Nuvantee Manual Ice Shaver - Stainless Steel Snow Cone Maker, Non-Slip, BPA Free

It crushes ice as advertised. I have used it three times, so far. Twice in conjunction with "cold service" buffet trays... the crushed ice fits MUCH better than regular ice and is much denser, so lasts longer. The other time was just for drinks and whatnot.I have it 3 stars for "Durability" as opposed to five because, frankly, the guts are all plastic. I can that being a problem long term. I would have paid an extra $20 for one with stainless steel innards, but it is what it is.It is easy to clean. I wouldn't put the main unit through the dishwasher, though, because water will just get trapped in there and take forever to drain out. The lid, removable cup, and scoop, though, can easily go through the dishwasher.Usage. I'll just get to brass tacks here:I have an automated icemaker in my freezer. It creates those crescent shaped cubes. What comes out the other end strongly resembles what I like to call "hospital ice". You either know what that means or you don't. Sorry.I know that I will need crushed ice again soon for a cold buffet service, so I decided to make some in advance. My ice maker was "full" - it tripped the bar where it stops making ice. From that full container, I used a plastic 16oz cup to transfer ice to the receiving area. It fills it perfectly. Then, 40-60 cranks later (not as bad as it sounds), requiring little force, and it fills the removable cup about half way. Repeat. Four of those removable cups full of crushed ice fills a one gallon Ziploc bag. I filled exactly two of those bags with the ice on hand.That's all there is to it.

When I was first looking for an ice crusher, I bought a cheaper plastic one. It was flimsy and hard to control...quess you always get what you pay for! I then purchased the Innovee metal ice crusher, and was very pleasantly surprised at the quality, heft, and ease of use. It is constructed in metal, a much more logical choice for an manual ice crusher, and I don't think it could be constructed much better!One very small flaw is the fact that there is no instruction page or FAQ page included... however, it is fairly easy to figure out things.This is also a very attractive looking item that can stay out on the bar if you wished. I am very satisfied with this product!

It's a novelty for sure. My wife loves the resulting crushed up ice. It's easy to use and looks great on the counter. That's good for the first 4 stars.That last star, though... The hopper is big enough for about 2 cups of ice. So if there are 3 of you, you'll be hitting it twice. It's nosy and kinda tough to grind. The outside is a chromed metal, the blades are metal, but the hopper inside is some sort of plastic. It's all one giant piece, so be careful to only use fresh water ice in there -- nothing fancy. It'll be a PITA to clean.All that said, I like the purchase and am happy with it. We fill the bottom bucket with new ice, dump it in the hopper, have a child grind for a couple minutes, then boom 2 cups worth of crushed ice. It's not "snow cone" quality but it makes for nice tea.

The media could not be loaded. UPDATE Nov 26, 2017: Handle broke in my hand while cranking arm. Minor cut to my finger. Officially cannot use this product. Downgraded original 3 star rating to 1 star.UPDATE Nov 21, 2017: This week I discovered my ice turned brown while using this product. There seems to be some kind of grease coming out from between the blades and plastic. Sadly, I will have to retire this product after only 7 months of using it. I don't want to eat grease (or whatever is turning my ice brown). Please see pics of what I'm referring to.Original review:This manual machine does crush ice. However, I have issues with it sliding around on the counter top. There's no suction or slip guard. So in order to get the job done, I have to apply consistent downward pressure from one hand while cranking with the other. But for the price, not that big of deal.

I am very torn on what score to give this product. First of all, it does a great job cutting ice. Well it does take a good 80 Kranks to get about 20 ounces of crushed ice, the size of theIce chunks is perfect, and goes great and with sodas or adult beverages. It is not an exaggeration to say that I use my ice crusher every single day for six months it is still working.Unfortunately, the product has a major problem. Black goop gets into the ice. I put clean ice into the machine, and ice with large black specs comes out. I cannot tell if this is rust in the blades, or if the seals that the company uses around the spinning parts is falling apart. I spent quite a bit of time picking out black dirt from my crushed ice and cleaning the blades; someone who is not partial to eating disgusting things would not be satisfied with this product at all.Because I use this product so much, I am considering purchasing another one in the hopes that this black group is just from a bad unit. However I see that other people have also complained about black residue getting into the ice.It is a shame that this product has such a horrific drawback, because otherwise I am completely satisfied with it.Update: this ice crusher broke after 6-9 months. One of the white plastic pieces under the blades snapped off. I purchased a new one. The new ice crusher did not have the black goop problem! I used it for another 9 months, again 3-4 times a day. Eventually, this second one broke the same way, the white plastic piece under the blades broke off ... so this is obviously a design flaw, but it does appear to require heavy use before it breaks.So, I would say this is a good ice crusher for you to use if you have mild to moderate use, but would discourage it if you use it multiple times daily.I ended up paying four times as much for an electric version :)