Post #317433 by The Gnomon on Mon, Jul 9, 2007 7:11 AM

I'm getting to be a regular at Bed, Bath & Beyond where I saw the Margaritaville Machine on display. I could see a possible use for it, but not right now, especially, given the price tag.

I hardly ever use my professional Oster blender anymore, but rather a Magic Bullet and a Hamilton Beach Icy Treats ice shaver.

I used to shave ice with the Magic Bullet, but learned after four months that the blade assembly couldn't hold up to my abuse. I originally got it at B,B&B without a coupon, but when I returned it recently for an exchange, they let me use a 20% off any single item coupon. So I got $12+ back.

While I was there, I picked up the Icy Treats ice shaver, which usually costs $25. But using a 20% off coupon combined with my credit on the return I left with a brand new Magic Bullet and an Icy Treats for about $8.50.

The Icy Treats machine is almost all plastic, so it's not heavy duty at all. It has a little stirring wand you can put inside to make "icy treats" but I just use it to shave ice. It has two settings, Slushie and Snow Cone. The Slushie is finer and what I use for Mai Tais. Even though it's not heavy duty, I'm hoping it will withstand shaving ice continuously for an hour or more at a time.

It takes ice cubes (smaller cubes work better than big ones). It has two chutes in its central cylinder that line the cubes up and run them across a steel blade. Then the shaved ice falls into the collection area below. You can use the container that comes with it or your own bowl. It doesn't hold that much ice, so you have to continually feed cubes into it and dump the shaved ice. But you can turn it on and walk away for a few minutes while it does its thing and for the few bucks its cost, it has been worth it so far.