So after much research I purchased the Whynter Sno machine. I think I read every review on the internet, but did come up with this pearl of information--this company apparently makes the ice cream makers for sale under other labels , and the Lello 4090 is eerily similar to the Whynter machine. I purchased from Quality Matters internet store and was very impressed with service, price and I got the machine the next day! First impression is--WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE? Ha Ha I love ice cream, frozen yogurt and this machine is crazily simple to use and cleans up in a snap. At first I wanted to hide it in a cupboard but instead decided to put in on the counter top. It's silver so it goes with my appliances and it's kind of attractive (although large.) I was afraid it would be really noisy (it's not--like a dishwasher running compared to the electric salt/ice machine which would wake the dead.) I haven't had time to make a custard base but threw in some yogurt Kefir just to see if it worked. Yes, it works! In fact I am just amazed at how simply it does work--and I left the machine run a little longer than suggested and it came out like real ice cream--not soft serve. I'm really glad I got a 2 quart model (I was used to a 4 quart salt/ice) anything smaller than 2 quart would be pretty small. OK I'm really excited about this purchase and I can't imagine an ice cream machine that worked better (so glad I didn't shell out the $699 for the Musso lussino machine on amazon.) Granted, I am a person who will go out for frozen yogurt almost daily. . . so I'm sure this purchase will pay for itself quickly. Highly recommended if you are an ice cream addict like myself.

I don't have the 2 quart, I have the smaller cuisinart that is linked in a prior post. It takes about half an hour to make ice cream and I didn't find it that noisy but my kitchen is separate from my living room and so I can watch television while the dryer, the dishwasher or the ice cream machine are running in the kitchen and I don't notice. I seldom use it, but the grandkids love to make their own ice cream, so I've made half a dozen batches, maybe. It works fine. Annie

Do you have a freezer thermometer? If not, you should get one to find out exactly what temperature your freezer is. It must get down to 0°F in order for the ice cream maker to work. As also said above, if the room temperature is too high, it will take longer. I've noticed that if people open the freezer too often, it causes the freezer temperature to rise, and so I'm very happy now that I have an ice dispenser in the door so that my freezer door is very seldom open now. If the door does get opened, it should be closed as quickly as possible - it is very bad to stand browsing with the freezer door open - I won't tolerate that. Also, when you are getting something out of the freezer, you should get it out as quickly as possible and close the door as quickly as possible in order to keep the temperature down. This is more critical on older freezers, but it will also save you energy on the newer ones. How old is your freezer? Are you able to measure the temperature? Lars

I noticed the same problems as laxsupermom, and not as many as Bmore (typical). Can the table move toward the family room or be in it? The baking center across the room (and around and through things) from the oven is a definite problem I don't think you need to have. Is it only a hallway behind the pantry? (I might consider a closet depth pantry that opened toward the hall to put a baking center on the kitchen side) Other than the possible door interference problem Bmore pointed out, I like the location of the fridge and would put the microwave in the bottom shelf of an upper cabinet between it and the stove. It looks like you might have room to shift things down so that the fridge opens into the aisle in front of the ovens, which I think would be great. I would also shift the prep sink down to the corner by the fridge, so it's also useful to the baking area I was talking about...and handy for the microwave, washing hands for kids coming through the side of the kitchen, etc. Now I've taken so long drawing what I mean, that maybe others have jumped in ahead with better ideas! But here are mine (just rough starts):