Ice Cream Magic Review–How good is the ice cream?

Ice Cream Magic Personal Ice Cream Maker

You’ve seen these, too, right? The quick commercials tell you how you can have your own ice cream in only 3 minutes and that even kids can do it! And for under 20 bucks, it’s a lot cheaper than a real ice cream maker, and it doesn’t insist on hours of time in the freezer and no special salt required!

But does it work?

Yep! It actually does!

Now does it work exactly like the commercials promise? Er, no, not quite. I made ice cream a few times with it and while it does come out like ice cream eventually, even with following the instructions perfectly, it still took longer than 3 minutes for me. And yes, it took longer than the 4 minutes that include that “shake for an extra minute if the consistency isn’t how you like it” recommendation.

Also, do you have any idea how long 3 minutes feels like when you’re shaking like crazy?! What a workout!! I know a small child would burn out quickly and they’ll end up with more like a milkshake at best.

I did improve my technique a bit by actually placing the metal cup into the freezer before using and on another attempt, I chilled the ingredients in the freezer together for a while, too. The key really is for it to be super cold if you want it to turn out harder. I found that shaking for 5 minutes and then tossing it in the freezer to harden up some helped, too.

Unfortunately, that kinda delays the whole “instant gratification” part of it and the fact that the serving size is….well…and actual serving size (read: tiny), then I ended up wanting more by the time I finished my creation each time. It also means needing more than one of these if you have a whole family because 3-5 minutes back to back for a while to try to create some for everyone would be exhausting!

The ideal situation:

I really wish I would’ve had a whole set of these back when I was with the girls. It would’ve been AWESOME to grab a pint of whipping cream, tossed some crushed ice into each of their cups, and watched them shake for a few minutes. Add some flavors or cookie crumbles, etc, and each one could have their own, personalized, delicious ice cream. And for everyone to have a unique dessert, it realistically could’ve been done in under 10 minutes total, even with having to do some extra shaking or measuring out extras for each person.

I wouldn’t want to do it every night and I’m sure we would’ve tired of the half-melted tasting ice cream we’d end up with after getting tired of shaking, but it would’ve been fun as a novelty item to pull out every so often. It makes me think back to when I used to make fresh butter with the kids at camp….shaking a baby food jar for much longer than 3-5 minutes was ridiculous, but it was satisfying to get to taste what you made all on your own. The kids loved doing it and I can say that they’d love making ice cream way more than butter! The fact that it doesn’t require a special salt like many recipes insist on is quite nice, too.

The bad reviews:

I’ve read a lot of bad reviews about these little guys and for the most part, I understand why they insist it’s a ripoff. I think it’s about having realistic expectations more than anything, though. Seriously, you’re spending 15 bucks for a tiny cup that looks like a cute ice cream cone and it’s telling you you’ll have ice cream in 3 minutes.

We all know that high quality, amazing ice cream, is going to take longer than 3 minutes, so why expect the best thing ever to come out of a tiny plastic cup 5 minutes later? Instead, focus on the fact that….holy crap, you can have ice cream in 5 minutes! It might be a little softer than your favorite and it might take a few extra minutes of shaking, but you didn’t have to go out to the store to buy it late at night either.

And if you’re buying it as a single adult without kids, then it also cuts down on the likelihood of eating an entire quart of ice cream after a bad day. :P You’ve really gotta earn this! If you’re buying this for the kids, be prepared to do more of the shaking yourself to help them round out the last of the minutes and simply let them enjoy it instead of fussing about how it’s not perfect. Chances are, your kids aren’t going to care if it’s a little softer or maybe a little liquidy around the edges; they have their own ice cream in a special cup!

If you really hate it or think it’s a waste of time, then ditch the whole ‘magic’ side of it after your first few attempts and just enjoy the cute cup. I had some store-bought ice cream out of this little guy the other night because I put the metal piece in the freeze over night with the intent of making some before bed…but had forgotten about it and then didn’t feel like bothering the next night. So I just tossed some ice cream in the cup and ate it in bed. I like the handle and I liked that the metal piece kept my ‘real’ ice cream from melting….but that I didn’t have to have my hands freezing the entire time like I would from a cold bowl. ‘

I received the Ice Cream Magic Personal Ice Cream Maker as part of a review from Ice Cream Magic and FuelMyBlog. The opinions above are my own, of course.

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