Smile ICM 1155 ice cream maker test

The very compact and yet roomy bowl easily fits even in a full freezer. And the price will please many.

Compact size, affordable.

There are design flaws, the ice cream must be placed in the freezer after cooking for further solidification.

Smile ICM 1155 Semi-Automatic Ice Cream Machine

Specifications

Portion: about 500 g, volume – 1 l.

Dimensions: height – 22 cm, d – 20 cm. Weight kg. Bowl: removable – height 14 cm, d inside diameter 2.5 mm. 13 cm, d external. 16.5-20 cm, wall thickness 3 cm bowl weight 1280 g. Control: ON/OFF switch./off. Power: 18 W. Accessories: a lid for the container with a control unit, the length of the power cord – 100 cm, instructions + recipes. Manufacturer: China.

1 Year Warranty.

Working Principle

The structural difference between this ice cream maker and the others presented in the test is the presence of a lid lock. Its design is very simple, but effective: when closed, lifted the device by

k

The lock held well, nothing opened or spilled.

Operating algorithm is the same as for all semi-automatic devices. We cool the bowl in the freezer, and the preparation time varies depending on the temperature in the freezer – from 8-9 hours -30 ⁰c to 24 or more hours -15 ⁰c .

Then the mixture is prepared. By the way, for many recipes manufacturer recommends to chill it in the fridge overnight. Then you take out the bowl, pour the future ice cream in it, close the lid, lock it and press the button. In order to pour the ice cream into the machine when it is already on, you have to try very hard: the hole in the lid is very small. The lid itself is made of dark plastic, through it you can not see very well what’s going on inside. The instructions specify a maximum operating time of 40 min. The motor unit has heated up considerably in the meantime. The direction of the mixer is reversed once the mixture has thickened.

You have to turn it off by yourself just by pressing a button. Our first portion of vanilla ice cream turned out to be a bit sloppy, though the device worked for the maximum allowable time. The mixture does not stick to the walls, but it does stick to the bottom. But we couldn’t call it a ready-made product, just a semi-finished product for further freezing. That’s why we decided to repeat the test, choosing a different recipe from those offered. The second test was more successful, but the ice cream turned out very soft, it did not hold the shape of the spoon. We send it to freeze in the freezer.

Noise level

Quite loud. It can be compared with the work of a blender that crushes ice.

Mixing paddles

Slightly different than other ice cream makers. Thinner and different shape. The bowl is quite narrow and deep, so they mix the whole mass of the ice cream. But the blades could be thicker.

The nuances of

The power button occasionally jams. It needs to be pressed several times for the device to stop its operation.

There is no spatula included in the delivery set, but since practically nothing sticks to the walls or bottom, there is no need in it.

Recipes

There are many recipes in the instructions for the ice cream maker. It’s Vanilla, French Vanilla, French Chocolate, Banana, Rum and Raisin. In addition, there are recipes for sherbets – Raspberry and Kiwi.

Unnecessary complexity is caused by the fact that the amount of products are given in cups, not in grams. One cup is defined as 150 ml. So I have to count: 1 &frac34 cups of milk is how many grams in the result?

Of course, if you cook with children, it is not harmful for them to repeat the addition and multiplication of fractions, but you could do without the math lessons. The recipe for vanilla ice cream mentions milk among the ingredients twice, but there’s no mention of sugar. So I had to guess in which case “milk” is sugar. We made Vanilla and French Chocolate. We were more pleased with the second ice cream.

Overall impression

Very compact yet roomy bowl fits easily even in a full freezer. And the price will please many people. Ice cream maker should work closely with the refrigerator. And not only because the bowl has to be in the freezer all the time and the mixtures take a long time to cool in the refrigerator.

The desserts themselves need further hardening in the freezer. So we filled our IKEA molds with very, very soft French chocolate, and the next day we were treated to a wonderful Crème brûlée. But there are also disadvantages, which are worth writing about: thin stirrer, lightweight bowl, loud noise when working, latches that do not look reliable.

Parameters	Overall score	Notes
Functionality	6	The ice cream is very, very soft and needs further solidification in the freezer.
Control	6	Button often jams. Can’t see through the dark lid plastic. The hole is very small, it is impossible to pour the mixture through it.
Care and Storage	8	Small, easy to clean, stores in freezer. The cover is not detached from the control unit.
Price/quality ratio	8	The most affordable model in the dough, but not available everywhere.
Overall Score	13,3	Compact budget model.

6 + 6+8+8 :3 = 13,3

Price: 1190 Dollars.