Hamilton Beach Ice Cream Maker, 1.5-Quart, Red (68881Z) NEW - FREE SHIPPING

Making ice cream was fun. This was something I had never done before so I read the instructions and picked up all the ingredients listed for ice cream on the recipe in the booklet. Everything went as planned and as described in the book. The problem was when eating the ice cream, we realized that "half 'n half", heavy whipping cream and sugar are items we don't normally consume and we didn't feel very well after eating it. Not ready to give up so easily, everything got washed up and the freezer bowl was popped back into the freezer and I tried again the next day with some adjustments. Using ingredients I had on hand, I made a new batch with a box of sugar-free instant strawberry pudding mix and whole milk. Normally we use skim milk but I had purchased the whole milk as an ingredient on the ice cream list. The strawberry concoction turned out very nicely, and I added fresh sliced strawberries to the top when serving. It was a different consistency but close to soft ice cream and it was delicious. I am going to continue moving the ingredients to lower fat products to see how close to nonfat I can get without sacrificing the final result. I haven't tried putting add-ins into the mixture, I prefer to stir them in afterwards so there's no chance to jam the stirring paddles (and can have bigger chunks in the dessert). Definitely read the instructions and assemble your machine in the order stated. Add ingredients only as described if you want it to work well. Follow the instructions and the process is fairly quick and easy, and the clean-up was easy too. I've made room in my freezer to keep the bowl in there permanently for the summer months so it is always ready for use.