Ice cream is one of the most popular desserts around the world. The abundance of varieties and ways of serving ice cream is so great that it would seem impossible to come up with anything fundamentally new in making this dessert. But no, recently the so-called Thai roll ice cream, sometimes mistakenly referred to as “fried ice cream”, has come into vogue. Thai ice cream rolls are a common street delicacy that are made from natural products right in front of the customer’s eyes. Probably the “highlight” is its naturalness, variety and quick preparation. We have long wanted to experiment with this dessert, and now Kitfort gave us a KT-1821 ice cream maker for testing, designed specifically for making such ice cream.
Well, let’s test, experiment, test and enjoy!
Features
| Manufacturer | Kitfort |
|---|---|
| Model | KT-1821 |
| Type | ice cream maker |
| Country of production | China |
| Guarantee | 1 year |
| Lifetime* | 2 years |
| Power | 120W |
| Climate Class | N/SN |
| Refrigerant | R600a isobutane |
| Refrigerant quantity | 23 г |
| Noise level | 60 dB |
| capacitance | 0,5 л |
| Worktop material | stainless steel |
| Complete set | Spatulae, 2 pcs. |
| Automatic shutoff | after 2 hours |
| Weight | 10 kg |
| Dimensions (W×HW×G) | 381×273×245 mm |
| Mains cable length | 1,2 м |
| Retail offers |
* Contrary to popular misconception, this is not a deadline after which the device will necessarily break down. However, after this period, the manufacturer ceases to have any responsibility for its performance and has the right to refuse to repair it, even for a fee.
Kit
The Kitfort KT-1821 ice cream maker was delivered in a large cardboard box of the manufacturer’s standard design. The blue-black background has a schematic picture of the device, technical specifications and advertising slogans. The box has no handles for carrying, and this is not very convenient, given the solid weight of the device.
Having opened the box, inside we found:
- ice cream maker
- spatula spatulas 2 pcs.
- Instruction manual, warranty card and promotional polygraphy
At first glance
The device looks like a rather large stainless steel cube, looking at the owner with its glued black eyes. The eyes peel off without any problems, only the power button and the operating indicator remain on the casing.
Included are 2 stainless steel spatulas with wooden handles. They are used to mix the ingredients on the freezer tray and roll the finished rolls. The spatulas are lightweight and easy to hold.
The top of the appliance is the work surface, which is frozen by a compressor inside the appliance. On the upper freezing tray, food or ready-made mixture is laid out and using spatulas distributed on the surface in an even layer.
The worktop has a 12 mm high rim. Initially the stainless steel surface was smooth, without any scratches, but during the process of working with spatulas scratches appear inevitably and very quickly. They do not affect the functionality.
The unit must be installed at least 15 cm away from walls and surfaces for good air circulation. The ventilation grilles are located on the side and rear surfaces.
The rear panel is screwed on with screws.
The sticker with the technical specifications is on the bottom surface. The ice cream maker stands on four rubberized feet which provide the necessary venting from below.
Instructions
The user manual is an A5 book of 11 pages which gives a rough idea of the appliance and precautions to be taken in case of an emergency, such as a refrigerant leak. The manual is worth reading, but it is unlikely to contain anything new or unexpected.
Controls
The ice cream maker is controlled by a single button located on the front of the body – the power button. During operation, the indicator next to the button lights up. While the unit is in the operating mode, cooling the work surface, the indicator is orange. When it cools sufficiently, it lights up green.
The unit has an auto shut-off after 2 hours of continuous operation.
Operation
Kitfort KT-1821 work kit is chosen very well. The shape and size of the spatula allow you to make three large rolls on the surface along. If the ice cream is made correctly, it comes off the surface perfectly.
The surface cooling to an average of -10 °C gives complete freedom of imagination. Since the products have to be mixed already frozen, the milk or cream does not curdle when adding ingredients with acidity – cranberries, mangoes, lemons, tangerines. Therefore, it is very easy to make an exotic dessert without adding stabilizers, preservatives and emulsifiers. Only the simplest products – fruit, milk, yogurt, cream, condensed milk, syrups.
In order for the ice cream to roll into rolls better, rather than falling off the surface in layers, you need to add enough condensed milk.
Or, if the base itself is viscous enough, such as bananas, you can do without condensed milk, but it’s not enough to just pour the prepared mixture on the surface. The mixture should preferably be stirred while freezing for plastification.
If the mixture has already frozen but does not want to roll into rolls, you can remove it with a spatula, grind it again, add condensed milk or fruit if necessary, and distribute it again for freezing.
Because of the above, it is fairly easy to see that all the many tips for making ice cream rolls in the freezer on a cold tray are not very successful, since a good proper roll with the right texture is only obtained by constant stirring during the freezing process.
Our feeling is that it’s most comfortable to work on the surface with products weighing about 200g in total. That said, we liked much less ice cream made from a mixture made in a blender. If the same ingredients are put on the freezing surface and mixed by hand, the dessert is tastier, and the freezing time increases by only 2-3 minutes per 1 serving.
Kitfort KT-1821 ice cream maker allows you to work with chocolate. You can create chocolate decorations on the surface or use it for tempering.
Care
For cleaning, the appliance must be unplugged for at least 20 minutes to allow the temperature to equalize. The manufacturer does not recommend the use of abrasives or metal sponges for cleaning, as this can cause scratches.
The surface of the appliance should be wiped with a damp soft cloth, the spatulas washed with soapy water and wiped dry.
