Yonanas 902CR Classic Vegan Non-Dairy Frozen Fruit Soft Serve Dessert Maker, BPA Free, Includes 36 Recipes, 200 Watts, Coral

Okay, I know I'm late to the party, since this device has been around over a decade, but Yonanas is awesome! This machine can take frozen fruit and turn it into a soft serve ice cream consistency without anything else added! I've been interested in it for a long time, but always thought it'd be silly to have a device like this that can basically only do one thing (as opposed to a blender) but I just found it cheaper than normal on Amazon (the "classic" version for around 30 instead of 50) so as a lactose intolerant person I decided to finally get one and give it a try. We just finished our first attempt, which was a mix of two bananas, some strawberries and blackberries. It made a lot more than we expected, around 10 scoops! It was a bit softer than it'd be normally because I let the frozen fruit thaw longer than the recommended 7-10mins, but it was still great. The texture was creamy and perfect (besides some seeds from the berries), had nice flavor, and I am really happy and looking forward to trying a lot of other combinations. I rarely eat fruit but now this will definitely "trick" me into eating more. And since it's so healthy it doesn't feel as bad making it fancier with chocolate sauce or sprinkles. I really like the idea of using this to make an easy icebox pie too! That should really impress everyone at a party. The included recipe book is beautiful (and in a few languages), and there are a lot of other great ideas on their website and elsewhere online. The noise level wasn't as bad as I expected based on other reviews. Seems like a normal blender volume? So yes, noisy, but not enough to give me a headache or make it difficult to talk to someone next to you. And this machine works quickly too, so it's not on for long (and isn't supposed to be on for longer than 2mins at a time). Cleaning it really wasn't that bad either. My husband quickly rinsed everything while I was taking pictures to show to everyone, haha. Based on reading and watching video reviews, I already knew to open the unplugged machine and get the extra mixture out with a small spatula to not waste anything like some people complained about. It really didn't take long. And it honestly makes sense that there would be some left inside since it slowly mixes everything together as it grinds the frozen fruits. I also cut the bananas into smaller pieces before freezing so I could alternate the fruits quicker for a better blended finished product (see images). This was definitely a winner! I'm very glad I purchased this, and even my husband (who doesn't have lactose intolerance like I do) was impressed and said he'd be happy to eat more (but maybe mixtures with less tiny seeds since he found that odd in an otherwise creamy "nice cream"). The fruit can really pack a punch for flavor, but the banana can help mellow out sour/tart notes.

Really fun kitchen gadget! Just put frozen fruit in the chute, and it makes a sorbet. Weve tried a few different things, and using frozen bananas along with other fruits makes it nice and creamy, like soft serve. Mangos, bananas, peaches, and probably a few others all seem to make a good consistency. Frozen berries make it a little less creamy. It’s just about what you want in flavor and consistency, but you can also freeze cubes of yogurt to toss in. My daughter made green tea banana choc chip yogurt and she loved it. It’s super easy to use, and I found it simple to cleanup despite many other’s opinions. It will use a decent amount of fruit, and my only complaint is how much it leaves in the components after it’s done. Next time I will try to get it out before throwing I. The sink. Pineapple is delicious, but it will not come out smooth like dole whip. It will still have the pulp. My niece loved it. Nice healthy dessert option.

