I bet the brine waste traditionally had other uses like making corned beef or sauer kraut.

Yesterday I commented on the "eco-guilt" premium you people seem to think is worth paying when you advocated the Cottage Bucket cleaning product package - see: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/04/the_cottage_buc_1.php#comments

and now you think a $134 manual ice cream maker is worth drawing attention to. I think you've got the name of your site wrong. It should be Indulgent Tree Hugger With Expendable Income And Time On Their Hands.com

Mart, thanks for your observations. Was it the product itself or the price which annoyed you? With over 1,400 posts (so far) we've covered a lot of ground and products suited to a wide spread of incomes. Our aim is to inform people of the choices available, be it from the no cost of borrowing a secondhand bike to the much higher price of owning a new BMW hybrid car. We report on them all — without making a value judgement on who might afford what. We also have many posts about not owning stuff. What is it that you would prefer to see TH bringing attention to?

Maybe the demographic of your readership is one with the disposable income and time on their hands to pay for and use an "olde tyme" manual ice cream maker, but personally I think it's a ridiculous curiosity and nothing more than an indulgent science project. I'm sure you want to attract advertizers to the site and perhaps tailor the coverage to the, as I said "eco-guilt" market who - forgive me for being cynical here - think they can redeem their first-world selves by buying third world artifacts or shunning electrification by using a piece of 19th century technology once a year.
This does nothing for the "Future is Green" cause you claim to point to in your masthead. Electricity IS in our future, and I can think of no value for any human in cranking a lever for "30 minutes" in the same way that indentured servants did in the days before electrification.
As for the eco-friendly cleaning products; again, these things seem to be for those that can afford it, as they are invariably priced far higher than conventional products. Worthy - I suppose - but not for the vast majority of people, I'd venture.

The hand-crank ice cream maker still requires ice. If the grid is down how are you going to make ice? Are you willing to spend enough from your solar or wind power budget to make ice?

Jim

Mart,
your example of cleaning products is poor. The price of these products are skewed because of outdated government subsidies and a failure to take into account social costs. You are correct to criticize the usefulness of this product, but your criticism of the whole website and other products are off base.

They make cheaper ones with an aluminum container filled with a thermal liquid of some sort. Keep it in the freezer overnight. I don't think it makes the freezer run much more than normal, and there is nothing to throw out. No wasted freshwater or salt. They make those models with both a crank and a motor. The motor uses such little energy, I see little point in a crank. That said, if it makes you feel better, why not set up shop outside with a solar panel?

Thanks so much for carrying this fabulous ice-cream maker! It is so disappointing to see all the cheap, cutesey ice-cream makers that are so common these days manufactured of cheap plastic. Those things break so easily, and then they cannot be recycled. The quality of those products or the products they produce does not begin to match that of real hand-cranked ice cream. It is true that it is on the pricey side, but sometimes one must pay for quality. If one can afford it, this is the way to go.

I suppose some people do not care, or pay too much attention to the quality of what they put into their mouths, but for those who do, this is a gem- be it "old-fashioned" ice cream, fresh orgainc-fruit sorbets, or soy-based frozen treats, this is an example of an excellent machine. Thanks again!!

Thanks so much for showing this quality ice cream maker! These are hard to find, and nothing does a better job at making wonderful homemade ice creams, sorbets, or soy-based "ice cream".
This product, and the ice creams it produces are so very much better than those made in electric machines, or even worse, those little plastic ones that break and are impossible to recycle.
Some people might not care what they put into their mouths, or what the flavor and texture is like, but for those who do, this is an indulgence that exemplifies that beter quality is worth paying for, and this machine will last for a very, very long time!

Hand making ice cream was a lot of fun and kept our kids busy for hours. This was on a group camping trip in Texas, it was great for the young people to learn something and of course the end result was pleasant for all.
nick

I have many fond childhood memories of making ice cream with my family. That is why I bought this hand-cranked ice cream maker when my kids were small. We have enjoyed making and eating the ice cream. I have tried ice cream from a number of electric makers and it is better from the hand cranked ones. This is probably because the electric motors give up too soon leaving the ice cream too soft. Besides if we are going to indulge in ice cream, it is time for most Americans to get off their fat asses and get some exercise first.

