Philips HR2304 Ice Cream Maker
from Philips
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Customer Rating: 
Category: Kitchen & Home
Model No: HR2304
Index: Kitchen & Housewares
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Kitchen Shopper Price: £40.00
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Yum yum  Sent: 12 October 2008
Just sitting down from my first ever ice cream making experience. This machine is great. I only bought it yesterday, popped the disk straight in the freezer, picked some walnuts and I now have fabulous ice cream to eat. I used the booklet, which suggests using full fat milk and vanilla sugar, neither of which I had so I made do with skimmed milk and it still tastes great. I must admit I had my doubts when after 30minutes it still did not look like ice cream but 10 minutes later I was impressed. Thouroghly recommendable.
mmmmmmm Ice-cream Sent: 19 August 2008
I got so sick of spending a fortune on quality ice-cream I thought that it would be a good idea to just make my own.
I got this maker and its great! all of the ice-cream we have made has been just lovely (if I say so myself). The maker comes with a little book of recipes which are more than adequate to start with and its easy to improvise on these to create your own interesting mixes.
Its a great price for a good little ice-cream maker - we are very happy with our purchase and the very tasty results :)
Yummy ice cream!! Sent: 11 August 2008
I bought the phillips ice cream maker inspite of a damp summer!!
The phillips maker has made quality ice cream!
we are enjoying different flavours. I have not made any ice cream from the book but have made strawberry and some cashew nut and figs ice cream very good indeed!
Easy to clean and no problem with storing the disc in the freezer. Buy it!
Not a bad little gizmo- mmm banana ice cream again Sent: 05 August 2008
Sadly I've been through most of the options for making ice cream and I hesitated before replacing the last expensive disaster. So far I'm pretty happy with the Philips kit. NB it's also listed as Philips HR2304/70 Ice Cream Maker.
There are several options for making ice cream at home:
1. Freeze it in a container. Part way through you have to remember to mash up the semi frozen ingredients to prevent ice crystals forming. Very low tech and inevitably you miss the right point.
2.Freeze it in a machine in the freezer compartment. Back in the 70s we used to have an electrically powered ice cream maker that you shoved in the freezer- it worked fairly well (apart from the trailing wire). It would appear that the Panasonic BH-941P Ice Cream Maker was an attempt to follow that concept as it contained a camera battery. It doesn't seem to be widely available now and although I very much leaned towards buying it to start with, I hesitated when I discovered that the battery was an odd type which lasted for 25 goes only.
3. Pre freeze bowls/disks. I originally had a Magimix pre freeze bowl type, bought in post oo-aah-Delia enthusiasm when she did her Delia Smith's Summer Collection: 140 Recipes for Summer. Suddenly it just stopped working. I tried everything- freezing the bowl for 48 hours, ensuring the ingredients were very well chilled- just slush. I wasn't therefore keen to replace the machine with an updated model - Magimix Le Glacier 1.5 Ltr ice cream maker in white. The freezer bowl is supposed to pre freeze for just 12 hours- but it does take up a lot of room if you want a spare. For a prefreeze method the 4.6cm x 17.5 cm disk (1.75" x 7") belonging to the Philips does take 24 hours, but a spare disk is much more compact than a bowl. Also you know when it's ready because you don't get a crunchy sound when you feel it- you can't tell with a bowl- it's all or nothing.
4. A very expensive dedicated ice cream all in one freezer- retailing at over £225.00. I bought a Gaggia version (ouch). They are very large, you aren't supposed to move them from the counter top because it sloshes up the coolant (at least on that version), and you have to use them on a regular basis. If not the motor seizes up. It was out of guarantee and factoring in the costs of getting this behemoth to the single UK repair centre to probably be told it was irreparable was something I just gave up on. And that's why I haven't made ice cream for several years- I was still very sore about the whole experience.
The Philips comes in 5 parts (not dishwasher safe)-
1. double insulated plastic jug (nicely stain resistant as I forgot to clean it immediately after the Blackcurrant ice cream). It isn't sealed on the bottom fully though- water can get inside so you need to drain it twice. The logo lasted one wash.
2. transparent plastic cover- you have to aim the ingredients into the hole with the paddle turning- actually not as difficult to aim as it seems- I've only had one slight spill.
3. paddle
4. compact motor
5. pre freeze disk - spares available as Philips HR2968/00 Ice Cream Maker Cooling Disc. Don't forget you need to thoroughly dry the disk and put it in a plastic bag at the bottom of the freezer. It needs to freeze "flat" and not gather any extra ice crystals as it's a snug fit in the bowl.
Strangely the instructions talk about an option button for the firmness of ice cream- I can't find one- just churn for 20 or 40 minutes. There is no automatic cut off. When you're panicking after your first attempt about how to get the see through cover off- check the release button on the jug handle!
Things to factor in:
a good ice cream book- Frozen Desserts: The Definitive Guide to Making Ice Creams, Ices, Sorbets, Gelati, and Other Frozen Delights. Liddel and Weir have experimented with all the science behind ice cream making (such as the fat content of cream- use whipping cream) so you don't have to.
A thermometer for making custard (marking for 85 degrees centigrade)because frankly standing over a double boiler for 30 minutes gave me back ache- it's quicker to do it by the bold method.
Small tubs for storing the excess ice cream. You need to slightly defrost stored ice cream before serving so it's better in my opinion to have small batches.
Plastic bags to store the disks in the freezer.
Time to thoroughly chill your ingredients in the fridge (I did have one disaster with this machine due to impatience- but it did firm up afterwards in the storage tub).
What to do with all the leftover egg whites- meringues need 50g/ 2oz sugar for each egg white. You can store your meringue/pavlova base in the freezer.
Yummy yummy in my tummy!! Sent: 09 July 2008
My ice cream maker arrived in great condition and was ready to go after I froze the part that now lives in my freezer.
The first result was perfect ice cream with no preservatives, gum or E numbers. My children were fascinated and loved the results.
I highly recommended this machine and Amazons quick professional service.
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Associated kitchen categories: Bestselling kitchen appliances & cookery hardware Small Appliances, Ice Cream Machines, Philips, Ice Cream maker, ice cream machine |
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