I was telling a couple of the girls at work yesterday about how I'd gotten a Yonana and how eager I was to try it. One of the other girls comes up and says, "You ordered a Yonana?" I said yes, thinking she was going to tell me wonderful things about it. Instead, she said she'd had one, that she hated it, and recommended that I immediately pack it up and ship it back without trying it. She claimed it was noisy and difficult to clean. She recommended getting a Ninja instead and said a Ninja is more versatile, but then she went on to say that she has to add liquid to her fruit, which defeats the purpose for why I'd ordered the Yonana in the first place. I'm on Weight Watchers, and I'd ordered the Yonana because all you need is fruit and fruit is zero points on Weight Watchers. What's not to love about "free" food? My co-worker also complained about needing to use two bananas for the Yonana and said that bananas are too high in carbs. High in carbs or not, bananas still count as "free" food on Weight Watchers and, contrary to what my co-worker said, you do not need to use two bananas nor do you need to use any bananas. So, being the stubborn person that I am, I decided not to take my co-worker's advice. Last night I got to try the Yonana. My assessment...it is noisy. So noisy that it should be packed up and shipped back? No. It's no more noisy than my blender or my son's juicer. And it is not difficult to clean. Not in the least little bit. In fact, I was a bit wary of the blades on the blade cone because they looked a bit evil, like they could scrape up a knuckle without a second thought - but the blades actually ended up being very easy to clean off. You can actually just run the parts under water and rinse them off, it cleaned up that easily. If my co-worker wants to see difficult to clean, she can borrow my son's juicer, which requires scrubbing with a toothbrush to get all the pulp out. I'd read some reviews on the Ninja and one of the reviews complained that the Ninja is a pain when you want to add additional ingredients because you have to take off the motor and take off a lid and there was another step that I don't remember. My co-worker agreed that you do need to do all that, but she poo-pooed that review as saying that's really not an issue. Well, I can't vouch for the Ninja, but I can say that adding fruit to the Yonana is very easy. You just pull out the plunger (which you can get a little bit of suction there) and pop in the fruit and then plunge away. Creating the "ice cream" is very quick. I mean, very quick! In less time than it takes to dig frozen real ice cream out of a tub, you can have a Yonana treat. (Well, okay, that might not be totally true as you do need to thaw your frozen fruit first...but take the thawing part out of the equation, you can have the Yonana treat more quickly than real ice cream and without the cussing and swearing.) There is no waste in ingredients with the Yonana. I am always astounded by my son's juicer at how much wasted product is left over. With the Yonana, you get to eat every bit of what goes into it. You will want to disassemble the unit right away, however, because you will find that some edible "ice cream" remains between the blade cover and the blade cone and some in the gasket too, but that's very easy to scrape out, put in the bowl, and enjoy. I did notice that it seems that the first bowl of Yonana gets cheated out of some of their treat and subsequent bowls seem to be more filled. I'm not sure what the reason for that is as it didn't appear that there was fruit left in the plunger. Maybe it's the amount of fruit that remains between the cone cover and blade cone? I don't know, but a solution is to make one big batch and then separate it into portions. The unit is much smaller than I'd expected it to be. It takes up less room than a toaster or a traditional blender or my son's gigantic juicer. It is tall, however. But if you leave it out on a countertop, height isn't an issue. It's the footprint that would be an issue. One thing I discovered that I don't really like about the design of the Yonana is that the spout the "ice cream" comes out is too close to the unit and sometimes the "ice cream" wants to curl back toward the unit and not into your bowl, even though I had the bowl pushed up next to the machine. A simple fix would be for the Yonana designer to make a longer spout. Next Yonana generation maybe. In the meantime, the user can use a higher bowl, or maybe a glass? Overall, am I 100% sold on Yonana? No. I wish I could say I am, but, after tasting my first creation, I think I'd rather just eat the fruit. The concoction does not taste like ice cream - it does, however, have the texture of soft serve ice cream. Oddly, my son, who drank a full 12 ounce glass of grainy juiced carrots without complaint made faces as he ate his banana/peach Yonana. He did eat it all, but I don't think he's going to be asking me to make him another Yonana treat. As for me, I do not like bananas, at all, and a few areas of my banana/berry tasted way too much like banana. (And, yes, I know, you do not need to use the bananas. I made my Yonana treat using just one banana, one half before the berries and one half after.) Am I going to ship my Yonana back? No. I'm going to give it more of a try. First off, a lot of the reviews and the Yonana owner's manual/recipe books all say to use ripe bananas. I didn't have ripe bananas. I just froze the bananas that were the most banged up looking and they really weren't all that ripe. So I'm hoping that bananas that are truly ripe and not simply banged up will make a difference. Also, I intend to give it a try using just fruit without the bananas. I am also hoping that in time I will move beyond the desire for my concoctions to be ice cream and that I'll just be happy that I'm having a Weight Watchers zero point treat. My husband also said that he thinks the Yonana will be a nice cold treat come summer when it's hot. So, do I recommend the Yonana? Yes, I do. In fact, despite my not being sold on the taste of my first creation, I do intend on sharing my Yonana experience with my Weight Watchers group as well as my friends. Like a few of the reviews said, if you want ice cream, go buy ice cream. If you want a good, healthy, zero point treat, then, by all means, get a Yonana. It's a good machine that does exactly what it's meant to do. Follow up - I tried again and used just a berry mix (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries) and four slices of peaches (no bananas). Very good. Even better, I mixed in a container of blueberry Fiber One yogurt (just one Weight Watchers point). Now, that was a good mixture that I can easily eat multiple times. It is runny, like soft serve ice cream that's melted, but, boy did it taste good.

