Back to Basics S500 Hawaiice Electric Snow Maker

A value for the price
Does this machine shave ice like Plum Street in New Orleans or Jo Jo's in Kauai? Nope. Is it a reasonable alternative to the $2000 commercial machine and block ice deliveries to your home? Yep. A fun machine to have around; turns out a fair-sized portion every 2-3 minutes if you keep it filled with ice. The result is definitely finer than what you'd get in a sno-cone at the fair or a kids' sno-cone maker. I've also found it makes finer ice and works more quickly if you use smaller cubes such as those you buy in bagged ice from the store rather than ice-tray cubes. The ice is somewhere between powdery snow and flaky crystals, if that helps. I'll probably wait until next summer to invest in syrups; you may find raspberry in your grocer's coffee aisle to get you started. So, at $30-40, cheaper than a trip to Hawaii and probably more convenient than heading to New Orleans right now, but it should remind you or a friend of the real thing. I was pleasantly surprised.

Hawaiice Electric Snow Maker Features and Functionality
I purchased the Hawaiice Electric Snow Maker after having another manufacturer's manual hand crank model for 3 years and now look forward to being able to entertain company with Sno Cones on 100+ degree days. I chose the brand based on the name recognition of 7 years of vacationing in Hawaii and it's advertised features and functionality. The manual model required you to make in advance circular ice cakes which became a pain after a while. This model does great with icemaker ice cubes although has a tendency to jam if the cubes are large or melt and then refreeze into a block. It would also be nice to be able to actually use ice blocks, but this model doesn't offer that feature (minor modifications to the design would enable that option however...). The whole unit is well designed such that cleaning it is extremely easy and user friendly. The only "real" negative I've found is that the lid for the ice hopper (bucket) can disengage too easily when full (a brief period of time...

Best Low Price Ice Shaver!
My little one is home with a sore throat, slight fever, and hoarse voice today. Last night, she wanted a snow cone, so I took this out of the closet-- I hadn't used it since last summer. It's always hard to get my kids to drink enough liquids when they're sick, but I can always get them to have a snow cone! She's had two today already.

With just 6-8 ice cubes, this makes a big bowl of shaved ice in about a minute or two-- it's almost like snow. This shaved ice maker is very quiet and works extremely fast.

I've had this for 6 years, and sometimes it's used heavily. The kids have even attached an extension cord to it and had snow cone sales in the summer-- their sales blew away the other kids' lemonade!

There are all sorts of syrups available. My daughter's favorite is the Blue Raspberry. I prefer grape, but I stick with the sugar-free raspberry lemonade or sugar-free cherry. My other kids like Rainbow snow cones and use all the syrups at once. Nobody...

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