Lello 4060 Il Gelato Junior Review

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(More customer reviews)My experiences with ice cream makers have gone from the ridiculous to, well not quite the sublime. But a recent purchase of the Cuisinart ICE-20 (see my review) and its heavy use in my house led me to believe that a step up was probably a good idea. I was keeping two cannisters in my freezer (losing a whole shelf)and constantly having to check to see if they were frozen enough to make ice cream.
Enter the Simac 4060. It's sleek, it's good-looking and it weighs a ton! Seriously, if you're above the first floor, get someone else to schlep it up the steps for you. Once you have it set up, you'll probably have to let it sit for at least twelve hours unless you know for a fact that the unit hasn't been tipped, turned upside down or seriously jostled in transit. Apparently the cooling fluid and the lubricant can mix if any of those things happen, and they need half a day to separate again. No fresh ice cream the first night, alas.
The motor - that's the thing on top that looks like a hat - isn't what you'd call an easy-release item, so it took about five minutes of wrestling before I got the knack. The rest was pretty easy to dismantle for washing, but then getting the cover back on is kind of a pain. You really have to finesse it into place. And as far as placement goes, the manual suggests at least ten inches between the unit and anything else. How many people do you know who have that kind of counter space? However, the weight of it pretty much precludes storing it and hauling it out for use.
As some folks have said in their reviews, freezing time is actually closer to an hour than the 20 minutes they cite in the manual, and unlike the Cuisinart, there's no easy way to dip your spoon in and taste the ice cream as it's being made (darn!) so the best thing to do is switch it on and go do the dishes or something.
All that said, let me tell you this unit is probably going to be very popular in my house. It freezes ice cream beautifully, allows the liberal use of alcohol and alcohol-based flavorings (which was iffy with the Cuisinart which thaws quickly) and it never gives out before the mixture is frozen because it has the cooling system built in. It makes a dense, creamy product even without cream, cleanup is a breeze, and once you've washed the paddle and the mixing bowl, you can go right back and make another batch! You can make ice cream all day if you want to.
There's nothing at all wrong with the Cuisinart; it's fine for light duty. But for serious ice cream eaters like my family, the Simac really is worth the price, and the problem of finding a good place for it. Recommended if you're going to be making a lot of ice cream.

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