Congrats. I remember the first time I used one of those -- t's a great appliance and an incomparable price.

Oh how fun! John, I love your posts! You have such joie de vivre!

An ice cream maker has been on my list of useless wants (the things one would use but can't dream of paying for). Nice friend. I need one like that...

I only like vanilla!!

Hee. Not really. Poor you. No takers for roasted mackerel ice cream, huh? Thanks for the report!

All I can say is that herb flavors are okay, if odd, in ices and sorbets, but disgusting in ice creams and gelatos. That clump of basil or sprig of rosemary might look tempting--just say no!

Lumps in ice cream are much better when they're relatively soft. Pecan pieces, peanut pieces, flaked chocolate, and ground toffee are all good. Hard whole nutmeats that get harder when they're frozen, toffee and solid chocolate chunks, as well as other hard things, require a degree of chewing that means that all the ice cream in the mouthful is gone when the chewing is done, leaving sticky teeth and bad after taste. Serious yuck factor.

OTOH, if you're making rocky road, the marshmallows should be significantly softer than the ice cream, so that there's a contrast in texture. Otherwise, what's the point? Though, I suppose you could make extra firm marshmallows and have the ice cream be softer. So long as there's contrast it'll be good.

It's not a recipe, but a favorite flavor, that's hard to get in stores, is red bean. Yum! Espresso beans, whole or grated, are good but a serious source of caffeine. Apple is really hard to make without making it too sweet, but if you can do it without muddying the flavor, maintaining the crisp flavor, it's really good. Much better than "apple pie" ice cream.

Strawberry is good too. All berries that don't have seeds freeze really well in ice cream and make nice texture without hard lumps. Raspberries and blackberries, however, get stuck in teeth and are anti-creamy.

And it's really sweet, but dulce de leche is great.

Have fun!

Hi you Ice Cream Boy fans,

I have had one of these for years. It's vintage is more like late 70's, early 80's. Finding your posts reminded me that I have one that's been in storage for a long time.

One memorable ice cream was maple-walnut which would be really good with small bits of black walnuts as an alternative to English walnuts. Walnuts worked very well, not big pieces though. Another was a vanilla with small bits of chocolate, little bigger that shavings, but lots of them, yum!

I'm going to have to retrieve mine (got to find a place for it; my house is very small) and get creative again. I am thinking of goat milk ice creams as my system doesn't like cow's milk, though cream is okay. I once had goat milk ice cream that tasted like the ice cream that I grew up with made by my grandparents when I was young with milk, extra saved cream and eggs from their farm and turned by almost everyone in the family for many, many get-togethers in their big two gallon ice cream. Great memories.

We have had our Gelato 800 for at least 35 years and it has work beautifully until last night when one of the arms broke off the churning blade. I need a replacement blade. Any help?

The folks that repair simac units and have some spare parts are: info@electra-craft.com
fax 973 565-9822 or call 800 223-1898

Electra-Craft, Inc.
250 Halsey Street
Newark, NJ 07102

a nice lady named Maria is very helpful.

My specialty in the il gelato machine is mango puree with half a cup of gran marnier. The bit of alcohol keeps it from freezing solid when you store it. I use the my braun hand blender to puree it. Just fruit and a little booze.

Don't pour a lot of money into that unit, because the magnum is a much better model than ice cream boy or ice cream man. It has a removable bowl. Much easier to clean.

Just found one of these at a garage sale and bought it because it looked fun . But please help how do you get started ?? What do you put in it to make the ice cream ?? Any help is appreciated thanks Kurt

It is hot hot hot in the Pacific Northwest. 98 F in Portland. I went for a mountain bike ride and pretty much melted on the road, pedaling home.

Except for a short cool break last week, it has been mid to high 90s F for a month, so it seems, and only one brief sprinkle of rain for longer than that.

So an old friend has emerged from the cupboard, to take over semi-permanent residence on the counter.

Ice Cream Boy is back!

I made lychee ice cream a few days ago, using a standard custard base. This morning I made a standard gelato base and tonight we are making two flavors.

First, blueberry. That should be a easy peasy pleaser. I have lots of fresh blueberries, will macerate some and maybe cook it down a bit.

Second, pork. That might be controversial. I looked for serious recipes for pork ice cream, and found none, so I took a quart of rich pork stock, reduced it to a half cup, and will use that to flavor the gelato.

Any suggestions for the next ice cream or gelato batch?

Hello John Liu, I was wondering if you are still using your Simac ice cream boy . Please could you help is the stainless container detachable, or fixed, I can only remove the paddle. I don't have the instruction book. I was given few days ago this old ice cream maker. My email is nadiajab@hotmail.com. Thank you for your help.

You’ll want to make a pina colada or other frozen beverage with your machine. Easiest? Process a can of pineapple chunks in the food processor or blender, and freeze that.

We made a Mexican cajeta ice cream (goats milk) for a dinner party - loved it! Has a wonderful, unique carmely-ish flavor!

Hi! I am working to make CheerWine slushy in outs!

I know this is sn old thread but i have a Simac il gelataio 1200 and i have no idea how to work it It goes on and I’ve had it on with the button out and nothing happened and with the button pushed in and nothing happens What could be wrong with it?