My experience is that a cold mix will get to soft-serve consistency in 30-60 minutes depending on ambient temperature and type of mix.

The ice cream took longer than stated and at times the mix froze unevenly so that the machine struggled.

All of the recipes in the included booklet and in the two ice cream recipe books we own require chilling the mix for two hours or more before freezing in the machine.

You can put your mix in a ziploc bag and place in an ice-bath to cut down some of the chill time, but for the machine to work properly, your mix must be cold.

The big problem with the unit is it just doesn't freeze the mix quickly enough, even when using only 0.5 L of extremely cold mix

I would add extra time; I would have a very cold mix; but still it was liquid

Followed the recipe to the t, properly chilled the mix, let process for 40 minutes

At some point the mix gets too hard for the motor to churn the ice cream and the ice cream maker stops to protect the motor from over heating.

if your mix is hot, it will not come out well

You won't have to wait to pre-freeze any tubs (but you will have to pre-chill some ice cream mixes—which can't be helped), and you can make many tubs of ice cream at any time

I usually split the mix into two equal portions and then run two machine cycles.

make sure your mix is very cold.

I bought some soft serve mix and a bag of DOLE Whip to have on hand to mix up in minute even when I don't have anything on hand, but we have also made some great ice cream from scratch

Last tip, although you can absolutely make ice cream using warm custard mix it will take longer and it won't be as smooth because of the way that the fat hardens faster than the milk portion.

Use an ice bath to bring the mix to a cold temperature, or put it in the freezer, shaking up the mix periodically

The big problem with the unit is it just doesn't freeze the mix quickly enough, even when using only 0.5 L of extremely cold mix

My mix was cold in fridge, and humidity is low in the air conditioned house.

It would not freeze the ice cream mix

You can put your mix in a ziploc bag and place in an ice-bath to cut down some of the chill time, but for the machine to work properly, your mix must be cold.

Some people complain about the noise but it isn't as noisy as Kitchen Aide mixed on

I have used the "freezer cooler bucket" type ice cream maker for several years, but I became tired of having to jump through hoops just to ensure success (placing the ice cream custard in the refrigerator overnight, then into the freezer for 10 minutes before finally mixing - and if there is anything that goes wrong, removing the mix, cleaning the freezer bowl, putting it back into the freezer overnight, and starting again)

A few hints: always have your mix well chilled before putting into the machine.

I have found a good base mix to be 3 cups of soy milk, .25 cup cashews,

Let your imagination go... the family can come with some crazy mixes at times

It doesn't require that you pre-chill the mixing

Favorite ice creams has become Orange Cream - mix tang, vanilla soft serve mix or carnation instant breakfast packets, and 1/2 milk & 1/2 heavy whipping cream in blender or shaker bottle.

And, those machines aren't really strong enough for a good mix

That makes mix get colder and harder at each revolution.

Improper mixing results in soft lumps in your finished ice cream.

After a few attempts I realized that the compressor was just not kicking on correctly and due to this the mix would get cold then warm up and so on

When using a proper mix, the result is very smooth

And when making a sorbet, the mix froze around the edges, but the center stayed liquid after an hour in the machine

I use Darigold fresh soft serve ice cream mix straight from the carton

My husband bought this, and at first I grumbled