White Mountain Appalachian Series Wooden Bucket Hand Cranked Ice Cream Maker

This is the Cadillac of ice cream makers. Made to traditional quality standards. The canister that holds the ice cream mix is made of stainless steel. It will never rust like traditional steel with nickle plating canisters. It transfers heat(in this case cold) much faster than steel so the mix turns to ice cream much faster. It is a long tall cylinder, maximizing the surface contact with the ice/salt mix accelerating the freezing time even more. The gearing is steal with bearing and turning the crank is smoot and easy. And; they sell replacement parts in the event that you loose or break something. They include an old time recipe book with recipes for 2, 4 and 6 quart batches. Using it reminded me of the the little red hen grinding wheat, making flour, and then making bread. No one wanted to help turn the crank. But once it was done, people lined up around the block for the ice cream.

**************SEE BELOW FOR UPDATE*************

I gave this charming little bucket two stars only because it makes really good ice cream at a sort-of quick pace as compared to other churns I've used. It it weren't for that it would have gotten one star. The good ice cream this makes comes at a relatively heavy price. Read on to learn why.

My first impression upon unboxing it was that it looks to be a relatively solid device overall (the churn, not the box) yet sort of trying too hard to have a sense of hand-crafted charm. The stainles steel tub that goes inside the bucket, as well as its inner workings seem well made and are of a clever design. I suspect these are the reasons for the unit working as quickly as it does more quickly than other churns I've used. There's also quite a few recipes included a couple of which I've tried and they are very good.

For the top dollar I paid, however, I expected this to have a little more of a "hand-crafted" aura to it, like it's advertised to have. The bucket looks that way from a distance, but up close it looks like a line-assembled item. It actually comes with a warning that if it's not treated correctly and according to the insructions that the bucket could leak brine all over. Now that's a piece of charm I didn't expect!

The crank mechanism is built like a tank (a poorly designed one, however) and herein lies my biggest problem. The fit of this device to the bucket is POOR in my particular case. It doesn't stay on well at all. This is most certainly aggravated by the fact that with nearly every crank, the gears bind up like the devil and try to pull the gear unit off the bucket or upset the bucket altogether. It makes it extremely difficult to use. I searched all through the manual and on the internet for a way to adjust the gears or some other way to alleviate this terrible binding, but I came up with nothing.

So now my usual ice cream churning strategy requires two people to properly turn out a tub. The person cranking (usually me) nearly reaches muscle-failure doing it. With one hand I hold the gear mechanism to the bucket and crank with the other. I must have someone hold the bucket firmly to the table because the gears bind up so badly that the momentum of cranking nearly upsets the bucket with every crank. I imagine my neighbors probably get a kick out or this circus scene by now, but I assure you, I don't.

In case it was misunderstood, the reason for my peculiar two-person setup is because with nearly every crank it's necessary to "un-bind" the gear mechanism as it is turned. This can most often be accomplished by stopping and turning the crank in the other direction. Sometimes, however it becomes so bound up that it needs to be removed from the bucket to be remedied. It's frustrating. The first time made ice cream I made the mistake of holding the gear unit with my bare hand. I worked up a couple really good blisters this way and subsequent churning sessions were done wearing heavy gardening gloves.

I'm not sure what I'll do about this, if anything. It sort of seems like maybe I have a defective churn but my wife insists that making handmade ice cream is a lot of work. Well, to my mind, if it's THIS much work you can have it. I think my bucket is defective. I'd like to get rid of it because it doesn't work right and it takes up so much space in the closet but alas I dropped a couple C-notes on this thing so I guess maybe I'll stick with it for another season. Who knows, maybe it will get easier as time goes on? For now, painful, frustrating ice cream is my lot.

Cheers!

UPDATE: 18 May 2013

Okay, so I originally ripped this bucket for being, A) not as well made as one would expect for the substantial, top-o-the-line cost and, B) very hard to use. Well, I can't honestly change my comments too much about the first fact, although I HAVE used this bucket more now and I have NOT yet experienced the potential phenomenon referred to in the instructions as a "leaky bucket". That's a positive. The main reason I came back to update was to let everyone know that the trouble I was having with the crank mechanism has been solved. I noticed underneath the crank/churn mechanism a couple screws sitting in what sort of looked like adjustable slots. I loosened these screws and slid the entire plate underneath in the opposite direction from where it was originally placed. Next time I tried the machine, "Eureka!, it works!!" Now THIS was the way this thing was designed to operate! Sliding that plate must have tightened up the gear mechanism underneath. No more binding, no more bucket tipping, no more heavy gloves, no more blisters. A child could use this thing now. In fact, my 8 year old has and enjoyed it (until he got bored, which wasn't long). I searched all through the instructions more than once and did not see this procedure mentioned anywhere. I would feel sort of bad for giving this thing such a ripping originally but as far as I'm concerned, it's the company's fault for not warning us about this. Such a simple fix for such a huge problem. Wow! So I don't feel that bad.

