Choosing a freezer for home use

Creamy and chocolate, fruit or with other additives ice cream is one of the most favorite delicacies of not only small sweeties, but also people of the older generation. It is doubly pleasant, if it becomes possible to produce it at any time and any quantities right at home - in its own real ice cream maker. However, in order to make this dream come true, and the cooking process itself does not cause any inconvenience, it is necessary to study in detail how to choose the ice cream maker for the house, and then to purchase the most suitable, high-quality and reliable apparatus.

A household ice cream maker is a device that can literally cook half a kilo and more ice cream in just half an hour, which, with excellent taste, will be completelymeet the requirements of ecology and safety. Unlike the store analogue, it will contain only necessary and useful products without "chemistry" - dyes, fragrances and preservatives, which is especially important for children, allergic people and people with a number of other diseases.

Principle and procedure of operation

The usual freezing of sweet mixtures gives crystallization of the liquid product, which is suitable only for making fruit ice. A real ice cream can be obtained, only gradually cooling the evenly whipped mass. Of course, you can "in the old manner" carefully knead the contents of dishes placed in a basin with ice, but this is too long, tedious and requires the presence of ice or snow.

Ice cream makers repeat the manual method, fully automating it:

• The cooling container is filled with a product - a mixture of milk, cream, fruit, chocolate, etc. Ingredients according to the selected recipe
• The filled bowl is connected to a part of the apparatus equipped with a working blade
• Switching on the device starts the rotational movement of the blades while cooling the sweet mass,
• After about 25-35 minutes, the finished ice cream can be laid out from the bowl on a serving, additionally decorated and servedto the table.

In addition to making traditional treats, the ice cream maker is able to cook frozen yogurt, various chilled cocktails, sorbet, the same fruit( or milk) ice, and also be used as a storage for ice cubes.

Types of ice cream makers - what they are

To properly choose an ice cream maker, you must determine your needs in advance and become familiar with the existing types of these machines. Classification, if necessary, for their operation of electric current is already a thing of the past - mechanical devices have become a rarity, although sometimes they are still encountered. Their main difference from electric models lies in the need for manual actuation of a stirring tool - blade( or whorl).On the one hand, this greatly complicates the work, and on the other hand it makes the device economical and independent of the presence of a current source.

Semi-automatic and automatic ice-breakers

Electric samples can be divided into 2 groups according to the degree of automation of actions:

1. Semi-automatic devices are devices with a removable bowl, which must be frozen in the freezer for at least 12 to 15 hours before worktemperature -16 - 18 ° C.

They are characterized by:

• Low price,
• Possibility of making only one portion of ice cream( how much will fit in the bowl), after which the container again needs to be cooled for a long time,
• Almost constant presence in the refrigerator, which will require a certain place.

2. Automatic ice makers( or compressors) are mini-freezers, since they have an integrated refrigeration unit and are able to cool the contents of the bowl themselves.

Work with it assumes:

• Initial start-up of the device for 5-10 minutes for small cooling,
• Possibility of filling the bowl several times in a row,
• Electricity wastes more than for semi-automatic models,
• Higher price.

Mechanical devices, in addition to the necessity to rotate the whorl by hand, have one more feature: to cool the main bowl with the product, a mixture of ice and salt is used, which is filled with an external container.

Options for choosing a freezer for the house

After you have decided which ice maker to buy - a manual, automatic or semi-automatic, be sure to pay attention to a number of nuances concerning the design and specifications.

Constructive differences

The following parameters can influence the shapes, dimensions and arrangement of individual parts:

• Materials from which the bowl and the body of the device are made. It can be stainless steel or plastic, which give strength and hygiene differences, as well as affecting the fact how much the ice cream will cost.
• Dimensions of the bowl, the most acceptable of which can vary from 0.5 to 2 liters. This determines the amount of ice cream produced per cycle, as well as the overall compactness of the device.
• The height of the container for mixing products is most important for semi-automatic machines. This value can reach 20 cm, increasing the volume of the bowl. But here there may be a problem with another plan - the need to put the ice maker in a refrigerator freezer, which is not always suitable for its large size.

Technical features of the

The main technical characteristic of the ice cream maker is its power, the options for which are eliminated for mechanical models by itself, and for electrical models can be:

• For semi-automatons - from 4 to 35 W, sufficient for rotation of the whorl and insignificant when calculating costselectricity,
• For automatic units with a compressor - from 150 to 200 W, which is also relatively small. In this case, more powerful devices are designed for large volumes and high speed of operation.

There are models with the possibility of action from the batteries, which can be put into the freezer compartment of the refrigerator for the time of operation, thereby saving electricity and preventing the bowl and ice cream from warming up.

Also for fully automatic models, several modes are often provided, which are focused on the preparation of different dishes - ordinary ice cream or sorbet, cocktail, frozen yogurt, etc.

Necessary additions to

• The optional but optional extras to the basic equipment of the ice cream maker can be:
• The second bowl for the compressor, which remains free after the preparation of the first portion - it can hold a cycle with a new volume of ice cream prepared according to another recipe,
• Portioncups, which are usually 2-4 to exclude the need to select a container for shifting the finished product,
• Helpfully informing you about the end of work timer,
• Nalichicompartments for compact storage of the power cable,
• Inspection window allowing periodically observe the slurry conversion process in ice cream.

Parade models

Manufacture of appliances for the manufacture of home-made ice cream is established by many manufacturers of household appliances. The most popular of them are world famous brands Bork, Kenwood, Supra, Tefal, Panasonic, Nemox, Moulinex, Smile, Montiss and others. Their difference is their own design and production bases, a free number of components and the desire to stay at a high level of the market, which gives high quality products, trouble-free operation and wear resistance of products.

According to the above list, the rating of the best ice cream makers, combining high quality with the corresponding price, looks like this:

1. Tefal IG 3005 - semi-automatic, includes 4 glasses of 100 g with refrigerant in their walls and 4 mixer blades, has a bright original design,

2. Moulinex IG 3001 - similar mini-unit with a power of 22 W, has 4 glasses of 100 grams and a built-in cable compartment,

3. Panasonic BH-941P - semi-automatic battery powered with a bowl volume of 1, 5 liters, prepares up to 800 g of ice cream directly into the freezere,

4. Kenwood IM 250 - 1-liter semi-automatic with one bowl, 6W power,

5. Nemox Gelato Chet 2200 is an automatic device with a bowl capacity of 1.5 liters, has a removable bucket,

6. Bork E801 is a 200W automatic machine with 4 modes of operation, a bowl volume of 1.35 liters, a switchable soundsignal, child lock.

And this is not a complete list of models belonging to these companies. Their cost for the cheapest copies can fit into the limits of 3 thousand rubles, and the most expensive ones - fully automatic with a wide range of options - cost more than 25 to 35 thousand. What is better than a freezer for your home needs - it's up to you, based on the needs and the amount of money that you are willing to spend on your little weaknesses.