I bought this doughnut maker for my daughter's birthday party. She loves doughnuts and I needed an excuse to buy it!First of all, if you're looking for fried doughnuts, you're buying the wrong product. This machine makes BAKED doughnuts. I did consider buying doughnut pans (similar to cupcake pans), but after reading reviews about the pans I was worried about the doughnuts not having the same "doneness" on both sides. I like the golden doughnut.The first thing I noticed about the machine is that it's really cute, and it has an image of sprinkles on top, which is cute.The directions are very clear. I washed the inside with a wet soapy rag to make sure that it was clean. This machine should NOT be immersed in water, as all electrical devices.I chose to use the basic white doughnut recipe from the booklet. It was very easy to follow. I sprayed the inside pans with canola oil so the that the batter didn't stick. Set the timer to 8 minutes. After a few tries I realized that the 6 minute suggested timing was not enough. Most of my doughnuts took 8 - 9 minutes. I am not sure why some folks are complaining that the recipe in the booklet didn't turn out. I thought that it was right on the money (except for the timing). By the way, I'm an extremely experienced home baker. I make everything from scratch, including cakes, cookies, pudding, pies, etc.The doughnut maker makes five doughnuts at a time, which is time-consuming if you're trying to make 50 for a party (which is what I did). However, it's really a no-mess operation, which is a plus. It also takes less time than making and frosting cupcakes.I took other people's advice and used a chopstick to remove the hot doughnuts from the pans. Doesn't scratch the pan and the doughnuts slipped out like a charm. The machine itself gets hot to the touch, but the handle to open it is made of a plastic that doesn't get hot. I didn't need an over mitt. HOWEVER, I gave this machine 4 stars instead of 5 because I think that the handle design is a smidge clumsy and the cover slams when you close it. I think that the manufacturer should fix that.I dipped my warm doughnuts in melted butter and rolled them in sugar. I also dipped some in chocolate frosting and added sprinkles. Very cute.The doughnuts are not giant-sized, but they're not mini either. I think they're the perfect size. They taste like a moist cake-doughnut.I think I'll try the chocolate doughnut recipe next time, for fun, or perhaps for the next school bake sale.A while back, I purchased a retro donut maker from the Salvation Army – new in box for $5 – it was called the Daizy Donut Factory (or something like that) and it worked pretty well for a few years. I think it was from the early 1970s and I kind of learned how to make the donuts through trial and error on that gadget. When the Daizy Donut Factory started to get worn out, I replaced it with this one. This one works really well and I kept the recipe book from the Daizy because the recipes in it are are excellent. But there are tons of recipes online that are also excellent. I can give some tips for using this.1. Keep a brush and about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a little ramekin so that you can brush the cavities between each batter refill.2. Use one of those upside-down pancake squeeze bottles to easily fill the bottom donut cavities just to a smidge before full. This helps fill the cavities quickly so that all of the donuts cook evenly. Filling with a spoon takes too long and some will be darker than others.3. Don’t wait until they are brownish on the outside to take them out, slightly undercook them (to a golden color). Cooking them to brown will make it impossible for the sugar to stick.4. Gently remove the donuts from the machine using bamboo skewers and Immediately place them standing on their sides in a covered container so they stay warm – the light steam will keep the outside moist enough so that the sugar sticks without having to add melted butter.Makes great donuts – you just have to find the recipe that works for you.Recommend.We purchased this for our 7 yr old as a Christmas gift. She loves it. It is easy to use, right out of the box. The donuts are maybe 2 1/2" big, and are perfect for kids. The donuts cook up quickly, actually look like the results on the box (never had that happen before), and they taste great!We did NOT use the recipe that came with the machine. We used boxed yellow cake mix, using 1/2 cup LESS water than the recipe calls for, and let it sit to thicken for a few minutes (MUCH easier to pour into the machine!!). 1st batch took the full 5-6 minutes. All batches after that took maybe 3 minutes; less than 30 minutes to make 2 dozen. Nothing stuck to the machine. Make sure you put a pan under the unit, just in case you over-fill the cups and it spills over. The 1st batch was a little messy.CAUTION - the front has a snap close latch and takes an adult to open it carefully without touching the rest of the very hot machine.PRO:small donuts perfect for kidsmachine gets and stays hot; no lag time between batchesnon-stick surface just wipes cleanno expensive mixes to refill / reuse the machine (looking at YOU, Easy Bake Oven!)CON:tastes good and I don't want to get fat...On time and as advertised.This machine will transform your life.