Kenwood IM200 0.8LT

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Why an Ice Cream Maker?
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Well I'm with a website where you earn points and these points can be exchanged for free gifts. So after not much deliberation I decided to get an ice cream maker. I chose this particular model as it was the one that I could afford with my points!
The advantages of having an ice cream maker are pretty clear when you look at the price of my favourite ...
...I know exactly what is going into my ice cream. There are only natural fruits and none of the nasty E numbers that we all dread to see on the ingredients lists of our foods.

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Price and availabilty
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It's not a very expensive peice of kit to be honest and it is readily available both online and in store. They sell this for £14.99 from amazon.co.uk and my friend got her's from Currys ... more

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why an Ice Cream Maker?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well I'm with a website where you earn points and these points can be exchanged for free gifts. So after not much deliberation I decided to get an ice cream maker. I chose this particular model as it was the one that I could afford with my points!
The advantages of having an ice cream maker are pretty clear when you look at the price of my favourite Ben and Jerry's Ice creams. Another main advantage is that I know exactly what is going into my ice cream. There are only natural fruits and none of the nasty E numbers that we all dread to see on the ingredients lists of our foods.

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Price and availabilty
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's not a very expensive peice of kit to be honest and it is readily available both online and in store. They sell this for £14.99 from amazon.co.uk and my friend got her's from Currys for £19.99. It's great value for money but you can tell by the simple design that it's cheap.

I've had mine for 8months now and I can tell you that it's pretty durable. The materials don't scratch and chip despite getting literally thrown around and getting pans thrown on top of it. The only thing that looks flimsy is the paddle which I store in my utensils drawer where it wont get bashed about so much.

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Looks and Packaging
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It's all pretty simple. One box which is around 30cm X 25cm X 25cm. I'm not absolutely certain of this because I threw the box out. Baisically if you're getting it delivered it's not going to squeeze through your letter box but you wont exactly have to fold down the back seats of the car to get it home!

The design of the appliance is also pretty simple. 2 major bits to it. The 0.8 litre bowl and top unit with all the mechanics inside it. The main power mechanism thingymajigum just clicks into place at the top of the lid part. The little spindle thingy goes in the little hole found underneath the lid and the paddle slots onto this. The lid part goes on top of the bowl and clicks into place and that's that. It's all really easy peasy to assemble and dissasemble for cleaning so you don't have to read the instructions but just incase there is a very easy to follow diagram there for you.

It's all baisically white or colourless plastic which isn't the most swankiest of all designs but if you're wanting a plush chrome peice then you have to be prepared to pay the extra money for it. The whole unit with the bowl attatched is supprisingly heavier than what it looks. All the weight is in it's bowl though. It is only a 0.8 litre capicity but it has to be well insulated to keep it frozen whilst it's out of the freezer for the half hour or so that it takes to make your ice cream. The wall of the bowl is about 3cm thick and has the same white plastic exterior as the rest of the appliance. The inside of the bowl looks to be made of brushed steel. You do have to freeze this bowl for 24hrs before use so you need to make room in your freezer for it. It measures 17cm in diameter and is 14cm high. It is pretty bulky and so will take up a good sized corner of one of your freezer drawers.

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Using
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Well this is going to be easy to describe! All you have to do is stick your bowl in the freezer for 24 hours. When you take it out just click the top bit into place, press the start button and then pour in your pre mixed ingredients through the little hole in the top. Wait for about half an hour until the consistency of the mixture is like very soft ice cream. Scrape your frozen goodness into a tuperware tub to store in the freezer or just to stiffen up a little before serving. Does that sound easy enough for you?

Well to be fair it can get more complicated than that. The little pouring hole is kind of small so you need to be carefull when you're pouring in your ingredients or you will lose half of your mixture. You also have to be careful not to pour in too much mixture as when the mixture freezes it will obviously expand and cause all kinds of problems. The instruction leaflet says to leave about a 2.5cm gap from the top of the bowl.

