Customer Reviews for White Mountain Manual 6 Qt. Green and Brown Hand Crank Ice Cream Maker

The first overall appearance out of the box was a WOW factor. It looks beautiful and in itself a nice decor figure. After our first use, it will be more of just a decor item in the home, rather than a functional ice cream maker. The theory of the design is great, however, 30 minutes of fighting the hand crank was very tough. The hand crank assembly did not want to stay in the holding clips on each side, and the thicker the ice cream became, the more the unit struggled to stay in one piece. The pulverized metal shavings did not in any way get into the ice cream (see photos), but was a testimonial in itself that something was tearing itself apart inside the hand crank assembly. However, the ice creamf was the best I have EVER had in my life. We followed the included recipe for basic vanilla ice cream, and then dressed it up with toppings. Wiords cannot describe the "out of this world" taste. Had the hand crank functioned properly, I'd have given this a perfect rating. I may see if the electric motor crank option is adaptable and see if that is something I may consider. The ice cream maker itself looks like something you'd want in any kitchen anywhere. The problems however, overshadowed the beauty of it when not being used.

This is like stepping back in time before electricity. All manual controls. Components are all high quality and thick components - nothing going to bend here. It goes together very simply - another good indication of design and components. Doing it manually does require putting in some time at the crank - you will probably need 2 or 3 'volunteers' to do the crank work. Product performed without a hitch. Great for summer activities. There ya go!

This ice cream maker is very special. I have owned other ice cream makers in the past, but this is the first manual one I have owned. It is everything I imagined and more. When you think of making ice cream at home, you want to do it the way they used to do it in the "old days". This White Mountain ice cream maker will not disappoint. I was very impressed with the quality of materials and the craftsmanship. They spent a lot attention focusing on the details. Was very easy to use and had great "tips and hints" included and a recipe book.

I bought the white mountain hand crank ice cream maker because my parents had one years ago.we used it all the time and it was a good ice cream maker.I bought the 6 qt model and it did not work, it kept binding up and skipping gears.the gears in the crank assy just don’t mesh together.i cant believe the company would sell this POC.i should have read the reviews before i bought it.i am returning it to the store.and will buy a different brand

The gears in the crank seem to be too loose and stick as the ice cream gets firmer. I plan to exchange it this week.Other than that it reminds me of my dads and that’s what I wanted.Thanks

I will be returning this item because the hand crank did not work. Very disappointed in the product.

The maker is well built, had a hard time cranking because the piece that does the cranking kept coming up. It took two people to accomplish this. One to put weight on the top and another one to crank. My past churns had a locking mechanism, this one doesn't. :( no hand crank manual was included

I made custard ice cream with my grandson and the instruction was very good, and easy to use. The ice cream was delicious.

The gear head jumps and skips I had to borrow a gear head of of my dads wich is 30 years old . Extremely disappointed in it

White Mountain freezers used to be quality products, and they provided great customer service. BUT.....the 6-quart hand crank ice cream freezer now made (2018) by White Mountain is a piece of junk. There are no retaining locks in place on the bucket to hold the crank assembly in place, and the crank assembly rattles around in the bucket slots when trying to churn the ice cream. (You will note that in the photo shown above, one can just see the retaining lock on the right side of the bucket just below the crank handle axle). I addressed this issue in a complaint to White Mountain, and to their parent company. White Mountain suggested I "turn the crank backwards" to fix the problem. No response whatsoever from the parent company. Faulty engineering; poor quality; zero customer service; no recognition that is a major engineering issue. If I can't re-engineer a locking mechanism for the crank assembly, this freezer will become nothing more than a very expensive flower pot.

There is not a method to secure the hand crank to the tub, gears in the hand crank do not "mesh" well and constantly slip making nearly impossible to get the canister to turn and freeze the ice cream! Therefore, machine is not worth the price a paid for it. Would not recommend buy this model, is a rip-off of the old White Mountain machines of the past.

I had forgotten how good homemade ice cream is. I also forgot the effort it takes to make it at home, but it is well-worth it. The ice cream maker is easy to use, and one only needs to remember that it takes a bit of energy to make it work, but the end product is great. I'm not sure how long this ice cream maker will hold up, as it does not appear to be made of high-grade material, and only time will tell. However, it worked just fine the first and second time. Price would be the important aspect as to buying one like this. I am sure that one could find more expensive ice cream makers, and they may not be the value of this one.

We had the families here today and the kids wanted to make icecream, so we followed the simple recipe for vanilla icecream that came in a booklet packed with this ice cream freezer. It turned out great and we all ate too much...consuming nearly a pint each. This one is pretty much identical to the one my grandparents had back in the 1960s and I bet that one dated to before the war, or maybe even to the 19th century . It does have one flaw, same as the old ones did. The mixer head does not securely lock down onto the bucket, so if the younger kids are cranking, they tend to lift up on the crank handle and that opens the lid to the canister and potentially allows brine to enter into the mix. The problem becomes increasingly worrisome as the icecream gets to the final stages and you have to really put your muscles into cranking. The traditional fix was that the youngest kid had to sit on the gearhead while the older kids cranked. My fix is more secure, I zipped out a couple of little maple wedges on the band saw to wedge into the slot in the bucket that accepts the gear head. Anyway, we managed to avoid catastrophe, but really, White Mountain ought to have added some sort of clamps to the bucket so that you could securely lock the gear head to the bucket. Still, this is a well made appliance, made almost entirely of steel, cast iron, zinc and real wood. The wooden bucket is well coopered and looks cool. I couldn't resist taking the gear head apart to see how it all worked, and basically it is as stout and sturdy as a steam locomotive. I might just coat the inside of the bucket with some epoxy to protect it from immersion in brine...but then again, I may not bother unless the bucket starts to get rickety. The wooden dasher blades may need to be replaced some day, but that's long in the future, and well within the capability of the average handy homeowner.

Awesome product