Nice, but Noisy

We purchased three model#F69206 White Mountain 6-quart ice cream freezers as Christmas presents in 1999 for our grown children. Although they retail for a bit over $200, the hardware store "cut us a deal" for $165 each.

White Mountain was our choice because of their reputation, not to mention our sweet memories of a favorite uncle making the "best homemade ice cream" in an old, crank-type White Mountain freezer. We did not check out other brands.

We used all three of the freezers at once for the first time at a family function. Here are my observations:

Only four recipes were included with the freezer. For the money, there should be a nice little recipe booklet.

The churn dasher is impressive. While some other brands of freezers use a one-piece, plastic dasher; this model White Mountain has a two-piece, metal dasher. The outer dasher has flexible wooden scrapers attached. Nice.

The can is stainless steel, and the tub has a bail handle with a wooden grip.

The 1-1/2 amp. motors all turned easily. When the ice cream started to harden, they only barely struggled. However, they were very noisy; and we had to set the freezers far away from people. After removing the motors from the freezers, we noticed one had leaked a little oil. This particular motor has been used since with no problem. White Mountain Freezers was never called about it, so I can't say how they would have handled the situation. The Rival Company owns White Mountain Freezers.

The wooden tub looks nice, but I am not sure what the advantage is over a plastic tub, unless it has to do with maintaining a more consistent temperature within the brine. It is suggested one put water in the wooden tub in between uses to keep the wood swollen to prevent brine from leaking through the cracks.

The freezers we purchased in 1999 were made in the USA. Papers inside said there was a one-year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. On the box outside it stated there was a FIVE year guarantee. Billed as "Long Lasting, Top Quality Construction" I feel the warranty should be longer than a year considering the high price. I personally would compare other similar freezers to the White Mountain before I spent another $165-$200 on one. Only time will tell if this "Cadillac-of-a-freezer" is worth the price.