Our measurements
During 2.5 hours of continuous operation, the device consumed 0.27 kWh of electricity. The maximum power recorded by the wattmeter was 146.5 W.
It takes an average of 7 minutes to freeze a single serving of fruit mixture weighing about 200 g. If the mixture is prepared in advance, spread out quickly, and covered with a foil lid, it takes 5.5 to 6.5 minutes to freeze. If the ice cream is made with the products directly on the surface (for example, banana+cream+milk or cranberry+cream+cream+cream), it takes about 9 minutes to make a 200-250g serving.
In 2 hours of continuous operation, we were able to make 12 servings of 5 varieties of ice cream at 200-250g per serving. If you make one kind of ice cream, the number of servings can be increased by one and a half times.
When the panel is in active use, the compressor of the appliance runs almost continuously, shutting off for 2-3 minutes after 35-40 minutes of operation. At idle the compressor was switched off more often.
The surface temperature drops to -13 °C at most at idle, with an average of -6 to -11 °C depending on the measuring point. The temperature holds an average of +1 to -3 °C during ice cream operation. The panel cools cyclically, the temperature changes at intervals of 3 to 4 minutes.
The ice cream maker makes a sound like a small silent refrigerator when in operation, the walls of the case are heated by the air coming out of the ventilation grilles to a warm state.
All temperature measurements were taken at a room temperature of 20°C and will vary as it rises or falls.
Practice Tests.
Mango ice cream
We took half of a ripe mango, some condensed milk and 30% cream, and laid it out on a work surface.
Quickly, before the cream froze, crushed the mango with spatulas, stirring the mixture constantly. It took us about 3 minutes to mix and smooth the mixture.
Smoothing the finished plastic mixture over the surface, we waited a few minutes before freezing.
Carefully prying with a spatula and rolling the mixture into rolls.
Placed in a crème fraîche, garnished with mango, cranberry berries and drizzled with condensed milk.
Result: perfect.
Banana Milk Ice Cream.
From bananas, milk, cream and a small amount of condensed milk whipped the mixture in a blender.
Measured out about 200 g of the mixture. Poured it onto the surface and smoothed it out.
Covered the surface with a foil lid to equalize the temperature and speed up the freezing process. After 5 minutes the mixture froze, rolled it into rolls and placed them in a cremant.
The rolls roll up poorly with this method, the mixture tries to separate from the surface as an even layer. For more plasticity, you need to stir it while freezing or add a much larger amount of condensed milk.
Result: good.
Cranberry, condensed milk and cream ice cream
Frozen cranberries defrosted, beat with a blender along with condensed milk for 20 seconds. Poured on the surface.
When the mixture had frosted a bit, added the 30% cream, stirred until smooth, and spread it over the surface in an even layer for freezing.
After a few minutes, rolled up the rolls.
We put them in a cremain along with the berries.
Result: great.
Sea buckthorn ice cream.
The sea buckthorn berries were poured onto a work surface and crushed with a spatula.
Stirred them with condensed milk.
Since sea buckthorn is very acidic, you should add the cream only after the berry mixture is frozen, otherwise the cream may curdle. When adding the cream, it is important not to let it form ice on the surface. This kind of ice is very difficult to incorporate into the fruit mixture afterwards. Therefore, you must act very quickly.
Once the mixture was stirred enough, we spread it out in an even layer, waited 2-3 minutes and rolled it into rolls.
We put it in a cremain, garnished with berries and sprinkled condensed milk on top.
Result: great.
Chocolate covered banana ice cream
We took a banana, mashed it with a fork, and layered it with cream and condensed milk.
We kneaded a pliable mass, transferred it to the corner of the work surface. The rest of the surface was covered with melted dark chocolate.
Carefully transferred the banana mixture to the frozen chocolate, and added chocolate lace to the empty space.
Spread the bananas in an even layer over the surface, worked the chocolate into the left corner – that’s where our rolls will end, the corner in the chocolate will be visible. Rolled up the rolls.
Transferred to creams, garnished with banana, lemon, chocolate and condensed milk.
Result: great.
Cranberry dessert in a chocolate nest
Cranberries were crushed on a work surface and mixed with condensed milk.
Cream was added to the frosted mixture, stirred, and rolled on the surface.
After freezing, formed rolls and left them on the surface on the side.
On the vacant part of the ice cream maker made a “nest” of melted chocolate. After a minute, when it had hardened, it was transferred to a saucer.
Put cranberry ice cream rolls on top of the chocolate and garnished with berries.
Result: great.
Conclusions
Kitfort KT-1821 is a simple and handy device that allows you to create incredible creative desserts in minutes. Ice cream is made from difficult to combine ingredients, such as cranberries and cream, without adding emulsifiers, stabilizers or anything else. When making ice cream with Kitfort KT-1821 the quality of any ingredient can be monitored, you can change and improve the recipe as the situation arises. The device can be used by confectioners to work with chocolate or for making confectionery décor. Kitfort KT-1821 does not take up much space, is easy to clean and does not require any control other than turning it on.
We think the Kitfort KT-1821 ice cream maker could be a great gift for a family with kids, for people who are into pastry art, for dessert lovers or for yourself.
Pros:
- ease of use
- Allows you to make ice cream that can not be prepared in the usual way
Cons:
In conclusion, we suggest watching our video review of the Kitfort KT-1821 ice cream maker:
You can also watch our video review of Kitfort KT-1821 ice cream maker at Tech-Details.com/Video