Magimix Le Glacier Ice Cream Maker > Reviews (1)

Everyone, I think, has in their house a place I like to call the ‘graveyard of hopeful appliances’. These are things you bought for the kitchen, full of enthusiasm and vim, and then consigned to a sad little cupboard a mere couple of months after purchase having realised that you’re not Nigella and can’t be arsed assembling a steamer every time you want to have some broccoli. In mine there languishes a juicer, a steamer, a George Foreman grill thing, a milk frother (I surprised myself with that one, to be honest. I don’t like milk and I have no recollection of buying it), a Marco Pierre White chopper and two sandwich toasters. The only explanation for this proliferation of unused items is that Argos must induce in me a kind of somnambulistic stupor, during which I will readily hand over my debit card in exchange for things I don’t need (most pubs have the same effect).

However, out of this theatre of broken culinary aspirations there sometimes emerges an appliance which gets its day in the sun. This item is the ice-cream maker, which I tend to become enthused by any time the temperature gets above 25 degrees. I live in Ireland, so that’s only a strike rate of one afternoon per year, but it’s still worth digging past all the other hopefuls in the cupboard to retrieve it.

All of that said, I really wasn’t intending to buy one; I meant to borrow my mother’s for the rare occasions that I fancied making home-made ice cream and then return it afterwards. When she handed it over, though, I noticed that there was a crack in the mixer bowl and blue gunk leaking out of it. Upon questioning her about this she revealed that she’d dropped it the last time she was using it but had just whipped the blue freezy goo into the ice cream and hoped for the best. She then, somehow, persuaded me that the best plan would be for me to pay to replace her broken one, store it in my house and then lend it to her whenever she wanted. Or better yet, just make her ice cream and bring it to her. And I agreed to this. I think my mother has mind-control powers.

Appearance

This is a very plain little white plastic machine and certainly doesn’t have the aesthetic appeal of a stainless steel or enamel machine. For 40 quid, though, it seems churlish to complain about how it looks. Its footprint isn’t huge – slightly bigger than a two-slice toaster but smaller than a coffee machine. The flex isn’t massively long, so you’ll need some free counter space reasonably close to a power point.

Usage

It can’t be used straightaway out of the box: the bowl part must be frozen for at least 8 -12 hours. I’ve found that the colder the bowl is, the better the ice cream turns out so I tend to leave the bowl in the freezer all the time. Unfortunately the bowl takes up rather a lot of room – about the same as a large-ish chicken – which is fine for those who have a big chest (fnarr) freezer, but rather more awkward if you have an upright freezer with drawers. I usually manage to get it to fit without too much trouble, but I always have to reshuffle the frozen peas and fish fingers to new homes (usually my tummy).

Putting it together is a doddle – the motor is contained within the detachable lid and the spindle slots in, and then the paddle fits onto the spindle. The lid twists and locks onto the mixer bowl and then you’re good to go.

Once everything’s attached all you have to do is set the paddles going and pour the mixture in. It creates a lot less mess if you lift the lid off and pour the mixture in before setting the paddles in, but unfortunately doing things that way will result in the mix freezing hard to the bottom and edges of the bowl which results in lumpy ice cream or the paddles refusing to turn. Once the mixture is churning it can be left for anything from 20 – 45 minutes (depending on the ambient temperature, thickness and water content of the mix). I’ve found that it’s best to add any additional ingredients like nuts or chocolate chips within the first 5 – 10 minutes of churning or they don’t get incorporated thoroughly. When the ice cream gets to the stage where the paddles won’t turn any more it’s usually still a little runny, so this is a good time to mix in any sauce before giving it half an hour to an hour in the freezer to solidify. When scooping the ice cream out it’s really important to use a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon as metal implements could scratch the stainless steel bowl, making the freezing process less effective. In total it has a capacity of just over a litre although you can make less than this if you so desire. Who’s ever thought that less is more where ice cream’s concerned, though?

What’s the ice cream like?

This really depends on the mix you’ve added. The recipes that I’ve tried from the booklet all give reliably tasty results, particularly the sorbets. The best ice creams I’ve made in this are the ones which involve making a custard; these rival Haagen Dazs or Ben & Jerry’s. The problem with this is that making a custard is quite a time-consuming process that involves watching saucepans very carefully and whisking like a demon all the while knowing that if you cock it up even slightly the mixture will split and turn into scrambled eggs and you’ll have wasted an awful lot of ingredients. Still, if you’d ever tasted my peanut butter ice cream you’d know why this is all worth it. On the occasions that I really couldn’t be bothered making a custard I’ve used milk and cream based recipes and these have turned out pretty well; they’re certainly a lot less rich and are about equivalent in quality to a tub of Walls ice cream.

One thing that I did find disappointing was making ice cream with ‘bits’ in. I had a go at a mint chocolate chip ice cream adding a hunk of chopped up Dairy Milk. The mint ice cream was lovely, but the chocolate bits didn’t taste right at all. I think ice cream manufacturers must use a different kind of chocolate that will melt at lower temperatures as ordinary chocolate stays quite solid even after the ice cream has melted on your tongue and ends up tasting a bit greasy. A similar problem occurs with chunks of fruit; one of my favourite ice creams is Ben & Jerry’s ‘Cherry Garcia’ and I was hoping to emulate this.

The morello cherry flavoured ice cream worked really well but the chunks of cherry I added froze rock solid making them unpleasant and painful to eat. Obviously, when professional manufacturers make this kind of ice cream they must add something to the fruit which lowers the freezing point, meaning it stays soft and pliable even when the surrounding mixture is frozen. Theoretically, drenching the fruit in alcohol would work but there are some (rare) occasions when boozy ice cream isn’t what you’re after. The problem can be avoided by making the fruit into a puree before adding it, but it still won’t be quite the same as fruit pieces.

Cleaning

This is a doddle: the bowl, spindle and paddle are all detachable so hot water and a little washing up liquid are all that’s needed to have it looking like new again. The top section is a little fiddlier as you have to clean inside the aperture but it’s still easily enough done.

Any downsides?

• The spindle that holds the paddle into the motor is very tiny and easily lost.
• The aperture for adding ingredients is both small and awkwardly shaped, so you always end up with a certain amount of spillage.
• Before I bought mine I noticed that a lot of Amazon reviews claimed the bowl didn’t get cold enough or that the ice cream immediately froze solid and the paddles wouldn’t turn. I’ve never had an issue with this and my bowl is stored in a regular upright fridge/freezer, but it’s perhaps a good idea to check that your freezer achieves the right temperature.
• This is not a quiet beastie. The motor is loud the whole time it’s churning and when it gets to the ‘ready’ point the volume increases even further and the paddles make a loud clicking sound. When it’s on I can hear it from wherever I am in the house. Obviously, if you live in a mansion this’ll not be a problem, but I imagine if you are in that fortunate position you’ll not be making your own ice cream.
• If your mother’s tricked you into buying one, you will have to keep her supplied with ice cream.