Sage Smart Scoop, Ice Cream Maker, Brushed Stainless Steel

I’ve had my Sage Smart Scoop for almost a month now and have made a mint and dark chocolate ice cream, a dark cherry ice cream, a strawberry and cookie ice cream a few vanilla ice creams, plus one tropical fruits frozen yoghurt ice cream. All have been made easily, though the ice cream bucket of the Sage smart scoop isn’t dishwasher safe, but a quick wash up at the sink doesn’t take long. What do I think now I’ve had it a while? I like it, but making excellent ice cream is only ever as good as the ingredients you put in, not the machines ability to freeze and churn. It won’t come out like solid shop bought ice cream, or you’d never get it out of its bucket. It’s the consistency of ‘Mr Whippy’ ice cream when it’s done, which is fine to eat immediately or freeze in a litre ice cream tub (I have kept my shop bought ice cream tubs as they dishwasher clean up fine). Don’t ever use a box that’s had anything strong flavoured in like onions or spices though as ice cream will pick up the smell and flavour. What I was disappointed with was the lack of recipes in the box, in fact the lack of Heston Blumenthal anywhere in the instructions. Has Heston parted company with Breville’s Sage brand? However, nip off to Lakeland’s website and look up the info on Sage’s Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker and you’ll find the original Heston’s recipes to download and print, but buy your ice cream maker from Amazon as they’re cheaper. I recommend the quick vanilla ice cream recipe using a can of condensed milk, with milk and whipping cream and plenty of vanilla extract for the perfect vanilla ice cream that’s dead easy to make, omit the vanilla and use it as a basis to many other flavours too like chocolate, strawberry, coffee, mint chip choc or whatever you fancy. You can mix in the ingredients before or add ‘add ins’ whilst the ice cream is churning it will let you know when to add things, like chocolate chips or fruit. I’ve found using frozen fruit from the supermarket works great in ice cream, as do cookies, mini marshmallows and fudge. Caramel and vanilla is heavenly too. I have yet to try a gelato or sorbet, but I will soon. It’s a worthwhile purchase for the quality of churned ice cream you can make with it, without the hassle of having to pre freeze a bowl in an ice cream maker without a compressor. I recommend putting the pre cool button on first, the machine then let’s you know when it’s ready for the ice cream mixture then simply press the start button. I haven’t tried the keep cool button as I tend to take the ice out and put it into a tub in the freezer. I have learnt that more vanilla extract or a drop of vodka to the mixture helps it freezing up rock hard, making it easier to scoop out once frozen in the freezer. I’ve had one experience of a crunching noise whilst it churned, but I think that was adding sticky ingredients like syrup which I think made it difficult for the blade to turn, I didn’t experience it the next ice cream I made. Stick to adding syrups after it has churned in the tub before freezing. Add sugar to the mixture and blend before churning. The times vary not just on type of ice cream but on the temperature outside the machine will affect it I’ve noticed. Hot days it takes longer. The most is 52 minutes plus pre freezing, so plan ahead if you want it after dinner. The ice cream van bell at the end is fun and makes all big kids smile, including me. Enjoy experimenting with your flavours and venture forward with making ‘proper’ ice cream making an egg ‘custard’ as a basis, I have tried ready made fresh custard from the supermarket, it doesn’t work well just frozen on its own. Stick with the condensed milk version to begin with until you feel more confident. I hope my review has been helpful, I know I rely on reviews too to make my mind up when purchasing on Amazon.

Thought for ages whether to go for this one or one of the cheaper ice cream makers. In the end decided to go for Heston's version and am so glad I did. I've made vanilla ice cream (quick version using just cream, condensed milk, milk and vanilla essence - no pre cooking, just pop it all in and off it goes). The vanilla ice cream took about an hour to make, but it was one of the hottest days so I would think slightly quicker on a cooler day. I've also made some 'skinny' strawberry ice cream - creme fraiche, strawberries and a couple of spoons of half spoon sugar. Again worked perfectly. Watermelon sorbet - just using watermelon and nothing else. This one turned more into watermelon granita than a sorbet but that might be because I was impatient for it to be done. The pre cool function is really good, as is the auto function and being able to just tell the machine whether you want sorbet, frozen yogurt, ice cream and the level of hardness you want and then off it goes. Has a really nifty keep cool function - most ice cream makers you have to take the finished article out as soon as its done otherwise it will melt - with this one it keeps it at the chosen setting for up to three hours. And it plays an old fashioned ice cream van tune when its finished I ordered on prime and had next day delivery - however, the box was delivered upside down. As it was a heavy box I couldn't see that the delivery driver would have turned it over when taking out of the van (why would he?), so I assumed that it was transported upside down too. Having read about this happening to someone else on the reviews I was aware that this could cause damage. I pointed out the fact that it was upside down to the delivery driver, and his reaction was to turn the box over (as if that would solve the problem!!). It clearly said on the box that it had to be kept the right way up. So I rejected the delivery as it would be a bit like receiving a freezer upside down and not knowing what damage had been done. I used the Amazon call back process to find out if I needed to reorder and they were really helpful. Original delivery was about 4.30 in the afternoon, they immediately reordered another for next day delivery and that one was sent by DPD. Was delivered around lunch time, the right way up. And I had checked that it wasn't the same one recycled for me as I took note of the item number on the original delivery item! You have to wait for 12 hours from removing from the box to use to allow the freezer compressor (or whatever its called) to settle, so the next day I was up and running with making ice cream. One previous review mentioned that the central pole in the bowl can't be removed. This is correct but I can't see that this will cause any issues as it is easy to remove all the ice cream from the pole once you have taken the mixing blade out so I don't see this as a problem. Best ice cream ever, and you know exactly what is in it.