This machine does what it says. Don't listen to the negative reviews. First off, I love ice cream! I can't get enough of it, but I have to watch what I eat and try to stay away from refined sugars. I have always eaten frozen chunks of fruit from the store as a snack and dessert and saw this as a great way to turn those chunks into my favorite food. Right out of the box Yonanas is easy to set up. You get the base unit and then 5 pieces that go together very easily. If you are familiar with juicers, you will be in your element. Here are my thoughts on assembly, use, and cleaning: Assembly - As I said, very easy to put together and take apart. It is pretty self explanatory, but there are also instructions. Just make sure to put the clear gasket on the right way or it won't work. When putting the chute onto the base unit, turn it until it "clicks" into place. It just takes a couple tries to get used to it, but it is not difficult as other reviewers have stated unless maybe you are a small child. Use - When you turn the machine on, yes it makes noise. It's a spinning blade that's puréeing frozen fruit. It is nowhere close to being as loud as others have grossly overstated. It only takes a few minutes to make your dessert, so even if you cannot handle the sound, it will be over soon. I use slightly over ripe bananas, that I peel BEFORE freezing, cut into halves and let sit out on the counter for about 10 minutes. I cut them into halves before freezing because they fit better in the chute using the plunger and I get a good mix of banana and other ingredients. One half banana, some of my other ingredients, repeat. I don't mind the texture from fruits with seeds such as strawberries, but some may. It's all personal preference. You are putting frozen fruit into the machine so it will take some slight pressure to move it through, but it's definitely not hard. Yes it is true that some of the product will collect in the machine and the only way to get it out is to take it apart. It even says that in the instructions. It's pretty simple though. After I am finished putting whatever I want into the machine I unscrew it and scoop out the rest. It's really not that difficult. The end result is creamy, delicious, guilt free ice cream. Now, bananas do taste like bananas even when they are puréed into ice cream so if you don't like bananas, don't use bananas. It's not going to magically turn your bananas into a processed, sugary dairy treat. I have also tried this in a food processor and have not gotten the same result. Cleaning - Very simple. Take apart the five pieces, run them all under warm water to melt away all of the sticky paste, use a soapy washcloth or sponge with more warm water and wash all of the pieces until they are clean. I prefer to not use the dishwasher at all for mine, but only because I hand wash all my plastics so I cannot comment on its effectiveness. And no, the blades on this machine are not a safety hazard. Just unplug it before cleaning and try not to rub your skin against them while scrubbing I guess. I am more afraid of my cheese grater than this thing. Verdict - Long story short, this thing is awesome for the health conscious people out there like me, who want the closest thing to real ice cream with no preservatives. Just straight fruit in a creamy snack. My favorite is banana, strawberry, mango. Don't listen to the negative reviews and just buy it.

Why is this not a more prevalent appliance?! I finally made my first yonanas last night after procrastinating for weeks, thinking it’d be too much work and not taste that great. I was so wrong. I’m so glad I got this. Let me tell you, I am an ice cream addict. I could eat a whole half gallon tub of blue bell in one day. It is my Achilles’ heel when it comes to dieting. I’ve been doing a weight watchers for over a year now, and it’s been very effective. Except I can’t say no to ice cream, and then I binge and gain a ton back. I bought this machine as a kind of Hail Mary shot at finally finding a substitute. (Froyo bars are pretty good, but super expensive and only come in like 4 packs, that I want to eat all of…) I made the right decision. The blueberry yonana bowl I ate last night was delicious! And zero WW points!! Now, don’t get me wrong, it is NOT ice cream. It doesn’t taste like ice cream, it doesn’t look like ice cream. But it is a TREAT. It tasted more like froyo. And I can have it completely guilt free. It was also pretty filling, i.e. when I finished, I didn’t crave another bowl, but sat there in awe, savoring what I had just eaten. I wondered, and am still wondering, HOW IS THIS NOT MORE POPULAR?! How does it work sooo much better than a blender? (I had tried to make a similar ice cream substitute with the same frozen fruits and some Greek yogurt previously, but it was very disappointing) Is this a first try phenomenon? Perhaps, but I doubt it. I have an ice cream craving solution now that I think will satisfy me for ever. I don’t get me wrong, weight watchers is very clear about not eliminating foods, especially your favorite foods. But about learning moderation. Unfortunately, with ice cream, I have way too hard of a time stopping myself. And the idea of never having it again is too hard. The solution I came up with that sounds great in theory but have had trouble carrying out in reality, is to only have ice cream on special occasions. And that doesn’t mean find an excuse for special occasions to happen more often. And when I have ice cream it can only be blue bell, bc if I’m going to spend the points on ice cream, it better be the best ice cream in the world. Yonanas will get me through the rest of the year and hopefully train my body over time to crave fruits more than dairy. It is easily as good as any froyo I’ve ever had, and better than offbrand ice cream. I love that it came with a recipe book for instruction, inspiration, and portion suggestions. Set up was a cinch, it was already assembled so there was no confusion about where parts go. I to it apart before using to rinse it before use and see how it goes together. Easy. As far as the cleaning goes, I don’t know why anyone is saying it is hard. It was super easy to rinse all the pieces after making my bowl. And the base doesn’t get dirty at all. All in all I give this 15 stars.