Cheers!

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Directions easy, recipes great and results fantastic. The quality of White Mountain's ice cream maker is better than we expected hope to be using this machine 20 years from now.

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Recently purchased and used for the first time on Super Bowl Sunday to make ice cream for friends.

I found that the hand crank would jam incessantly. If I applied pressure in a certain way on the handle, this would reduce the jamming but this was inconvenient. Without the pressure, the crank would jam again.

I took the simple gear mechanism apart to see what was wrong. The gears fit together very poorly and have a lot of play. The gear that turns the cannister has only about 1/8" of overlap with the gear on the handle. The result is minimal engagement on the teeth of the gears which results in jamming.

I intend to call white mountain tomorrow to find out if there is a fix for this, however, it seems to be more of a manufacuturing flaw rather than a defect. I remember my parents had one of these when I was a child and the gears were much more solid and better made.

All in all, I am disappointed and cannot recommend this product given the cost.

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This is a well built ice cream maker that should last for years. Before purchasing I had read in reviews here on Amazon and on other websites that the inner gear mechanism grinds and drops metal shavings into your ice cream, so before every batch we make we wrap the metal post that fits into the gear mechanism with a thick layer of plastic wrap which catches the metal shavings keeping them from falling into the goods. You have to wrap the plastic so that it essentailly plugs the hole in the metal lid and it waorks great, not a flake of metal in the ice cream yet. I guess this is the poor man's version of the plastic sleeve that an earlier reviewer talked about rigging up for his machine.

The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is that a $200 hand crank ice cream maker should not have to be modified to work correctly. It should be perfect straight out of the box. Nevertheless, this machine is near perfect and my family has had a lot of fun making homemade ice cream with it.

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Factory-Reconditioned KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixers

WOW! It's hard to believe the price on this incredible mixer-even considering it's reconditioned. Before making my purchase, I contacted KitchenAid's Support Center (a toll-free phone number for anyone to use)and wanted the bottom line of a "Factory-Reconditioned" Product. In my own personal experience, I've dealt with companies that had differing ideas on what they meant by "Reconditioned", "Refurbished", "Like New" and some others.

I wanted this review to be as useful as possible so I did as much research as I could, hopefully it will help you to make a more informed and comfortable decision. The wonderful and personable customer service representatives as KitchenAid were very helpful in answering a list of questions that I had prepared. I already had the mixer but wanted to make certain that the information I was passing on to you was as up to date as possible. They reassured me that when they put the "Factory-Reconditioned" stamp of approval on the KitchenAid RRK150WH Artisan 5-Quart Mixer they're basically saying that you're getting a brand new-ish machine that has met or exceeded every standard necessary to place the original product on the shelves in the first place. I followed up with another question, "So how can that be since it IS different for whatever reason?" They gracefully explained that every KitchenAid Appliance must meet several strict standards (appearance, safety, etc.), standards that are manually checked and rechecked by actual quality control people in the factory, before they will place it for sale as reconditioned. I asked what the number one reason was for these great machines, and they really ARE great and powerful mixers, to be returned to the store or factory. The main reason is that most returns are a result of people receiving the 5-Quart Mixer as a gift (Wedding Shower, Wedding, Anniversary, New Home, etc.)and deciding that they already have one or that they don't have the need for a new mixer. As a result, the product is returned, often never opened, to the retail store and then shipped back to the factory.

KitchenAid gets FIVE STARS, in my books, for never assuming anything. Even if the tape is still securing the box, the unit is removed completely and sent through the entire quality control process-each and every part of the Mixer is scrutinized. If, as another example, a customer returns a unit because one of the covers is missing, the same lengthy process is taken to ensure that NOTHING leaves the factory with the "Factory-Reconditioned" status unless they can stand by the product in the same way they do with the original.

With a unit priced this low, it's hard to imagine that anyone is making a great deal of money on the deal. This is one case where I would tend to believe that we, the curious consumers, are definitely getting the best part of the bargain.

