VillaWare V5100 Classic Ice Cream & Gelato Maker, Electric

Despite precooling all the ingredients before and after blending, I have NEVER gotten this maker to freeze the mixtures to ice cream. Try a different brand.

If you like home made ice cream and don't like the mess of ice and salt, this maker solves some of that problem. It does not freeze the ice cream very solid. So for very soft serve it works OK.

I've read all the reviews and will give you some real concrete reasons not to buy this. I didn't expect this product to do all of the work for me and I understand the reasoning behind some of the directions, such as cooling the mixture before pouring it into the freezing bowl (the bowl will thaw out if you don't!!!!!!!!)I received this and a Cuisinart ice cream maker as gifts at the same time. I decided to keep the VillaWare since I Knew they made industrial machines. I made three batches in my VillaWare, one ice cream, one non-dairy "ice cream" and one sorbet. I just kept thinking "Is this really how it should look?". I was following all of the directions (which aren't as big of a hassle as some would make them out to be!) and I ended up with mildly frozen slush which I had to put in the freezer to make it even remotely firm enough to eat. So, I broke out the Cuisinart that I was going to return and made the exact same sorbet recipe that I had made the previous day. Good thing I did, The Cuisinart batch was more frozen after 5 minutes than the VillaWare after 20 minutes. It produced a nice sorbet that was still soft but firm enough to eat right out of the freezing bowl. These machines operate under the exact same concept so from what I could tell the problem is this; The Villaware bowl doesn't seem to be quite as cold and the paddle that is supposed to scrape the frozen mixture from the side of the bowl isn't close enough to the bowl to scrape enough off to freeze the whole batch. The paddle on the Cuisinart sits right against the side of the bowl and allows the entire batch to freeze and be scraped off and mixed in.I'll be returning the VillaWare nowSave yourself some time and hassle and buy a Cuisinart

I really enjoy this ice cream maker...I can make all of my favorites at home... even sherbets.

I purchased this ice cream maker at a thrift store, and after reading reviews, I thought I'd made a mistake, but I have had no issues with the machine. In fact, it's easy, fast and seems to be very well-built. I've been using it for about 5 years and had no issues with it. I do follow the manufacturer's instructions to cool my mix before it goes into the freezer bowl, and since I keep the freezer bowl in my home freezer, it's always ready. It usually takes about 25 minutes to freeze a quart of ice cream, even if you mix it on LO. In fact, your ice cream will be harder in the end if you use the LO setting. In the attached images you can see that the finished product is a bit soft when it's done, but still holds up a spoon. And you can see that the bowl is still frosty I usually put mine in the freezer for an hour or so to get "store-bought" hardness, while I make my toppings or stir-in ingredients. However, you can see in the second image that if you're anxious to try it, it's hard enough to serve right away if you like it like that.One of the features I enjoy is being able to see the mix through the center hole. It's designed to add stir-in ingredients, but I like to taste it periodically to make sure I didn't leave something out, and to test the texture.The only issue I've had with this machine is that the very bottom of the freezer bowl freezes the ice cream VERY hard, and has to be scraped out or left to soften before removal, as you are not supposed to scrape the bowl with metal utensils. I've included an image showing that. I think that would happen with any brand of this type of ice cream freezer. Otherwise, I've been very pleased with this machine and my grandchildren get excited when they see me pull it out!The recipes in the manufacturer's instruction booklet are very good, although I have not tried the sorbet - which I see other reviewers have had trouble with. I hope this helps you make your decision!

Looks nice. Great idea. DOES NOT work. Waste of money.

I got something totally different. I must have ordered wrong , or was mislead. I’m now t sure if it was the seller or me. But it wasn’t worth the $85 I paid for it

My husband bought me this ice cream maker as an anniversary gift (since I had been wanting one for years). No doubt this machine looks great. However, I tried it out, followed the instructions to a T (including freezing the canister for 3 days, JUST to be sure), and after the time was up, I had soup. I let it run for another 15-20 mintues, and covered the opening at the top to try to trap in the cold air. Now I had a semi-slush, but still no ice cream. I froze the whole mixture in the freezer to finally get it at least semi-hard. Then I checked out the reviews online. Many agreed with my experience, and a glance at the reviews for the Cuisinart Ice Cream maker were much more encouraging. So, my husband and I went out and bought the Cuisinart to see if that was any better. In one final ditch effort to salvage the Villaware (since I really did like the look of it better, and that was the one that was my official anniversary gift), I did a test with two batches of the same recipe, one in the Villaware, and one in the Cuisinart, and ran them both side by side. After 20 minutes, my Villaware batch was still soup (though to be fair, when I scraped out the filling a VERY thin layer at the bottom and sides actually resembled ice cream), while I had great ice cream (soft-serve consistency) in the Cuisinart. I dumped the Villaware filling in the Cuisinart to finish it off and wound up with a double batch of yummy ice cream.BOTTOM LINE: Don't buy this machine. Even if it DID work as it advertises (which it doesn't), the Cuisinart works better and takes even less time. You'll have ice cream ready to eat in 20-25 minutes (plus the amount of time it takes to prepare the mixture, that is).