Kmart shopper's warning against popular summer product: 'Don't waste your money'

When you think of an Aussie summer a few things naturally spring to mind — the beach, a brand spankin' new pair of thongs, catching up with friends in beer gardens, the cicadas at night, barbecues with the family, and indulging in a frozen treat.

While yes, I mainly am talking about frozen margs, there's another sweet treat that's actually good for the whole family — ice cream, of course. And while the poignant sound of Mr Whippy slowly heading down the street evokes a childhood nostalgia like no other, Kmart has released a soft serve ice cream machine so you can attempt to make your own treats at home.

But is it worth it or should you keep scrounging together the coins you find behind the couch to throw at that pale pink van playing Greensleeves?

Kmart shoppers debate $49 soft serve machine: 'Don't do it'

There's something appealing about making your own soft serve from the comfort of your own home, and one Kmart shopper asked for other people's opinions on the soft serve ice cream maker after spotting it in store.

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"Can you tell me what you need to make the ice cream please? And how long does it take?" they asked, with the post being flooded with comments from people with rather strong opinions on the whole thing.

"Don't do it!" one person warned. "Takes hours and doesn't thicken and also so super loud, biggest regret buy ever."

"I have tried to make five batches and no luck at all," another person shared. "Just a messy bench [and] freezer and hungry kids wanting dessert!"

One shopper shared their method, warning the original poster to not waste their money.

"We used milk, cream, sugar, milk power, vanilla essence," they said. "Bowl in freezer, made the mixture. Popped it in the freezer for 3 hours. Turned machine on and poured in the tiny hole. Let run for nearly 2 hours and never got any thicker. Very noisy. Don't waste your money."

One TikTok creator however made quite the "delicious" smoothie bowl using the soft serve ice cream maker, so if you love Acai bowls, take note. "Can you make a smoothie bowl in it? You absolutely can," she said.

Kmart fan's ingenious solution for dessert woes

Another shopper had very simple advice that, well, look — it makes sense.

"Go to shop.. buy tub of ice cream… eat it vs paying a heap of money for another gadget and buying ingredients and preparing the bowl and preparing the ingredients and making it and hoping it works and cleaning it and finding somewhere to store it and never using it again because it’s too much effort and then trying to sell on Marketplace and answering stupid questions and selling it for $10 after everyone who said it it available didn’t show up," they commented, to much amusement from the Facebook group. "I am addicted to gadgets and I know the drill!"

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But what about the MINI Kmart ice cream maker?

If you're a fan of ice cream and/or Kmart gadgets, you may have also noticed the $15 mini ice cream maker in stores.

Influencer Amelia Liddy Sudbury raved about the product earlier this month, saying, "I think this is the best product Kmart has come out within the past year!"

Amelia added that "it's so simple" to make ice cream in just 15 minutes, showing how she makes chocolate ice cream, adding that Kmart has included recipes with the item.

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