I had been researching all kinds of ice cream makers from electric, to compressor style. We used to have a donvier ice cream maker years ago, worked very well, and made great ice cream. Was so excited to see that donvier is still made.When it arrived, I put the canister into the freezer in my frig. Wrapped canister in plastic bag first, to make it easier to handle.Let canister freeze overnight, then made a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream base sweetened with stevia. I remembered from the past that the tricky part was putting the rubber gasket/seal on the canister, so soaked the gasket briefly in some hot water to warm it up so it would be more flexible, then was able to pop the gasket right onto the canister with no problem, poured in about 1 qt of my ice cream base which I had chilled overnite in frig.And away we go! Turned handle several times, let ice cream maker sit 3-4 min, then turned again, repeated. After about 15 - 20 min, ice cream was at a nice soft serve consistency.Turned ice cream out into a glass dish, added homemade blackberry sauce, and swirled the sauce through the ice cream. Scooped this all into a carton, popped on lid, and into the freezer it went. Absolutely delicious vanilla blackberry swirl ice cream.I still had quite a bit of ice cream base left over, which I stored in frig. Next day, I strained a quart of unflavored, unsweetened nonfat yogurt, through a sieve to remove liquid, then blended the yogurt with remaining ice cream base. Added frozen thawed strawberries, mashed and sweetened lightly with stevia to the yogurt/ice cream base. Again, the little donvier turned out fabulous strawberry yogurt ice cream.And here's the best part: After the first batch of the yogurt ice cream, I still had about 3/4 qt of base left. Scooped out the first batch of yogurt ice cream into carton. Poured remainder of base into donvier, and wondered if it would make another batch back to back, with no return of the canister to freezer. It worked! Took a little longer this time, about 25 - 30 min or so, to turn into a nice med/soft ice cream. This is the most amazing little machine. Love that it doesn’t require electricity, very few parts, easy to clean, easy to make. I store the canister in the freezer so it is always ready to go. So glad I purchased this.I have had the Donvier 1 quart ice cream maker for several months now and have made 5 or 6 different ice cream recipes. Overall, I like the product, was happy to see that it was made in Canada, and intend to keep it and use it often. There are a couple of things I do want to mention:1) The plastic blades that are turned feel inadequate at times...I am waiting for them to crack and break off.2) The handle has an outside cover that comes off any time you try to use it. It is not necessary for function, but does add to feeling of "flimsyness."3) My freezer holds as -3 deg. F....this means that the insert is very, very, very cold. If you wait the times that the Donvier booklet suggests, the paddle will freeze to the sides and chaos insues. (Actually had to pour everything out, clean, refreeze insert, then start over with much shorter times between turning handle.)4) Easy for kids to use and they LOVE seeing ice cream come to life. My Grandkids have made found recipes and made chocolate (with gummy bears added afterward), birthday cake flavor (dry mix actually added into mix prior to churning). I have made vanilla with vanilla bean, strawverry, and peach. Planning tropical frozen smoothy with pineapple juice soon.5) So, overall....functional, doesn't seem sturdy, and the $60.41 I paid for mine in April (70.00 today, I notice!) seems very high for the quality of the product. BUT...I kept it at 4 stars because the ice cream it makes is GOOD, GOOD, GOOD. Smooth and creamy, not grainy even after hardening in freezer overnight. Makes a great product in 20 minutes.I love this ice cream maker almost as much as the ice cream it makes. I have been following a low carb diet for six months now and with this machine I can have ice cream every day and still lose weight. I usually use the recipe for basic vanilla ice cream in the book that comes with it, substituting stevia for sugar. One cup of ice cream has about 10 grams of carbs done like this, so I can fit it into my diet. Sugar free store bought ice cream can't come close to that carb wise. A cup of my home made ice cream does have a lot of calories however, which is good for me since I often have trouble getting enough calories and fat in my diet. I've lost 30 lbs since going on the low carb diet, and 10 of those pounds came off since I started eating ice cream every day for the last six weeks. I store the excess ice cream in 1/2 cup containers, so I can choose to eat 1/2 cup or more of the ice cream in the evening, depending on my carb count for the day. I did have one problem with this ice cream maker that I have now resolved. As it turns out, my deep freeze ice chest was set to as cold as it would go. I don't have a thermometer in there, but zero is in the middle of the dial. The freezer bucket for the Donvier was getting so cold that it was very difficult to get that first turn of the handle. The paddle would distort and pop off of the peg in the bottom of the freezer bowl. Since I turned the temperature control on the freezer down to just below zero, making ice cream is now fun and rewarding.Pros: The ice cream maker is the bees knees! We love it! Great colors, easy & tasty recipes. Kids love to turn the handle. Ice cream tastes so much better when you make it yourself. :)Cons: Sometimes the consistency of the ice cream is different despite using the same recipe. At times the ice cream does not get super hard, other times it does. Ever when base is frozen the same or milk/cream mixture is chilled for the same length of time. Sort of baffling. However, if it is a bit soft we just pop it in a tub and put in freezer. Hard in a few hours.The recipes that come with it are quick and easy. However, the vanilla one always turns out grainy no matter how we make it. The chocolate one is always super silky & smooth. A winner every time.The handle seems a bit flimsy, but it has never broken.