Margaritaville DM1000 Frozen Concoction Maker
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List Price: Our Price: $237.69 You Save: $187.31 (44%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $189.99 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Margaritaville DM1000 Frozen Concoction Maker
Customer Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
When I saw this item for sale I just had to buy one for my husband as a college graduation gift. Margaritas are his favorite drink and he just couldn't duplicate that restaurant quality consistancy with a blender. This Margaritaville machine actually shaves the ice instead of chopping it like a blender would do. This creates that nice smooth consistancy of the drink instead of a lumpy texture.
It's very easy to operate. All you do is fill the ice chamber with ice, pour the correct amout of your drink mixture into the pitcher (it will make 1-3 servings at a time), set the machine to how many servings you would like, then turn it on. The machine automatically measure,shaves and blend the perfect amount of ice according to the amount of servings. No more watery drinks.
When my kids have friends over for pool parties they love me to make them alcohol free strawberry daiquiris or pina coladas or fruit smoothies.
One nice feature about this machine is that as the ice in the ice chamber melts, the water is channeled into a collection reservoir, that is easily removeable to dump out. The water never mixes with the drink mix.
Clean-up is simple. Whatever ice remains in the ice chamber can be left to melt and drain into the reservoir then discard it or you can have the machine shave the remaining ice into the pitcher. We put our pitcher and pitcher parts into the dishwasher for a good cleaning.
If you are a frozen drink lover, like my husband and I are you have to own one of these. It's pricey but worth it!
I also, highly recommend the canvas carrying case that can be purchased separately. It's very nicely made.
Customer Review: don't order as a surprise gift!
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me start by saying this is one amazing machine! It is fun and easy to make really, really good margaritas. It's a little bit of effort to measure and add all the separate ingredients into the pitcher, but it's a blast to press the button and watch the ice be shaved, added and blended to perfection. This machine even turns itself off when it's done. First time users can't help but laugh out loud to watch the show!
That being said, I was VERY disappointed in the shipping. I ordered this as a surprise holiday gift for my husband. It was a great price, great shipping deal, and arrived in two days on my porch. Unfortunately, the shipping label was stuck right on the Margaritaville box, so the entire neighborhood could see this expensive appliance sitting on my porch all afternoon (glad it wasn't stolen) and my husband got home before I did, so needless to say his surprise gift was not a surprise any longer! Also, the Margaritaville box is thin cardboard, not corrugated or suitable for shipping, so it arrived very beat up and torn. Luckily the Concoction Maker is safely packed in styrofoam so it wasn't damaged, but I really think Amazon should have packed this appliance in a cardboard shipping box with packing peanuts or something.
Finally, a few pointers. We usually use the recipe for three people, which calls for three shots of tequila, but we find that three and a half is a better drink. Also, some feedback has said it's too tall to sit out on the kitchen counter under a cabinet, but ours fits there ok. We have to pull it out to fill the ice hopper on top, but it looks great sitting there, just beckoning after a long workday!
Customer Review: Excellent for Frozen Smoothies
Summary: 5 Stars
I am very impressed with this machine. Even tho it specializes in Margaritas, it also makes the best fruit smoothies and frozen concoction of any kind. What a difference it makes to have that "shaved ice" instead of only a regular "blender" drink! This machine makes frozen drinks to the desired consistency I've been wanting for a long time.
It's very helpful to have the automatic settings to use, but also good to be able to manually add more "shaved ice" to your recipe when making your own concoctions. I love how there is an overflow compartment in the back where the melted ice collects and is easily removed to drain. I am able to make my fruit smoothies on a daily basis with such ease! It only takes a few minutes, so quick and easy to use. Very easy cleanup too - and that's important.
The only negative side of this machine is how big it is. It's very tall and does not fit in most of my cupboard space. If you buy this machine, then you will likely need to keep it as a countertop appliance at all times. But, considering how easy it is to use, that's not such a bad idea anyway.
Oh yeah! Please be careful to hang on to the blender handle with a firm grip before it starts the blending process! The first time I didn't hang on to it, the power of the motor actually unscrewed the bottom of the blender area and it leaked out on the counter. The motor is very strong, and I cannot seem to get the blender blades & bottom seal screwed on tight enough without having to hold it while blending. Otherwise, i have no complaints about the quality of this product.
Customer Review: reasonably happy
Summary: 3 Stars
I was not really looking for a margarita maker - I wanted something to make fruit smoothies. Since I already have a blender, I tried buying a budget ice shaver for $30. It broke in under a week. So I went ahead and bought this monster. I have had it for about 6 weeks, and have not had trouble with breaking parts.
On the "good" side, the ice shaver works very well (so far). The downside is that the blender portion is no better than the other blenders I have used in the past, meaning, if you put in pieces of fruit, even soft fruits like strawberries and peaches, the blade spins around a couple of times and leaves all the fruit stuck to the sides of the pitcher or else lying on top of the blade. The only way to avoid this is to add liquid.
The problem with adding ENOUGH liquid to get the blender to blend is that it then becomes a challenge to avoid a watery smoothie. Basically, you need to add a LOT of ice. In summary, the machine does work, if not quite as well as I had hoped.
There is one other frustrating aspect of this item: I cannot clean it. Not surprisingly, it collects food spatters, especially in the spout through which the ice shavings fall into the pitcher. I don't know whether this piece comes out (since I have not managed to get it out) but it should. Also, the blade and spinning mechanism for the ice are supposed to come out, but both I and my husband tried to take it apart following the instructions, and we ultimately gave up. This is a significant issue, since black mold will grow on the parts that are not cleaned.
Customer Review: Excellent Machine! The best I've seen!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker DM1000 is the best that I've ever seen. At one point, I seriously considered buying the Island Oasis for $2500, as pricey as that is, just to have a good machine at home for entertaining...but then I found this thing, read all the reviews and figured, why not give it a shot for under $300? I'M SO GLAD I DID!
This thing has a powerful motor, and it's finished drinks are as good as you'll get out of any Island Oasis machine. It truly is dummy-proof and makes a professional bartender out of just about anyone. Follow written drink recipies or create your own. Tripping over your own great recipies is half the fun with this thing!
In the beginning, we though the drinks came out a bit watery, but due to the ice being shaven, then blended, the shaved ice would often melt down a bit, losing a bit of the "slushyness". We found that we ignored a few tips to actually freeze the blender jar (or at least refrigerate it for a while) before making drinks. This way, when the shaven ice hits the jar, it does not instantly start to melt. This is the secret to making a drink with the perfect consistency.
This machine is great at home, and we bought the carrying case for it as well so we can take it with us to our football tailgating parties and everything else. People have seen it in action and now request that we bring it with us to their events. I should start charging a rental fee and make my purchase money back on it!!!
If you don't have one of these...BUY ONE!!! It is great.