There is a great gulf between dog and man. We can't understand why they pee on the carpet. They ca...
There is a great gulf between dog and man. We can't understand why they pee on the carpet. They can't understand why we pee in their water bowl.
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One Christmas there was nothing that either of us particularly wanted as a present so we decided to indulge ourselves and buy a “proper” ice cream machine – one with its own freezing unit.
In summer we love home-made vanilla ice cream, and sorbets are good throughout the year. I had been using a Magimix ice cream maker, which works on the “frozen bowl” principle – a double-skinned metal bowl has the hollow sides filled with gel and this is frozen overnight in the freezer. The mixture is then added and an electric paddle is clipped onto the top of the bowl to churn the mixture until it forms ice cream. These machines work well, produce delicious ice creams and sorbets and cost in the region of £30. The main drawback for me was that the bowl was quite large and I found it difficult to free up sufficient freezer space on a regular basis, so we were frequently in the position of not being able to make ice cream or sorbet. Additionally, it was necessary to refreeze the bowl overnight if you wanted to make a second batch.
Christmas provided the reason to be indulgent and my daughter unwittingly supplied the excuse when she commented that it was difficult to get ice cream that she could trust for the children. My Magimix was packed up and sent to Nepal, leaving us with no reason not to treat ourselves.
I’d
like to tell you that I researched a lot of different machines and came to a considered conclusion. I didn’t. The Gaggia Gelatiera was available in the Lakeland Ltd catalogue and I’ve always found them to be a reputable company who only sell products which work as they should. If you have their current catalogue you’ll see the Gelatiera on page 12 or you’ll find all the details at http://www.lakelandlimited.com catalogue number 4961. At the time that I bought the machine it was £278. What is substantially the same model is now £295, inclusive of postage and packing. If you want a reconditioned model they’re available from Gaggia at £185. (See http://www.gaggia.uk.com/section%202/pages/gelatirecon.htm)
When the machine is delivered you’ll discover the first of its drawbacks. It is heavy, seriously heavy, at 12.4kg. Lakeland packed it sensibly in a large box with plenty of easily-removable packing around the sides. Gaggia were not quite so kind and the machine was packed far too tightly in its box. I finally had to resort to cutting the cardboard away whilst praying that I would not need to send it back to Lakeland.
Once unpacked you’re presented with a machine which is 11.25” x 15” x 8.5” (29 x 38 x 22cm). This is not a delicate machine by any stretch of the imagination and you’re going to need to find somewhere to keep it permanently. Not only is it far too heavy to move regularly, but movement disturbs the coolant liquid and the machine then needs to sit for 24 hours to allow it to settle back into the sump. (Gaggia refer to "coolant gasses" but I am reliably informed that it is the movement of the liquid which produces the problem.) If the machine does need to be placed elsewhere when not in use it must be stored on its base to disturb the liquid as little as possible. I’m fortunate in having an area of working surface which is not used for anything other than storage of my breadmaker and the Gelatiera, but this is something which you should consider carefully before buying. You’ll also need to be no more than 115cm (45”) from an electrical socket because of the length of flex supplied.
About two-thirds of the machine is the freezer unit. Into the remaining third is fitted a removable metal bowl about 6.5” (16cm) in diameter. This has a plastic paddle (also removable) which churns the ice cream, and the bowl and surrounding area are covered with a clear plastic cover.
This was one of those occasions when I decided that I wouldn’t do my usual “when all else fails, read the instructions”. As I couldn’t use the machine for 24 hours I read all the instructions first. Well, I hope I did, but there were numerous pieces of paper of different shapes and sizes (some on the sort of bits of paper that the window cleaner leaves to say that he smeared your windows whilst you were out) and in various languages. To this day, some three years later, I’m still left with the feeling that there is somewhere, some relevant piece of paper which I’ve missed. Even Gaggia seem to anticipate that there might be problems as the third piece of paper I found told me that I should ring the Gaggia Help Line number if I had difficulty operating the machine – I should not return the machine to the place of purchase. It would have helped if the number of the helpline had been supplied, but unfortunately, it wasn’t. If anyone is struggling I have found a telephone number for Gaggia on their website - 01422 330295.