Yonans ice cream maker works good most of the time. Seems to prefer some frozen fruit over others, leaves chunks. Use have to be quick to fill the top with fruit to keep product going into a bowl. Where we are it starts to melt faster then I can product the final product. For best results, bend soft serve contents with spoon, then place in freezer for a short time to have an ice cream like product. I don't think I would buy this again.

Great for simple use and healthy desserts

I was so excited for this product to arrive. I thought, "frozen fruit would be such a healthy alternative to ice cream". Not that I had super unreasonable expectations. After all, you can't turn a banana into a full fat ice cream sundae. What I was expecting was something more than just puréed frozen fruit. This product touts that the end result is creamy. I did not find that the result was creamy at all. No matter which kind of fruit was used. The "purée" isn't even reduced enough to be a creamy option! I have learned you cannot make fruit "creamy" unless there is some kind of base(i.e. yogurt or pudding,etc) in it to make it "creamy". I did try all the aforementioned tricks in the amazon reviews and in the booklet as well to see if that changed my opinion and nothing worked. I even made my health nut fiance try it and he said, "it's frozen smashed banana" *cue odd crinkle brow face*. So that is essentially a big "whoop de doo!" from the peanut gallery. Also, while I do love bananas, when they are mushed up they become gummy and sticky. I used fully ripe and frozen bananas as well. So I thought this product would help kind of reduce that and it didn't. I did try other frozen fruit as well such as strawberries and peaches. Strawberries came out like a granita/sorbet type dessert. I imagine this is because of the higher water content in a berry vs. a fruit such as the banana. Berries also have seeds in them so every time you bite you get a seed in your treat which is less pleasing to me but others probably wouldn't mind. I do think this would be a good option if you were making frozen fruit baby food though or for a teething baby, but then again, you could purchase a product for the same price or even a little more that you could have more options with. The cleaning and waste is probably one of the most irritating parts to it. Basically you have to have a lot of fruit because if you just put in one banana it disappears in the blade system inside the product unless you have another one to push it out. So basically it's a 2-for-1 system unless you want to take it apart to get the excess fruit in the blades with a spoon. Maybe I'm just a wimp, but I also thought that the spout part was kind of hard to twist off and lock in as well. The plunger system also wasn't really effective either. I used the right amount of pressure and the machine stopped from time to time. I know I wasn't using so much pressure that it completely stopped like some may have experienced. I also felt like while the cone/blade part is gooey with all the excess fruit you could slip and cut yourself on the blades. In my opinion, you have to be careful when taking it apart and washing/rinsing. The whole "You can just rinse it off and bam! You're done!" thing isn't true either. Fruit is sticky because of the fructose in it and it will not come off with just rinsing. I used dish soap because I don't have the luxury of a dishwasher and didn't want anything leftover or stuck on the blades. I did not find the product unbearably loud like some have said. I felt it was actually a little less loud than a blender with ice chopping in it. At the end of the day, I just felt that this product is not worth the money considering you could probably do the same thing in a higher end food processor (without liquid) which would have more uses. This is a one trick pony. Sure you can puree various frozen fruits, frozen yogurt cubes, and frozen pudding but that's about it! I sent it back for a refund.