Lello 4080 Musso Lussino 1.5-Quart Ice Cream Maker, Stainless - 110/120V 60 HZ

Just as an FYI for those reading, my point of reference this review when it comes to making ice cream is the Kitchen Aid ice cream attachment I currently have. I put the freezer bowl in my deep freeze which cools it to about -5F (about -21C ) based on my kitchen thermometer probe against the side of the bowl when I remove it. Its been a solid workhorse and I had no complaints with how the ice cream comes out once put into containers and frozen, but I wanted to up my game and go with a machine that had a built in compressor and was dedicated to making frozen treats like ice cream. This arrived last night and couldn't wait to put a batch of chocolate through it (I prepared my base in preparation for its arrival). That being said, here's my review.The packaging was absolutely excellent. There is a lot of form-fitting foam around the unit protecting it as I hoped there would be for an expensive, heavy unit like this. When I look at getting something I go right to the 1 star reviews to see what problems people had. One review said the unit made clunking sounds when it was running and another said the compressor didn't chill the bowl so I inspected it very carefully for damage. Fortunately my unit seemed damage free. I also inspected so carefully because even though the ad says sold and shipped by Amazon, it was sent by UPS instead of an amazon delivery driver and the UPS driver left the box on its side instead of following the "this end up" arrows on the box. I attribute it arriving damage free due to how much formed foam is guarding it as well as the construction (stainless steel and REAL SCREWS AND BOLTS as opposed to interlocking plastic).I set it on the counter and gave it some time for the refrigerant to settle (about an hour I guess? I'm not sure I was eager to get started) and turned on the chiller to ensure the chilling unit was working fine. Lets just say that the chiller worked REALLY well.So, now that my concerns from issues that some people had were put to rest, how did it work compared to my freezer bowl attachment? Two words: Next level.The minute the first batch was processing I knew this was going to be a night and day difference. I was only 6 minutes in and could tell a difference. At 12 minutes in the ice cream was looking smooth and absolutely luscious. At 21 minutes the ice cream was so thick it almost bogged down the motor to a complete halt so I shut the chiller off and let it run for another 2 minutes before removing the ice cream. The picture attached is a frame grab from a video I made at the 23 minute mark when I decided to scoop it out. It pulls out of the maker like firm soft serve. The taste test was incredible! Absolutely smooth, creamy and luscious! Even when put in a container and frozen down to deep freeze temperatures it scoops easier than ice cream from my KA attachment and you get that "ruffled" surface from the scoop. It doesn't lose that creaminess either.Now don't get me wrong, my KA attachment when frozen in my deep freezer made great ice cream and keep in mind its going to be your ingredient choices that largely dictate your end result, but when it comes to turning your base into ice cream this machine does everything better if not outright "crushing" my KA attachment. The ice cream really is "next level." It comes out of the machine firmer while whipping in a little more air to give it a creamier texture. And of course, since I don't have to freeze a bowl I have the liberty to make as much as I want when I want without having to wait for a bowl to freeze overnight.Two final comments about this unit. Since you're probably coming from a freezer bowl unit to this, watch your first batch carefully. My KA attachment was able to get my ice cream to soft serve but the compressor in this unit can get it your base so cold and frozen you can bog the motor down to a complete halt. Get to know the machine before you set the timer and walk away. If the motor bogs down turn off the compressor let it run for a minute and you're ready to scoop out. Second, being one piece construction the bowl doesn't come out, but it does clean up as easy as the instructions say with a warm wet sponge. Unscrew the nut and you can remove the beater to clean separately.Although the only freezer bowl version of an ice cream maker I have is the KA attachment, I feel pretty confident to say this maker will take your ice cream game to the next level. If you love ice cream enough that shelling out the cash for this machine is in your budget and you've been waffling over this purchase, I say go for it. I freely admit I'm still in the "initial purchase" romantic phase with this maker, but I have zero regrets. For me, it was absolutely worth it.