Re: Hand crank Ice Cream makers. For me, it isn't the price and it isn't the electricity. We had two of the White Mountain 20 quart makers available to us for the 4th of July. Our Scout Troop spent all morning cranking out batches of ice cream which they sold as a fund raiser. It was a good way to get all the Scouts working together to make the ice cream, and it was a joy to work with a well built machine (it takes a good gearing ratio to allow a person to crank 20 quarts of liquid into a frozen state). The makers we used are old, but still are quite functional. Since my family often makes its own ice cream when we get together, I am out looking for a large maker from White Mountain that we can use at our get togethers.

Quit missing the boat. Good quality products cost money. A product that is good quality, and which can be used to bring humans closer together is a GOOD thing. From looking at prices I have been able to find, I will likely have to pay a significant amount for a larger ice cream maker. Maybe I'll have to find one that is used. No problem. - And I am not too worried about the electricity. People made ice long before electricity came along. I think we can figure that one out if we have to! Quit taking yourselves so seriously!

MGM

I am 62 yrs old and grew up cranking ice cream in a White Mountain freezer. We had many family get-togethers just for that purpose. We kids would play together and the adults would sit around and visit or play with us kids as the ice cream was being built. We didn't have a large refrigerator so had to go a few miles down the road and buy a ten pound block of ice from a small coin operated ice machine which sat at a gas station. We usually broke the ice up by putting it in a gunny sack and slamming it on the cement sidewalk, hitting it with a hammer or using an ice pick. The women usually put the ingredients together, sometimes using fresh eggs from the hen house, (we didn't have a cow to get fresh milk from). While it was still easy to turn, the younger ones would turn a few turns. As we got older we turned more.
Someone took a crank off and placed a bicycle wheel in its place, mounted the maker on a board with a motor. A belt between the motor and freezer turned the crank. We thought that was pretty ingenious but still didn't mind cranking our own.
I currently have an 8 quart White Mountain hand crank which I got from a neighbor who was going to throw it away about 15 yrs ago. It's still going strong. It has cranked many gallons of ice cream for the same reason we did it when I was a kid; relationships are built around it. My grandkids are now eating homemade ice cream from a White Mountain Freezer with me. It's more expensive to make than to buy store-bought but the taste and other benefits are worth every penny.

I am a fifty+ Mom who grew up learning what a treat home made ice cream was. My Mom baked most everything from scratch, milked the cows, fed the chickens and canned and froze vegetables from our very abundant garden. Dad was a hard working truck driver/dock worker. The summertime treat that we loved was homemade ice cream, yes, made with the milk and cream from our own cows and eggs from our own chickens. Usually strawberries from our own garden for the flavoring or tree ripe peaches from the western slopes of Colorado. Mom would make the ice cream mix and Dad was the ice and cranking expert. He too, got a big block of ice from the old ice vending machines and took it home in a gunny sack and of course had to chop and crush it in just his special way to prepare it properly for the best freeze! And it was a taste to remember! People who say it is too much work have never tasted the wonder of freshly hand cranked ice cream with no preservatives! You can't imagine the difference. We carried on that tradition with our own kids (now in their 20's) and guess what they request for gatherings and celebrations? You bet, homemade - hand cranked ice cream! My husband was in the military and we have friends throughout the US and when we talk about the good times and get togethers you can bet that they all remember the times we made homemade, hand cranked ice cream at our house. Yes, they remember, because they all had to take a turn cranking in order to earn their dish of ice cream! And yes, of course it's a White Mountain!

I'm not particullarly a tree hugger. However, the value of the White Mountain Ice Cream makers is outstanding. We just lost ours due to damage by movers after 15 years of faithfull service. That one cost about $80 for the electric model. The motor still is excellant - they just damaged the outside bucket and allowed something to rust the inside container. My sister-in-law recieved one for her wedding over 35 years ago and it is still going strong despite weekly or better use. Name another appliance that can match that performance. It may seem expensive but even $150 is not much money for something that lasts over 35 years. Thats less than $5/year and still getting less expensive.