Eventually I found the booklet which numbers all the relevant parts and then explains them in several languages. The numbers run from 3 to 11 but there’s no explanation as to what happened to numbers 1 and 2. Some of the English descriptions leave a lot to be desired. That black curly thing coming out of the back with a plug on the end is called a “feed wire”. There’s a measure, apparently used to prepare the “water-alimentary alcohol mixture” but I don’t know why I’d want to and it sits in the cupboard awaiting the day when I find out. There was also an extra paddle enclosed, but it won’t fit into the removable bowl. It sits with the measure and sometimes I wonder if they’re laughing at my inadequacies.
Finally (seventh piece of paper/booklet) I find something which promises to tell me how tomake ice-cream. It’s quite simple really. You should already have put the bowl and paddle into the machine and secured it with the locking nut – it’s very simple to do. You then switch on the cooling switch and allow the machine to run for five minutes to cool down, start the paddle turning, set the timer and pour in your prepared mixture. It’s said to be possible to churn the ice cream in twenty minutes but I find that thirty minutes produces a better consistency.
The recipes provided are varied, but occasionally suffer from translation problems. Three decilitres of water anyone? Sorbets are called sherbets. If you’re using the machine my advice would be to forget their recipes and use one of your favourite recipe books. In fact this would seem to be one of the few occasions when you could usefully ignore the accompanying paperwork and be happier with the machine.
The awful instructions rather over-shadow the fact that the machine does make wonderful ice cream. I used my basic vanilla ice cream recipe (make a custard from four egg yolks, four ounces of sugar and half a pint of milk. Remove from the heat and add half a pint of double cream and a dash of vanilla extract. Chill and then churn. Transfer to suitable container and store in freezer.) Whilst the mixture is churning it will double in volume and thicken. Give this ice cream to anyone over the age of forty and they will look dreamy and start rhapsodising about “this is how ice cream used to taste when I was a kid.” The lemon sorbet that I made for Christmas Day from lemon juice, sugar and water had a depth of taste which you simply can’t equal unless you’re consuming something which is freshly made. Mind you, serving it with a shot of vodka and some mint didn’t do it any harm either!
You can use the Gelatiera to make chilled drinks too – both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, although I’ve never done this and I’m not certain that I can see the point.
In operation the machine is reasonably quiet; it makes rather less noise than its neighbour the breadmaker does in parts of its cycle. It’s easy to clean. The bowl and paddle go in the dishwasher. There doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the assorted literature that says they’re machine washable, but they got put in one day by accident and suffered no ill-effects so I’ve not bothered to hand-wash them since. The machine itself wipes over with a damp cloth and there are none of those annoying nooks and crannies which can be difficult to clean. In three years of regular use there have been no problems with the machine and no repairs or replacements required. It still looks as good as new.
So, would I recommend it? Yes, I would. It’s obviously an indulgence and you need to have the space to accommodate the machine. You also need to be sufficiently cavalier to disregard the instruction booklets – or speak Italian.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Luckily for me I do speak Italian. I suppose you can't expect these gadgets to be as light as a feather. After all they were made to sit on a kitchen surface, not to be lugged about. Nice enough review.
BawBaw 07.03.2004 21:39
This sounds like a wonderful gadget--one appropriate for warm weather gatherings. Also, I have a knack for avoiding instructions books. Now I just need one that suits our current. Darla
bobd 28.08.2003 13:43
just a bit too expensive for this machine unless you eat ice cream with every meal
GAGGIA GELATIERA makes great tasting ice cream. Its motorised paddles churns the ice cream ... more
well and leaves it smooth and creamy. The machine is ready to use in 10 minutes and produces 600 grammes of ice cream. It also comes with an additional bowl whic...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Out of stock
Jan 24th, 2003
(Apr 11th, 2003)
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