This Ice Cream maker is simple the best, most professional one I've ever used. And I've used several. Admitingly, I never owned one of the industry standard ones (4k-10k ones), but for home usage, this one takes the cake EASILY. And honestly, it FEELS like a industry standard unit build wise and results wise. Extremely easy to use, literally plug and play, the best for clean up (IMO), AND THE RESULTS are finally ice cream parlor style, and just so well built I am very impressed.The design is VERY smart for cleaning, which is important for me. The bowl is not removable, and is literally part of the entire casing and lid (one molded piece of stainless steel ! So there is no way of leakage ! With removable bowls, you have the problem of ice cream, water, batter, debris, and funk getting below the bowl, or seeping down the "seam" that has to be there in a design as such. With this one that is not the case at all. This is what costs so much, the "cut no corner" design. ALSO, the entire top has a ridge around the whole unit. This again is ingenious as if a bunch of liquid get poured on top of the unit (for cleaning), it has no way of rolling down the sides of the machine. SO cleaning is as simple as after you remove your desert, just pour some hot water all over the top of unit and in bowl... wait for a few minutes, then wipe it all down with a sponge (rinsing your sponge from time to time). Then do a final dry dry with a paper towel or two and the thing polishes right back up. It is so helpful under messy situations. I get no mess anywhere using this due to its ingenious design (IMO).Not too much anymore do you see a product made that is obviously not trying to save money by a poorly built mechanisms, parts, and casings. Well this one takes the cake. Obviously they know how to keep things built right in Italy. Unlike here in the US. This thing is a BEAST, just like we USED to make here in the US back in the 60's and 70's before plastic and fake metal coatings (fake stainless steel) took over on ALL our products, and before we decided to get everything built or assembled in Mexico, China, etc.. This thing is HEAVY like it should be. This thing is ENTIRELY made of stainless steel ! (other than the buttons and knob). The gear, crank, rod, and paddle are extremely solid and well built. I can tell they will last forever. 100% stainless steel and fit to each other very well and secure. No loose movements or faulty connections. Its literally the best design and strongest design I've ever seen in a Ice Cream maker under 4k. The paddle is properly designed to fit onto the rod correctly so it practically would hold itself there fine by just setting it in its "groove" place, BUT on top of that, it then has a stainless steel screw knob that screws down and completely LOCKS that paddle in place. Absolutely NO room for error, breaking or damage later on. All these pieces are removable as well for easy clean up. And you can feel their well builtness by the weight they have. Seriously.Now onto the whole reason we buy these things. Making the Ice Cream ! Man, this thing is beautiful. I followed instructions to a tee, blended my batter correctly, made extremely smooth, etc... Then chilled it for a while in fridge (about 2 hours). I then poured it into the machine, turned the machine on and set the time for 60 minutes (manual says 30, but I was going to stop it at 30 if it was done, but wanted a hour on the timer just for the hell of it), and then I went to the sink to wash some fruit to eat it. By the time I was eating my fruit (5 minutes), I glanced over and I could see the batter inside already taking a "thicker" form. I was impressed, that was quick ! Then about 5 more minutes it was already looking like very soft ice cream. I was excited at this point. About every 5 minutes the batter took on a new form, looking more and more like professional ice cream. Then sure enough, on the dot of 30 minutes after I started it, the ice cream was DONE. It was THICK, but creamy. The paddle/gear had stopped cause the ice cream was so thick/perfect ! (This is also how I knew the machine was well built, it seems to have a gear in it that is meant to do this, I could tell no damage was happening to the motor or gear like usually would if a engine was on but getting stopped) -- Anyway, I turned off the machine and couldn't believe the results. SOOOOOOO much like ice cream parlor ice cream !! Nothing like the homemade ice cream that every other maker has done for me. No ice crystals, no harden places, no inconsistencies, just thorough creamy, whipped, ice cream that was slightly hard to scoop out with a ice cream scooper and held its "classic" scooper form perfectly !!! But was not too hard !!NEVER before has a ice cream maker done all these attributes of parlor style ice cream so perfectly. NEVER.The real test (to see how professionally it "whips" it) - I then got it all out of the machine, minus what I was eating, lol, and then put it in a airtight container and put it in the freezer. Came back the next day, and WOW !!! Unlike other homestyle ice cream makers, this ice cream was NOT overly hard ! It was still PERFECT. Actually even a touch better than after I first made it. It was truly like them buckets of ice cream at a parlor. For real. I don't know if you know, but that is a big problem with other homestyle ice cream makers. Even if you do ever get a decent consistency with one, after you freeze it overnight, the ice cream is so hard you need a chisel to get to it. That is because the maker did not "whip" the batter properly, and freeze it to a professional temperature in the CORRECT amount of time. This is all physics.Ultimately, you will be VERY happy with this purchase. I understand it is expensive, but if you spend less, you will get A LOT less of a performance and A LOT less built of a machine, so honestly, this is the best bang for the buck. Save money now by getting a cheaper model, but spend it later buying a new machine ! On top of that, you will have a lot crappy ice cream consistency. So if you do the math, it really is worth the dough. Of course your choices are compressor auto chilled units like this one, or the older fashion kind with the bucket you got to freeze. Obviously if you go with the older fashion kind you are in another ballpark. They are so inexpensive that if you simply do not have the money for this one, and are less anal about professional results of your ice cream, then they are a better buy for you, cause jesus, they are very inexpensive and do crank out ice cream (bad consistency ice cream though). But my comparison was mainly this one again all other compressor auto chilling units. The less expensive models yield you FAR less results product wise and build wise than this one compared to the dollars you save. So they are simply not worth it at all. In the long run I would consider this one actually cheaper. Plus in the happiness return from how ecstatic you'll be over your ice cream results !!All in all, as you can tell, this machine comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by me. Also Amazon shipped it instantly, it came in 4 days ! Free Shipping, and the lowest price. I am very happy with this purchase and the whole transaction. Some others having problems with this unit, don't seem to be using it right, and not preparing their batter properly IMO.

Long researching brought me to this product and it does what you expect. Other brands like Whynter and other will make ice well enough but “good enough” wasn’t what I wanted. With food going up in price, using the right machine and it doing the best job makes the most sense. Very easy to use. The taste, and texture is a premium product.The price is high, and for most this is a splurge buy. If you can, you should. It’s a professional grade machine that, if taken care of, should last a long time.Some are curious on how to clean, it’s very simple. With a sponge you can load with warm soapy water and use the sponge to suck up the left over liquids. A bit time consuming but it’s worth what you get out of it.Quality build and functions are as clear as day. Perhaps now the machine has been updated, reviews here and online bring up the cons of the timer ticking too loud. Mine does not do that. Another con was the leg not being level. Mine is level. Last con was a gap in the pin that holds the dasher. Mine has what looks like a plastic mold to prevent too much from getting in.Perhaps this machine was updated over time and I am extremely satisfied with this machine and since getting it, on day one I was making strawberry and pineapple sorbet from fresh fruit. Both amazing.If you can, you should.