I have not yet had to cool the mixture ahead of time.

the fridge-cold mixtures seemed like they froze too quickly and came out a little denser than I prefer.

When it starts, the temperature display is 78 degrees room temp and I don't bother pre-chilling mixture either

After chilling the Coffee mixture two hours it took 40 minutes to finish.

It was fairly easy to prepare the custard base but challenging to wait 24 hours for the mixture to fully chill and mature

I also noticed that chilling the mixture thoroughly before putting it in the machine makes the result better (besides quickening the time it takes to chill the ice-cream).Overall, good buy IMO.P.S: I find that a good ratio for an icecream base is 2:1 cream (30% fat) to milk

For chunky ice cream, like Cookies and Cream, freeze the mixture, then when it's almost done add the chunks of cookies

The machine cools the ice-cream rather quickly, usually in 30min - 45 minutes, but I find that I like to freeze the mixture for a few hours before use for better consistency

It works best when the mixture is chilled.