I'm Italian and love to cook and love to bake. My family used to do almost everything by hand, but then I purchased the KitchenAid 5-Quart Mixer and my life changed. I will NEVER make another loaf of bread or knead pizza dough, not even for $10,000.00, after learning that this dependable machine does a much better job than myself and even my Grandma can do! The other part of baking that I am not excited to partake in is the cleaning process. Thankfully, the colorful and trendy-looking mixer is as easy to clean as is cleaning a bowl of popcorn! It's honestly that easy and a point that I wanted to pass onto you.

I sure hope that this review helps in some way. I've not covered all of the nitty gritty details, most all of them are found here on the site or can be located on KitchenAids extensive and resourceful site. What I wanted to do is personalize this purchase for you and focus on what they mean, as an individual company, in regard to a product that is not brand new-but is "Factory-Reconditioned!"

I've spent this same amount of money and much more on items I never ended up using. And even if you're the type of baker who only does baking on Holidays, you'll absolutely love your KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer. Choose your favorite color and mix and blend until your heart and tummy are content.

And feel free to email me if I can ever be of any more assistance to you. Thanks for taking the time to read my review.

My refurbished mixer performs fine, but it's less than perfect. I'm able to overlook its minor problems, but if you're the type of person who worries about every scratch on your car or every ping the engine makes, save yourself the anxiety and buy a brand new mixer.

Upon taking the mixer out of the package, I noticed a small ding in the paint/enamel on the top of the mixer, and a few minor scratches on the stainless steel bowl. The metallic strip that encircles the head of the mixer also did not seem very well attached; I don't know if that had anything to do with it being reconditioned it seemed like it just wasn't glued down to begin with.

Those were just cosmetic flaws and didn't really bother me. What concerned me was the strange, low grinding noise the mixer made when I started it up (I've used these mixers before and I know they're not supposed to sound like that). It only makes this noise when operating on the first two speeds; on higher speeds it sounds fine. After running it a while, it seemed to me that it wasn't really broken, just noisy. Since the price is a pretty good deal and returning it would be a hassle (and who knows what I'd get in exchange) I decided to gamble on the noise not being anything serious.

So far I've used heavily for a couple of weeks and have made several batches of bread dough with it. It works just fine. I've gotten used to the noise and it doesn't seem to have any impact on the actual performance. I don't have any other complaints about the machine. It's easy to use and clean up, and having one makes a big difference in the kitchen.

If you're looking for a bargain, go ahead and take a chance on one of these. If you're looking for perfection, you're better off buying a brand new Kitchenaid.

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My factory-reconditioned KitchenAid Artisan Series 5 quart stand mixer arrived in perfect condition (no scratches, chips, or dents) with all of its accessories. All parts fit together properly. The mixer worked flawlessly on the first try and has continued to do so ever since.

It is sturdy, very well made and a pleasure to use. I have no regrets that I bought a factory-reconditioned product. I would recommend KitchenAid factory-reconditioned products to anyone, and I do.

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This is my first Kitchenaid mixer and expectations were high. It came in flawless shape, with a perfect finish. I made a flowerless cake and it was perfect. I added a Kitchenaid pasta maker attachement and tried my hand at homemade pasta. I figured I'd try the Kitchenaid recipe first, and see how the whole proces worked. It had a tough time with the dough (30 sec with the blade, 2 minutes with a dough hook). I attached the pasta maker and all was working well. I noticed it was slowing down and speeding up, even if I wasn't feeing any dough through it. Then it stopped turning even though the motor was still running. It was pretty warm. Not good. Only got to run 1/4 of the dough and didn't finish that.

The next day, I tried it again with no attachments. Same slow down/speed up problem. Called Kitchenaid, who said it was out of warranty, but they would replace it anyway. Not good that their records were wrong, but fantastic that they still took care of me. A replacement is on the way, and I'll return the current model when the new one arrives.

So I give five stars for customer service. You gotta figure somebody will get a bad one, and I wanted to let everyone know how Kitchenaid took care of it. I never mentioned it was a refurb, since I wanted to see how they would treat me. I'd buy another Kitchenaid product in a heartbeat.

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I was a little weary about buying a refurbished mixer, especially with the other reviews saying that there were lots of scratches. I was very pleased when I pulled mine out of the box. It looks just like new. I have only used it a few times, but so far so good. I love it.

