Rival 8550-X Ice Cream Maker

Pros: Great ice cream. Fast and easy
Cons: None

I've read the other reviews and am surprised by the negative responses. My family has only used the Rival 8550-x three or four times now, but it has performed well. The first two times we made ice cream via homemade recipes. The last time we bought ...

Pros: Makes smooth creamy ice cream relatively quickly
Cons: Need to make a simple modification for best results.

We got one of these as a wedding gift about 4 years ago and after what I thought was operator error the plastic gear mechanism that turns the tub as well as the metal hub which keeps the dasher from turning got stripped out. Went out and got a new ...

Pros: Makes ice cream making fun.It is easy enough for anyone to use
Cons: None

Remember when you were a kid and the whole family would go on outings or just gather in the back yard and cookout.After the cooking and eating was done then it was time to make the homemade ice cream.I just recently purchased the rival 5qt electric ice...

Pros: Looks good
Cons: Hard to use

Other reviewers are right about the difficulty of getting the shaft to motor connection correct. They are also correct about the outer wooden bucket not draining the water. The metal canister is flimsy, as are the brackets which broke the first time we used them.

Pros: Looks can be deceiving
Cons: Metal Filings in your Ice cream (Class Action Lawsuit)maybe?

I purchased this product for a family/friends outing and everyone was looking forward to having ice cream. After 30min.opened to check the progress and found the Aluminum shaft had ground off the edges and Aluminum filings were all in the ice cream. Imagine what could have happened if children and even adults had ingested this. We contacted corporate HQ at Rival and they did not seem to be interested or even care. They even refused our offer to ship the ice cream maker back to them for inspection. All other inquires were never answered. I have since read many reviews on this product where others had the same problem. We filed a complaint with the better business bureau and will never buy another Rival product again.

Pros: This machine has no pros.
Cons: It does not make a connection to the motor and paddle meaning no ice cream.

I would never recommend this product to anyone. The first use it would not churn the ice cream, because it could not make a connection to the motor from the paddle. I called Rival and was told that I needed to give them the proof of purchase. Now I am stuck with a wooden bucket, because they refuse to repair it. I am glad I kept my old ice cream maker it may be smaller but it does get the job done (oh yeah it is a smaller 2 qt Rival).

Pros: Look nice
Cons: Failed first use

Poorly engineered paddle shaft to motor connection stripped on first use. The aluminum shaft rounded off as it does not connect well, the results being a stuck paddle in hard ice cream around the outside edges and completely liquid in the center of the can.

Another poor design is the wood bucket that requires (per the instructions) soaking ahead of time to swell it so it doesn't leak out all the very necessary ice water.

I did follow all the included instructions completely.