Product Description

With the unique Mega Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker, you can make ice cream anywhere! You don't need electricity, just add ice and rock salt in one end and ice cream mix in the other end¿then have a ball as you shake it, pass it or roll it! The ice cream mix can be as simple as cream, sugar and vanilla. Try flavors from our recipe list included or make up your own. Made of durable polycarbonate, it's lightweight, portable and easy to clean. It's ideal for Camping, Boating, Picnics, Parties, Travel...anywhere!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18 in Sports & Outdoors
• Brand: UCO
• Dimensions: 9.00" h x 9.00" w x 9.50" l, 3.00 pounds

Features

• Make ice cream anywhere--great for camping trips, picnics, and barbecues
• Just add ice and rock salt in one end and ice cream mix in the other end
• Then shake it, pass it, or roll it around for 10 to 15 minutes
• Durable polycarbonate construction
• Backed by 1 year warranty; includes recipe booklet

Customer Reviews

Works, but ouch & are we done yet?
A family member bought the large size for a summer get-together. It worked and the ice cream was great, but there are drawbacks. We found we wanted gloves to protect ourselves from the cold of the ball and from the hard edges of its outer structure. The kids (ages 7 & younger) quickly gave up & the adults were left to suffer through it. I suppose pre-teen boys might enjoy it despite the drawbacks.

Pros: Makes homemade ice cream
Keeps the kids busy for a while

Cons: Pain & cold
Kids give up before it's done

Alternative: Cuisinart automatic. Benefit: Let the machine do the work.

I'm not unreasonable, but this sucks.
I'm not unreasonable, but I'm apparently the only one who thought this ice cream ball was crummy. I bought it for my three young children and I to make ice cream, and found it to be a pain. First, the capacity is only 2 cups, which is not a lot. Second, ice cubes from a standard ice cube tray are too large to fit into the opening for the ice and salt. You either have to have a crushed ice ice maker, purchase comercial ice or spend 15 minutes crushing the ice with a meat tenderizer mallet, like I did. I hoped that 5 ice trays of ice would be enough ice, but you need at least twice that much to keep the ball filled for the time required.

The instructions for the ball say that after ten minutes of mixing, to stir the ice cream. Sounds easy, but after you pry the lid off (with a special wrench they include with the ball so the ice cream mix can splatter everywhere) you have less than a 3 inch diameter to stir ice cream which is liquid on the inside core and frozen solid on the metal wall of the chamber six or seven inches deep. But wait, don't use anything metal to chip the rock hard stuff into the liqid stuff! I tried a silicon spatulta, a wooden spoon, and eventually took the silicone head off the first spatula and scraped the sides with the wooden handle wedge. (My neighbor and I both tried making ice cream and stiring every 5 minutes instead, didn't help to hard ice cream mixing very much.)

Of course, you get ice cream dripping down the sides, but the ball has little raised decorative ledges that catch the drips and funnel them into tight angled crevices that you need to use a mashed up paper towel corner, or a sharp knife tip with a dishcloth stretched over it to get out so you don't end up rolling sticky ice cream batter into what ever surface you are playing with the ball on. There are mini chocolate chips stuck in some of those grooves I haven't been able to get out after multiple washings, as well.

If you get this far, the end result is not very creamy or very smooth. We tried rolling, shaking, tossing, in many different combos and still couldn't get smooth textured ice cream. The recipes enclosed that I tried tasted cheap and not like any ice cream I'd pay for twice. I tried my own recipes, but the inability to mix adequately through the small opening into the deep canister made for hard crystal type lumps.

Overall, it may be a fun novelty for children, but it is a pain in the rump to use. You can do the same thing for a lot less with the same 2 cup capacity with a gallon and quart ziplock bag and just squishing it. I wish we had put the thirty bucks towards a hand crank or electric freezer, instead.

Cannot remove the seals!
I am a homeschooling mom who purchased this item this summer to make ice cream with my child. It worked wonderful, but we are completely unable to get the seal holding the saltwater undone from the container.I had two strong men and my contractor, who used torque, try to remove the seal and couldn't get it to budge. We are sitting here with an item we have used once and can't use again.We have contacted the company, who made recommendations,which we tried to no avail and when asked for a replacement, recieved no reply. They have been unresponsive to us since. A bad, bad deal!