GE WR57X10051 Ice Maker Double Solenoid Water Valve

This product is a genuine GE Double Solenoid Water Valve. I wish I would have known that this was all I needed to fix my ice maker 3 years ago. My ice maker was "overcyling" and would overfill the ice tray when filling with water. We were seeing water on the floor outside the fridge/freezer and everything in the freezer was wet with icicles forming from the water. I had an "expert" repairman come out and tell me that it would need a new ice maker and the cost of repair would be $325. I told him I'd buy a new fridge before spending $325 to fix an ice maker. I finally decided to do some research to try to fix the problem and happened on this product. This product installed easily in 5 minutes with no special tools other than a nut driver, and I had my first batch of ice in less than an hour with no more water issues in the freezer.

The physical appearence was a little different and at first I worried a little bit.

But it did fit perfectly. Plugged it up and hooked up the plastic lines and it worked great. Definitly recommend it.

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Margaritas are back on the menu.

Upon finding a puddle of water coming from under the fridge and ice down the back of my freezer I defrosted the entire thing and then restocked it. After about two weeks the same thing. This little puppy was the culprit. Well the old one. Threw a new one of these in and everything is great. (My shizzle once again sizzles) Turns out the old ones can develop a slow leak that eventually ices up the ice maker water intake and inadvertently overflows down the back of the freezer and out the back of the fridge where with water line goes to the ice maker.

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Direct repacement. 5 minute install works great. I have ice again and no more flooding. Old valve failed to shut off. The spring broke and not something stuck under the plunger.

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The water valve for the ice maker in my 1994 GE Profile refrigerator started to leak water so I did some searching for a replacement part. With my refrigerator being so old, I wasn't sure if this was the right part, but it works just fine. I did have to clip some of the white plastic guard from the water inlet side, but the install was easy and I have ice again... with no leaks. The price I paid on Amazon was also half the price of the other valves I found online. Shipped from Amazon with no issues.

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Norcold Inc. Refrigerators 323T R/L 3 Way Refrigerator

I have had these in two brand new RV's and they have never worked. Not even at first. I return them to be fixed, the techs fiddle with it for awhile and say try this and bring it back if it doesn't work. Next trip. no fridge, return and start over. Eventually I get tired of them trying to fix it. AC electric has always worked. Fine when you're parked at home. Battery sucks dry in hours if you try to use that. Gas just never works. Will not light, will not stay lit. Even more frustrating because the switch is right next to the gas hot water heater. One touch and its on, never any problems so it's not like we can't build something that works. I'm completely through with Norcold.

Works, but we have had trouble with excessive condensation. We started storing a cloth in the fridge to wring out the water every day when used in the summer

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WR57X10051 Double Solenoid Water Valve REPAIR PART FOR GE, AMANA, HOTPOINT, KENMORE AND MORE

This product has been in use for 6 months now and works well. It fixed our ice maker right up.

Works great, but I did have to cut mounting bracket from old unit and install on the new one. Our refrigerator mounting attached on other side.

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Kalorik Thermoelectric Dual-Zone 18-Bottle Ventilated Wine Cooler, Stainless Steel/Black

• 18-bottle dual-zone wine cooler with thermoelectric technology
• Digital controls with LCD display; 2-zone adjustable temperature
• 6-bottle upper compartment for white; 12-bottle lower compartment for red
• Soft LED lighting with on/off switch; auto defrost; double-paned tempered-glass door
• Measures 19-2/7 by 13-1/2 by 26 inches; 1-year limited warranty

A couple of things I want to get out of the way first thing. This appliance cost me $189.00 with shipping. It is not an expensive appliance so if you are expecting 100% humidity, the ability to stay cold in your garage, or completely silent operation you may be disappointed.

On the other hand, if you keep your house or apartment fairly cool then you will have the ability to keep your wines at whatever temperature you most enjoy them along with fairly quiet operation.

-Cooling Ability

In regards to the unit's cooling ability I was initially concerned that any thermoelectric cooler wouldn't be able to stay cool in my apartment. From about 9:00PM to Noon the next day my apartment stays a relatively comfortable 76-77 degrees. However, starting at around 1:00PM the sun begins to hit the west side of my apartment and by late afternoon my AC cannot keep it cooler than 81 degrees. On occasion the temperature inside my apartment will hit 83 degrees in the afternoon even with the AC on. The good news is that this cooler can hold its own in these conditions. Because it has plenty of time during the night and morning to get down to its 50 degree setting it only drifts up slightly during the few hours of heat inside my apartment. In fact, I have not seen it get above 52 and usually it stays at 51. If you keep your place below 77 degrees you will not have difficulty getting the upper part of the cooler into the 40s from my experience (the lowest setting is 45). The bottom section stays at a rock solid 55 degrees in my apartment.

