White Mountain F64306-X 6-Quart Hand-Crank Ice Cream Freezer

Don't let the high price on this ice cream freezer fool you into thinking you're getting something that's high quality. We ordered one in late November, anticipating lots of fun "cranking" together at family get-togethers over the holidays. The "trial run" in early December went fine. But the second time we got the freezer out of the box -on Christmas evening -we saw that metal filings had shifted out of the crank mechanism. Then, as we attempted to make just our second batch of ice cream, the crank handle broke. (The crank mechanism seems to be poorly made, which overly stresses the crank handle.) Not what we expected from a $159 ice cream freezer.

If you are looking for an old fashioned hand crack ice cream maker that uses salt and ice this is the only choice I have been able to find. Unfortunately, I was only able to make ice cream about 5 times before I noticed the gears were stripping. I then took a closer look at the hand crank system and it is made very cheaply. Additionally, even though I have been diligent about rinsing out the bucket when I am done, it is still rusting on the inside. This is presumedly from the salt water needed to freeze the ice cream. Still, since I very much like hand cranking, I am now looking for a replacement piece for the hand crank system and hoping it will last more than a season.

The good news is that you can still buy an old fashioned ice cream maker. The bad news is that no one has come out with one that is made to last.

My suggestion is to look at garage sales for one built years ago when they were built to last generations. If you don't find one, then this will do.

Update 2010: I never found a way to replace the handle so we now have a very expensive wooden bucket. Since more recent reviews say that the gears are still stripping, I would stay away from this product.

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Two years ago, I purchased this hand-crank ice cream freezer for $130 on the web. My wife and I loved the idea of kids taking turns cranking the handle.

But the very first time we made ice cream, we found that the crank would jam incessantly. If I pressed in on the handle in a certain way while cranking, the jamming was reduced a bit, but this was a nuisance. If one did not apply force in just the right way, the thing would jam again. (So much for friends and kids enjoying taking turns at the crank!)

The second time we made ice cream, the jamming was even worse, and we noticed that metal filings were dropping down from the gear mechanism and were making their way into the ice cream.

When I took the gear mechanism (the "crank assembly frame") apart, I discovered the problem: The gears inside are designed and manufactured badly. The gears are not held in place, but rather have about 1/8" play. That is a lot of play. When the gears drift apart, they jam. The gears in our unit were badly gouged after only two uses! (The gears seem to be stamped from low-grade powdered metal.) The entire problem could have been avoided in the manufacturing by simply using a plastic spacer on the shaft that holds one of the gears, but this was not done.

When I called about warranty service, I was told that a replacement gear mechanism would be shipped to me. That never happened. The next time I called, some months later, I was told that there was no record of my earlier call. Again, I was told that a replacement gear mechanism would be shipped to me. About a week later, a replacement handle arrived, not a gear mechanism.

The third time I called about warranty service, I was informed that gear mechanism is not actually a replacement part, so that I should never have been told that one could be sent to me. (This is rather baffling: one can buy the part on the web.) I was also informed that the unit was out of its one year warranty. It did not seem to matter to them that my problems with the unit, and my contacts with them, had begun while the unit was only a few months old. Only when I assured them that I was holding in my hand a printed 5-year warranty did they continue to work with me. (Of course the company is fully aware of their flawed product, and of course they are fully aware that the product has been sold with a 5-year warranty. It seems that they try to bluff people who call for warranty service, hoping that they might not have a copy of thier warranty in-hand.)

The result of this third call about warranty service was that the company agreed to replace my ice cream maker under warranty. But I was required to pay for shipping of my old unit back to them via UPS (an expense of $20) and for shipping of the replacement unit to me (an expense of $10). So the cost of my ice cream maker is up to $160. Luckily, they don't have any of the hand-crank models available to send out as a replacement, and so they are going to ship me an electric model instead. I'm hoping the electric one will be a better design it does not have the gear mechanism that the hand-crank model has. But I certainly would not have paid $160 for an electric ice cream maker. My recommendation would be to buy a much cheaper electric ice cream maker of a more modern design from another company.

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When I asked for an ice cream freezer as a gift, my husband suggested a modern style, but I assured him I wanted a "good, old-fashioned" hand-crank style. I wanted the quality of century-old manufacturing that uses elbow grease instead of electronics--that can be difficult or impossible to repair--and I also wanted the nostalgic satisfaction of working for my treat.

The quality of this product is shameful; there is no part of it that is not as cheaply produced as it possibly can be. The dyes in the wood bucket leak out; the rings around the bucket began rusting after the first use; the bucket leaks; grease and particles from the crank mechanism collect at the top of the paddle; the wood on the paddles are "hairy" with splinters; the paddle scrapes the sides of the canister, introducing particles into the ice cream (can be adjusted, but didn't realize it was mis-adjusted until the damage was already done); the metal parts of the paddle structure either rust or corrode, depending on the metal; the entire crank mechanism rusts excessively, regardless of how carefully we store it, wiped down with vegetable oil; and finally, the worst of all, the mechanism doesn't work properly. Every 3d or 4th turn of the handle, it seizes up and and has to be turned backwards to loosen it. That is UNBELIEVABLY frustrating.

A logical question would be whether we contributed to these problems with poor care, but all parts were washed and dried by hand, metal parts were put in a low-temp. oven to ensure dryness before storing, and we followed all the directions explicitly. No amount of care or maintenance could save this piece of, well, trash (literally, since after 2 years of struggling with it, I'm throwing it out today).

To my huge irritation, we could not return it because the return date was past before we realized just how bad the problems were. When I contacted the company, they were completely dismissive of my complaints, suggesting that I wasn't using the freezer correctly (I've hand cranked ice cream since I was a kid!). Also, they did not even acknowledge my request for a replacement.

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The freezer works OK but the overall quality of the product appears to have slipped. The finish on the wood was poor and the lid for the stainless steel container does not fit tight enough. I do not expect this new White Mountain freezer to last as long as the one my Grandparent's purchased and used for 50+ years. For the money, I expected more.

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