ice cream. With the Nostalgia machine, the goal is to freeze the ice cream base quickly by surrounding the canister with super cold ice water. Freezing ice cream as quickly as possible prevents large ice crystals from forming. When it comes to making ice cream, the colder, the better.

Nostalgia appliances