-Noise

It sounds like some people are buying this with the expectation of silent operation. I read the reviews so I knew it was going to be noisy, but from the reviews I read you would think it sounds like an aircraft trying to take off. It does make noise, but I have it on the other side of the wall from my living room and it is very difficult to hear. As long as it is one room removed from where you like to read, surf the web or whatever it should be fine. The TV easily drowns it out even in the same room.

-Other Thoughts

It looks nice, has a blue digital read-out on the front and a nice interior light. Overall, I am pleased with how it looks next to my bar. Mine arrived well packaged and with no damage which was a concern for me as I had read a lot of reviews reporting damage during shipping. In a year I will follow up to let you know how reliable it is. A couple of my taller wine bottles don't fit and champagne is a tight squeeze.

-Conclusion

I love it thus far. As long as it continues to perform the way it has it will be $189.00 well spent.

EDIT 11/11/10: I bought this in March 2009 and reviewed it in June 2009. It is still working exactly as stated in this review one year and eight months

later.

EDIT 05/07/2011: The lower compartment has lost its cooling ability. It has been just over two years since I made the purchase and the top of the unit is still keeping solidly at 55 degrees. It's a shame that the lower cooling unit seems to be over worked and just gives out over time. I am still using this unit but will probably retire it at some point and replace it with a higher quality one.

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We purchased this wine refrigerator in September. It ran without issue until February. Yes, a whole 5 months. At which point, it stopped working. Period. Will not turn on. Thus, I now have intimate knowledge of the "warranty" program. The warranty program is shoddy, at best. You have to provide the original receipt of purchase for Kalorik to evaluate (having original shipping box and label is inadequate). If they evaluate the receipt and determine that the product is under warranty, the purchaser (YOU) then has to pay the shipping costs to ship the product to Miami. The packing weight of the refrigerator and original box is 45 pounds. At this point, they will try to fix it or replace it. There is no additional warranty on the fix. Also, if they claim to have fixed it and it does not work when you get it back, you get to pay to ship it back to them again. If they cannot fix it, they ship you another one -maybe refurb, maybe new -I could not get clarity on what they would replace it with. However, that "other" unit does not come with an additional year of warranty. The person who provided these details on the warranty program is the person that answers the phone at Kalorik. It took no less than five times of being put on hold so that she could go ask someone else for clarity on my warranty questions. She could not email me a complete description of their warranty program, so it is anyone's guess if this program is administered the same way every time.

Bottom line -cheap, shoddy, Chinese made product with some kind of warranty that requires you to pay half as much as the product to ship it to Miami to have it fixed. I would not buy this product again, or recommend it to anyone. Go with a wine refrigerator from a reputable company with written warranty policies.

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I would love to have been able to review this item. I really wanted to try it. But, I ordered one that arrived damaged. I ordered a replacement and it arrived more damaged than the first one. Until they can improve the packaging, this will never make it through shipping.

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First unit arrived with a cracked doorframe, no issues returning. Second unit worked great for approx 3 weeks, but now will not cool in the lower compartment. Thankfully it decided to break before the end of the Amazon return window as none of the reviews for manufacturer customer service have been positive!

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I reviewed this item when I first purchased it, a year ago, and because it was fairly inexpensive, and made in China, along with the fact that the first one they sent was broken, I had a negative view on this

cooler. Oops.....I was wrong. It has run perfectly, done a fine job of caring for my wine, and I sincerely regret doubting it was going to be worth its price. It is. I love the look of this stainless steel beauty with that cool blue light casting a glow on the bottles slumbering safely within it. Next bottle I open, I'll toast to it. It's caring for two 1978 Stag's Leap Cellars Cabernet and doing a perfectly

marvelous job. (update) Well, the thing did end up dying, after all. What a shame, I loved that glow. It still protects bottles, but doesn't chill. RIP, beautiful little cooler.

Frigidaire 297366300 Electronic Control for Freezer

Took lightning strike close to house, afterwards the freezer went to -10F and ran all the time. It threw the E9 code in which the instruction manual said to call service technician. They came, got other codes on the display and refused to service the freezer. He suggested I go online and look for a replacement. Amazon by far the lowest price.

Just use screwdriver to pop the old control out. It will break the tabs upon doing this and in my case scratched some of the paint off the freezer. Popped new one in and works like a champ!

No instillation instructions, easy just use flat blade, pop old one out push new one in!! No Easy Button needed, perfect fit!!

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