| |
Gear Reviews
Documents
Tools
|
Tester Information
Industrial Revolution Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker
Initial Report
July 11, 2006
Name: Amanda Tikkanen
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4" (1.6 m)
Weight: 135 lbs (61 kg)
Email address: uberpest at uberpest dot com
Personal website: http://www.uberpest.com
City, State, Country: LaGrange, Indiana USA
Backpacking Background
I have been backpacking and hiking since the spring of 2000 throughout Michigan and Indiana, covering several hundred miles, always with a dog by my side. Beau has been happily carrying a pack since 2002. Before Beau I hiked with Lucy, who is now retired.
My style of backpacking is moving from overnights to long distance hiking, including multi-day trips. While I don't favor ultralight equipment, I do like to go as light as possible while still being comfortable.
Product Information
Manufacturer: Industrial Revolution
Year of Manufacture: 2006
URL: http://industrialrev.com/
Model: Regular size. Makes 1 pint (.47 L) of ice cream or other frozen concoction.
Manufacturer's weight: 1 lb 10 oz (.74 kg)
Weight as tested: 1 lb 14 oz (.85 kg)
Manufacturer's dimensions: 8" in diameter (20.3 cm)
Dimensions as tested: 7 5/8" high x 7 3/4" diameter (19.4 cm H x 19.7 cm D)
MSRP: $34.95 (US)
Warranty: 1 year, but any damage due to dropping or kicking are specifically not covered.
Material: polycarbonate outer ball with aluminum inner cylinder
Color: Purple. Other colors available are: blue, ruby red, pink raspberry, green, orange, and clear.
Item description
The Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker arrived in a cardboard display box. Included with this box, but unattached, was a small bottle of mocha ice cream flavoring. The cardboard box is printed with directions on how to use the Play and Freeze including a basic recipe for vanilla ice cream.
The ball itself is made of translucent polycarbonate, like what many water bottles are made of, with an inner cylinder of aluminum. Each end of the ball opens up via a screw cap. One cap opens the aluminum cylinder and the other opens the ice compartment. More directions on how to use the Play and Freeze along with additional recipes were packaged inside the aluminum cylinder. A special tool (the manufacturer calls it a plastic wrench) is included to loosen the screw lids after making the ice cream.
The sides of the ball are formed with an aesthetically pleasing spider web-like pattern of finger grips. The end caps are recessed slightly with semi-circular divots. The plastic wrench fits into the divots. There is a rubber o-ring around the edges of the end caps.
The manufacturer's directions state to first wash and dry the maker. To make ice cream I would need to add salt and ice to the "ice end" of the maker, and ice cream ingredients to the end with the aluminum cylinder. From there I would have to shake, roll, or pass the ball for 10 minutes, stir the ice cream, drain excess water from the ice end, add more ice, and play again for 10 minutes. The tool is to be used to open the ball after the plastic expands from the cold and tightens the seal.
Testing Plan
Some of my favorite summertime childhood memories center around the old wooden hand crank ice cream maker my mom had. I remember many nights sitting in the back yard making ice cream. Later on in life I found a way to make single servings of my favorite treat--the plastic baggie method of ice creamery. This method places a small zipper seal plastic baggie filled with ice cream ingredients inside a larger bag that is filled with ice and salt. It's messy and drippy and sometimes the salt gets into the ice cream. NOT ideal for a confessed ice cream junkie like me. How to solve the problem? The Play and Freeze Ice Cream maker will hopefully do that while being a little bit of entertainment for the younger hikers in the family.
I will be testing the Play and Freeze Ice Cream in Northern Indiana and parts of Michigan. My nieces and nephews are over on an almost weekly basis and can help me with the "play" factor, as well as seeing how easily children can use the Play and Freeze. I would also take to the family reunion this summer since there will be at least 15 children at the reunion, not to mention adults who, like me, love gadgets and shiny things. Car/base camping will be my primary test sites this summer since my backcountry time will be limited.
Things I will be paying close attention to:
Ease of Use:
How easy are the instructions to follow?
How easy is it to fill with ice, salt, and ingredients?
How easy do they come back out?
How easily does it clean up?
Does either end leak while in use?
Can children easily use this item?
Is the plastic wrench necessary to open the ball after freezing?
Is the ball easy to hold on to?
Is the ball too heavy once filled for children to use?
Durability:
Since my primary helpers in this test will be children (come on, how can you have ice cream AND a cool toy around kids and not let them help? That's just mean), I will be seeing if the Play and Freeze gets scuffed up or broken while in use by my nieces, nephews, and cousins. Age ranges on this will be the youngest at 3 up to the oldest at 17.
Do the kids actually want to play with the ice cream maker, or is it either uncool or boring?
Is it useful as a distraction while making/cleaning up dinner, setting up camp, etc?
Is it easy to clean?
How packable is the ice cream maker?
Is it too big, bulky, or fragile to easily transport?
Usefulness:
How tasty is the ice cream (or frozen yogurt)?
How is the texture? Too hard? Too runny?
Is one pint enough? (Remember, the serving size shouldn't be when the spoon hits the bottom of the bowl!)
How long does it take to make ice cream using the instructions and recipes provided by the manufacturer?
How long does the ice cream last after it's made? Is that long enough to get it to excited small children (or, an ice cream junkie with a bad jones)?
How do added ingredients affect any of the above (i.e., the coffee flavored recipe listed on the manufacturer's site state to use a small amount of warm water for the coffee)?
How does the included flavoring affect the finished product? Consistency? How does it taste?
Does salt get inside the ice cream like it does when using plastic baggies?
How easily does it clean up? At home? In the field?
How much does outside weather and temperature affect the ability of the Play and Freeze to get me my fix when Ben and Jerry are nowhere to be found?
Is the ice cream maker practical for anything other than car/base camp use or for fun at home for those of us where any real amount of snow is rare this time of year?
The manufacturer also states the Play and Freeze can be used to make mixed drinks such as margaritas. I will be enlisting adult friends and relatives for this part of the test since it should come in handy on very hot summer days.
Other: any other issues that may come up during the testing period.
Thank you to BackpackGearTest and Industrial Revolution for the opportunity to test the Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker.
Read more reviews of Industrial Revolution gear
Read more gear reviews by Amanda Tikkanen
|