The mixture usually takes 30 mins to reach the right consistency but this isn't set in stone so you will have to keep your eye on it. You can tell that it's ready when the paddle keeps changing directions more often. You see to prevent the motor from burning out the paddle will rotate in a different direction when it meets a certain level of resistance. So in other words when the mixture is getting too thick for the paddle to mix through, it will change directions and spin the other way.

You must always turn on the unit before adding the mixture because if you don't then the bits touching the sides of the bowl will freeze and the paddle won't mix properly.

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Cleaning
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Cleaning the appliance is also pretty easy. The only thing you really need to do is to get a damp cloth with a mild degergent and wipe everything round. You're not supposed to immerse the bowl in hot water because it may damage it and you should wait for it to reach room temperature before you handle it incase of cold burns. The only really major downfall is the fact that none of the parts, even the paddle, are dishwasher safe. This is common to most ice cream makers though as the freezing solution in the bowl can leak out if the bowl gets damaged by the high temperatures found in a dishwasher.

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Recipes
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The little instruction leaflet contains quite a variety of recipes for ice cream and sorbets but you can make your own. Baisically Ice cream is made from cream and/or milk, caster sugar and your own choice of flavouring. To prepare your mixture you usually have to warm the liquids in a pan with the sugar until it is disolved. Allow to cool and then add your flavouring. If you're using fruit then you should puree the fruit and remove any pips before adding to your mixture. This will ensure that your flavour can be well mixed in the bowl. Another little tip that the leaflet suggests is to chill your mixture before use but I never bother as this adds to the preperation time. If you're waiting for your bowl to freeze then you can make your mixture the day before and store it in the fridge for the next day but I don't bother because I store the bowl in the freezer anyway!

My favourite recipe is an adaptation of a Toffee ice cream recipe. I got the idea from a fantastic Ice cream parlour Called Goodhall's In Tong Village, Bradford. I used to live in the same village so all my weekly pocket money used to go on their brady snaps and ice cream!!!

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HOKEY-POKEY ICE CREAM
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Ingredients:
1) 1 unopened tin of condensed milk,
2) 250ml double cream,
3) 250ml semi skimmed milk,
4) 4 egg yolks,
5) 100g caster sugar,
6) 2 good handfulls of cinder toffee.

Method
1) To make the toffee gently simmer the unopened tin in a pan of water for approx 3 hours and then leave to cool before starting to make your toffee ice cream. Do NOT open the tin until cooled.

2) Put the milk into a saucepan and bring slowly to boiling point.

3) In a separate bowl, beat and mix the egg yolks and caster sugar together until thick and then stir in the cooled 'toffee'.

4) Add to this mixture the hot milk and stir well until smooth.

5) Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and gently heat it, keeping stirring until the custard thickens.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT BRING TO THE BOIL OR IT WILL PROBABLY CURDLE. When you test the mixture over the back of your spoon and it forms a film then it's time to remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture cool thoroughly.

Next put the mixture into your ice cream maker and let it do it's thing. When it has finished and before you put your ice cream in the freezer to harden up you can add your cinder toffee. You can add as much as you want but two handfulls is enough for me. It's best to smash it up in a bag with your rolling pin a bit if you buy yours in big chuncks like I do. You have to stir in the cinder toffee by hand because it comes in big hard lumps and it's to hard for the motor of the ice cream maker to do this alone.
So once you've done all this you can enjoy a nice soft toffee ice cream with added crunchy bits mmmmmhhh!!!

To sum it up I am chuffed to bits with my new toy! I have used some of the recipes in the leaflet and as I've gotten braver I have tried my own out. It does take a while to make the ice cream as you need to freeze the bowl for 24 hours before use. This can be a bit tiresome if you normally have a jam packed freezer as it will take up quite alot of room. If you're quick then you can use the bowl twice to make double the quantities but only of one flavour. You're not supposed to clean the bowl until it has thawed out so you can't make two different flavours without contaminating your second batch. The advatages far outweigh these nigly problems though as it is an awfull lot cheaper to make your own ice cream and you can make it to your own tastes and have your own flavours. 

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