Does It Really Do That? Ice Cream Magic
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- We've had good ice cream weather around here lately, so how does a personal ice cream maker sound?
The Ice Cream Magic claims all that stands between you and delicious ice cream is some ice, fresh ingredients and three minutes of shaking.
But does it really do that?
Happy kids, happy moms and delicious looking ice cream! What's not to like when you watch the commercial for Ice Cream Magic?
It sounds great to Kate Muhl and her kids. Colin and Abbie have seen the commercial and they're interested.
"She wants to buy one every time, every time the commercial comes on," said Kate of her daughter.
They were eager to get started.
Set up requires gathering the special ice cream cup, the bottom is a hollow ice chamber and a little metal bowl fits in the top, that's where you add the ice cream ingredients.
The instruction booklet gives you some recipe ideas. We go with chocolate and strawberry.
We start by adding ice to the cup along with four tablespoons of salt. The commercial says that will activate the deep freeze.
We fit the silver bowl on top. To that, we add heavy whipping cream, sugar, vanilla and chocolate syrup to one and strawberry to the other.
Finally, we screw on the lid. The instructions tell you in all caps, to make sure it's secure. Set the timer for the recommended three minutes, and then start shaking.
The commercial shows kids having a blast with this. Abbie and Colin start out strong, but after less than 20 seconds they were asking for help.
Three minutes is a long time for 4-year-old arms. The tag-team shaking effort continued with frequent hand-offs.
More rest, a little massage and we press on watching the timer, waiting for three minutes.
We can't wait to see our ice cream. Instead, we get something more like a milk shake, and it's messy. The kids like the taste though.
The directions tell us to shake for about a minute more if we don't like the consistency, so we try that with Colin's, but don't really see too much of a difference.
The directions also suggest that for best results, use crushed ice and ice cold water. We try it again like that. Kate hangs in there for three more minutes of shaking.
"It's definitely thicker. Definitely thicker, so the crushed ice and the cold water definitely made a difference," she said.
Not wanting to give up trying for the ice cream consistency shown on the commercial, Kate stays at it and ends up shaking for another three minutes. After double the amount of time the commercial says it takes to make soft serve ice cream, success.
"Soft serve ice cream," she says. "A little bit anyway."
The Ice Cream Magic promises to be a fun way to make fresh soft serve ice cream in three minutes. So, does it really do that? Kate and the kids say no.
"I think it's a lot of work for a very little amount of treat," she says.
But what about the fun aspect?
"I'd say, what do you think? I mean, it's fun. It's a novelty, so it's fun for a minute," added Kate.
"It's fun to eat, but not that fun to make it," said Colin.
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