I've only made 3 batches of ice cream and I haven't used any of the recipe's included with the bowl (they all seemed kind of weird). The maximum capacity is about 8 cups so I've adjusted the recipes to accommodate the max capacity. I made a basic vanilla ice cream, apple cobbler ice cream and lemon sugar free ice cream and all of them came out great.My bowl lives in my upright deep freezer so it starts out around -10 degrees Fahrenheit. My first attempt I followed the instructions, pre mixing everything then chilling it over night in the refrigerator. My second attempt was the apple cobbler, I made the cobbler first then refrigerated it. When I was ready to make the ice cream I mixed the cream and sugar and tossed it in the bowl. The third ice cream, lemon sugar free ice cream, I premixed everything and chilled it over night in the refrigerator. When I was getting ready to make it, I put the premix into the freezer for about 30 minutes. All 3 ways seemed to produce the same tasty ice cream. The cream for the apple cobble ice cream may have been a little softer than the others but that worked to my advantage when putting into the storage container and mixing in the apple cobbler.I read most of the reviews before purchasing and saw someone say heavy cream and heavy whipping cream were different products, they really aren't. Brands choose the name but the product is the same. Fresh heavy cream works better than cream that is close to expiration date.Through the whole process the higher the fat content of the milk and cream, the better results you will get (this was mentioned on nearly every recipe I found, I have not tried lower fat milk/cream)When making a low sugar version, you want to use a sugar substitute that mixes 1 to 1 with regular sugar so that you don't lose volume.Cleaning the bowl is probably the hardest part for me. After mixing and packing my ice cream, I rinse the bowl with cold water and clean it with a sponge and soap, just using cold water and quickly dry with a lent free towel. If you don't get the water dried out quickly it will freeze in the bottom of the bowl. You don't want to run hot water into the frozen bowl as it could cause it to crack. If you chose to wash with warm/hot water, the bowl needs to be completely thawed to avoid damage. Thawing the bowl can take several hours to several days depending on temperature of your home (I keep my house around 58 degrees during the winter months and the bowl was still partially frozen after 3 days of sitting on the counter top) which is why I choose the cold wash method... I always want to be ready for the next batch. I could probably make 2-3 batches in a day with the deep freezer and cold wash between batches.If you like home made ice cream this is a great way to go! Be warned, you might also want to get a waffle cone maker too. Homemade ice cream pairs great with homemade ice cream cones.