Yaylabs Softshell Ice Cream Ball

Bought two of these for teenage boy gifts. They had a great time rolling ice cream. Recommend rolling on a smooth surface. We tried initially on a concrete patio but this tends to beat up the outside of the ball a bit. Followed a recipe from the instruction booklet. Absolutely recommend this for a bit of ice cream fun!

I originally bought this for my wife because it was one of those “ it looks fun honey, let’s try it” moments, we are both in our 20s-30s range of age. It was cheap back in 2019-2020 when I bought it. We followed the recipe and kicked it around the house. It’s a fun concept. I then gave it to my sister for my two nephews early this year and they love it. Whoever came up with this idea had to of had kids. It’s a great alternative for kids to actually do something constructive . Make sure you keep it clean on the inside .

This is a decent product but takes some getting used to. You have to make sure that there isn’t anything on the seals (like if you spill a little salt or if when you open it at the halfway point as instructed if you get some of the unfrozen ice cream on the seal) or it won’t form a watertight seal. It is also VERY hard to open once you do seal it. At the halfway point you have to open it up to scrape the ice cream off the inside so that you can get a better mix. But since it it a sphere it is hard to scrape the ice cream off without causing some to spill out the top. So you will probably end up having to clean it halfway through. Just make sure to clean off the seal. It does work, though, and the recipes are good. Just a bit of work.I’m hoping the plastic arms for opening the top and bottom last because it does take quite a bit of torque to seal them and then even more to open them once it gets cold and you’ve mixed it. I was worried they would break. But they haven’t yet after a couple of uses..

We were so excited to make ice cream at camp with this ball! I brought it with us filled it up and it started leaking out of the side (not from the opening compartment).. it was just water so we said it's fine I thought it could have been condensation.. we rolled it around the campsite which was flat - took forever... and it was leaking really bad then... so I scooped everyone the ice cream they loved it but then when I went to clean it i took it apart and there was this huge crack along the ice chamber ! No wonder it took forever and was leaking everywhere.... this was the first time using it and on a flat ground no one threw it. I'm thinking it came defective ? But unsure. Tried to contact customer service and they want me to pay to ship it back to them for a return ! What a joke.If it didn't break like this or come like this we would love it... but definitely flawed.

It kepted trying to break open. Really can't actually kick it like you would a soccerball

This is such a great ice cream maker. My boys love it! We've made lots of ice cream. It makes enough for 3 people easily.

SHORT VERSIONThis is the review for people attempting vegan hacks. Coconut milk works (I bought Good & Gather organic coconut milk from Target and it's more like a delicious cream than a milk) , but you only need 8-10 minutes total depending on how you roll or kick it. Be sure to open the ice cream side halfway through and scrape off the sides with a strong spatula or flat wooden wedge spoon and mix the frozen sides in with the more liquid middle. Otherwise you end up with hard coconut ice and you have to wait for it to melt.Anyone else doing mylk or fruit juice sorbets, please share your tips and recipes.Pro tip: if ice cream salt is still on COVID backorder/jacked prices, you can use kosher rock salt. Just add 1/4 cup, i.e. 3/4 cup per batch rather than 1/2 cup of regular ice cream salt.ALL THE THINGSI got blue pint size. Minor quibble: it doesn't look like the light blue you see in the photo. It's more like a turquoise. A small thing but it bugs because in the photo it looks like the color of my three fav teams Manchester City, UCLA, and Hoka. I planned to bring this thing to watch parties and make ice cream for halftime and wrap ups.If you're feeling really ambitious you can find a YouTube upper body workout designed for a medicine ball and do some indoor exercise to make coconut in less than 10 minutes.I will update this review after more experiments, including dairy. My friend who likes classic ice cream in traditional flavors got the orange quart and we're going to play with it in a couple weeks.

A friend recommended this idea as an activity for my 13 year olds. They love it and it's something in which we can all participate, which is wonderful. Trust me - finding something that both your kids want to do together, and WITH their parents, is not easy. We usually make cookies n cream.The ball does leak a little at the rubber seam in the middle, but from the ice area - not the cream/sugar area. And, as I said, from the rubber seam area, not the lids themselves. I have the kids roll it on our carpet, on top of a sheet, just in case of leakage. Be sure to follow the instructions: roll for 10minutes, then open and scrape the sides down to mix the frozen cream on the side walls with the not-frozen cream still in the middle. Then roll/shack for another 10 minutes and repeat as needed. The cream that freezes to the sides is very thick and hard to scrape off. I find using a wooden spoon works much better than a rubber spatula (they are too flexible). And don't overfill the cream/sugar area. If you do, it will make a mess when removing the lid to stir. Make sure to wipe up any excess cream off the lid itself and the top before replacing the lid. Otherwise the cream will melt off the lid and the top and will seep out while rolling. One batch makes two decent sized bowls of ice cream (1.5-2 scoops each) or three smaller bowls.4.5 stars only due to the water leakage at the seam.