Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker (The Ice Cream Ball) | 
| Brand: UCO
Buy New: $20.00 - $44.95
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Rating:  151 reviews
Sales Rank: 14
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
MPN: f-icep
ASIN: B000S5XYI2
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| Features:
| • | Make ice cream anywhere! | | • | You can buy the original size, or upgrade to the new MEGA | | • | Makes ice cream in about 20 minutes | | • | Don't settle for 31 flavors. The only limit is your imagination! | | • | Durable polycarbonate construction |
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Product Description
With the unique Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker, you can make ice cream anywhere! You dont need electricity, just add ice and rock salt in one end and ice cream mix in the other endthen 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, its lightweight, portable and easy to clean. Its ideal for Camping, Boating, Picnics, Parties, Travel...anywhere!
Amazon.com Product Description
With the unique Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker, you can make ice cream while on camping trips, at picnics, barbecues, and many other places. You don't need electricity to make great tasting ice cream, but rather 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 around for 10 to 15 minutes. The ice cream mix can be as simple as cream, sugar, and vanilla or you can try a more adventurous flavor from the included recipe list or make up your own concoction. Made of durable polycarbonate, the Ice Cream Ball is lightweight, portable, and easy to clean. How it Works: - Fill the ice end with as much ice as possible, then add 1/2 cup of rock salt to the pint size or 3/4 cup to the Mega size. The lid should be hand tightened--do not use the wrench.
- Mix up your ice cream ingredients in a container, then pour the mix into the end with the metal cylinder, leaving about one inch for expansion at the top. Hand tighten the lid.
- Have a ball! Shake, roll, and pass it around as you mix and freeze the ingredients. It's not necessary to shake the ball...just motion will do it.
- After about 10 minutes for the pint size and 15 minutes for the Mega ball, open the ice cream end using the included plastic wrench. Scrape the sides of the cylinder to mix up the ice cream using a plastic or wooden spoon (don't use a metal spoon as it will scratch the cylinder). Then check the ice end. Pour out the excess water and add more ice and up to 1/3 cup more rock salt to enhance the freezing ability. Close the lids securely and continue having a ball for approximately 5 to 10 more minutes (15 for the Mega).
- You will then have about a pint (or quart for the Mega ball) of delicious soft-serve ice cream. The consistency will vary based on the ice, your mix, the outside temperature, shaking frequency, etc. Once the ice cream is to the consistency of your liking, gently scoop it out and enjoy!
Important tips for using your Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker: - Directions and recipes are inside the Ball.
- Use cream instead of half and half for richer tasting ice cream.
- Leave about an inch of space for expansion when you fill up the can with the ice cream mix.
- After 10 minutes (15 for Mega ball) of mixing (shaking, rolling, and passing), it is important to stir the ice cream mix (it freezes more around the can). Also, drain the water and refill with ice and additional rock salt. Have fun for another 10 to 15 minutes and you're done.
- Use the provided plastic wrench to open the ball, but not to close it.
Pint Size Details: - Weight When Empty: 2 pounds
- Weight When Full: 7 pounds
- Ice Cream Capacity: 1 Pint/16 fl. oz.
- Approximate Prep Time: 20 minutes
Mega Size Details: - Weight When Empty: 3 pounds
- Weight When Full: 9 to 10 pounds
- Ice Cream Capacity: 1 Quart/32 fl. oz.
- Approximate Prep Time: 30 minutes with cream, 35 minutes with half and half
What's in the Box?
Ice Cream Ball, recipe booklet Manufacturer's Warranty
One-year warranty on manufacturing defects
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| Customer Reviews: Read 146 more reviews...
 I'm not unreasonable, but this sucks. November 6, 2005
Lisa Rasband
376 out of 393 found this review helpful
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.
Have a Ball!! (and make ice cream) May 18, 2006
L. Keller (Kansas City)
154 out of 168 found this review helpful
I received the Ice Cream Ball (in Green) for Mother's Day after I mentioned it would be fun to have when I saw it on the Food Network. Even though it does not make a large amount of ice cream, it makes enough to satisfy one's cravings without going to all the trouble of a normal ice cream maker. You put ice and rock salt in one end and the ice cream mix in the other. I made vanilla the first time. Then my family and I went outside and rolled the ball, tossed it short distances to one another (it is much too heavy with all the ice to throw far,) and generally shook the heck out of it. I did have to drain the melted ice once and refill with more ice and rock salt. After 20-25 minutes I opened the ice cream container and ice cream had been made. It was a little soupy in the middle, but I had to scrape the sides to get the solid portion out. If I would have "played" with the ball a little more all of the mix would have been solid. This method of making home-made ice cream definately would not work for a large number of people or a b-day party. But it works to satisfy a craving for 1-3 people. I guess you could say that you burned enough calories making the ice cream, that you should not feel guilty eating it!!
 neat idea, just doesn't work well July 4, 2006
A. Newhouse (CNY, USA)
140 out of 156 found this review helpful
I got this for Christmas, and finally got around to using it this summer. It's a great idea (one of the 2 stars), and on the box it looks very easy to just kick or toss around and make ice cream! However, it is HEAVY once it is loaded with ice, salt, and cream ingredients. If you tried to kick it, you'd break a toe. It's quite a workout to toss around, which can be a good thing, so there's the other star.
However, after a half hour of hard work, we ended up with some soupy sweet cream in the middle of the container (softer than a milkshake) and some rock-hard ice sort-of-cream around the edges. It was difficult to get the hard parts off the edges of the container, and even though anything with that much fat and sugar has to taste good, the texture left a lot to be desired.
No stars for the actual ice cream part of this ice cream maker. Get a nerf ball instead if you want something to throw around, and buy some "slow churned" ice cream that's healthier and tastes much better.
 Works, but ouch & are we done yet? December 6, 2006
Bear
81 out of 81 found this review helpful
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.
Ice cream ball anything but fun June 29, 2006
Paul B. Mcnamara
67 out of 77 found this review helpful
Bought one for Mother's Day. Used it once. Disaster. Messy. Takes too long. Kids lose interest quickly. Difficult to remove ice cream from container. And, worst of all, it was near impossible to remove the cap from one end of the thing in order to clean it. One of the most disappointing products I have ever purchased.
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