I have used other ice cream makers in the past, but having to freeze the bowls before hand really limited how I used them. This model is heavy, but that is to be expected given the built in compressor. It cools quickly to temperature, and when in auto mode, you can choose what type of ice cream you want to make and it will churn until the correct temperature and consistency is reached. However, like most things, the end result is only as good as the ingredients, and don't underestimate the skill and effort needed to make a good base. My issue is that most of the recipes I have found, especially for Gelato, result in an end product that is too eggy in flavour. This is most likely to do with when the custard base is being prepared and the egg is over-cooked. I consider myself a good cook but have not yet perfected this! The best revenue I have found was using the B&J non-custard base recipie, the book is available on Amazon and I'd recommend. Back to the device itself, my only problems with it are: - Noise, it really isn't the quietest - Paddle is difficult to get out of the mixture when it's done - Doesn't have a separate Gelato paddle, which Sage say isn't necessary but I'm not too sure Ultimately it's a very good machine, not sure if it's really worth the premium over other makes of the same type as I don't own those, but I consider the build quality and reputation to be good enough to believe it is

After years of using the type of machine where you have to pre freeze the bowl I took the plunge and bought this. It’s very to use, quieter than I expected and it makes the most delicious, silky smooth ice cream. I tested it by making a vanilla ice cream with salted caramel ripple. It took less than 30 minutes and the little tune that it played when the process was completed is charming! The ice cream tasted amazing! I am going to try out lots of different flavours and make gelato too. If you’re a serious ice cream fan this machine will make you very happy

On first hand experience I was pleased with my purchase, however things deteriorated from that point on. The external appearance of the device is ok, but when you take a closer look there are many design floors that render the machine a health hazard. There’s no doubt it does make great ice-cream but we have had ongoing faults that were totally ignored by Sages service department. The center spindle was lose and in close inspection had a broken seal / bush. Which allowed the paddle mechanism to wobble in an eccentric manner, forcing the lid of whilst working. On the main paddle it’s self there is a gap between the spindle shaft and the remanding surface area which allows food in to an unassessable internal space were mold started to form after the first use. It’s impossibly to clean that area. Very dangerous We were promised a replacement product from Sage for over 6 month which did not materialise. But thanks to good old Amazon they got a replacement sent out in less than three days. Well done Amazon

This was a gift and they love it. It makes fab gelato -easier, as you don’t need to have the faf of making the ‘ custard’. It’s big though, but I’m glad I got it, as it is self refrigerating so none of the ‘freeze the bowl’ beforehand. They use it to make a batch to eat and freeze. It could be a bigger capacity as it’s so delicious they usually eat it all! Not too noisy, quieter than a coffee grinder anyway 😉. Needed to buy a recipe book - we got the Jude’s one.

I've made my own ice cream for years, using the most low-tech method: steel pot in an ice bath with salt. This approach produces an exceptionally smooth ice cream, but is very labour intensive, since you have to churn by hand for the 30 mins it takes to freeze. I was looking for a machine that would save me the hard work, but produced *at least* the same smooth quality. I tested the Wilfa icm-c15, but it took nearly 60 mins to churn 800ml of caramel ice cream, resulting in noticable ice crystals. After receiving the Sage, I tested the exact same recipe, expecting it to finish in about 40 mins. I was blown away when it chimed the "ready" sound after only 20 minutes. The ice cream turned out to be amazingly smooth with no noticable ice crystals at all. I'd be surprised if you could get substantially better results for less than twice the price of the Sage. It's easy to clean, the paddle is easy to quickly scrape off remaining ice cream, operating it in general is as user friendly as they come, and it feels sturdy and well built. Needless to say, I highly recommend this machine.

Cant give it five stars, due to lack of instruction manual. I've never bought a gadget before that has NO instructions or guides before, so unless you already are well acquainted with the workings of fully automatic ice cream machines (which I am not) then you're a bit stuck. Even a trawl through youtube only returned videos of people extolling the virtues of the machine and how fantastic it is, but no clue as to ingredients, quantities, order of addition etc. I had to purchase a book, and hope I was doing it right. The couple of times I have used it the ice cream has turned out very nice, My granddaughter was disappointed not to have the ice cream van chime playing when it finished - still not managed to work out how to get this to sound! I'm sure this will be a machine that is used a lot once we're used to it. But I still think a basic instruction manual wouldn't go amiss

Easy to use, great quality of results! After benchmarking for the longest time, I'm very happy with the choice

The device works loudly and get hot