Yonanas Frozen Healthy Dessert Maker – 100% Fruit Soft-Serve Maker (Black and Silver) Review

I am in love with this item. If you’ve ever made banana whip or “mock ice cream” in a blender, you will probably love this too. A few key negative review points are as follows, and I’ll address these with my experience:
1. Yonanas didn’t taste like vanilla/soft serve ice cream. ~Well, it is not made of unicorns and rainbows, so logic says that if you put a banana in, and no other ingredients, what comes out will most likely taste like a banana. Maybe some day they will make a magic Yonanas machine and the universe will rejoice.
2. It is loud. ~Yup, it is. But so is a blender, food processor, stick blender, etc. The fact is, I did not go deaf or bleed from my ears in the 2 minutes it took me to make a container full of blueberry-banana Yonanas.
3. It doesn’t rinse right off. ~Yeah, it does. I undid my machine right after finishing the whip and rinsed it in the sink. All of the fruit came right off. I did have to apply a little soap to a sponge and move my hand back and forth on the machine for a second or two to get all the strawberry seeds out of the teeth, but this was hardly traumatizing. The only thing I can think of with folks not having successful clean-up is that it is not rinsed right away.
4. It leaves a half serving in the machine. ~Yup, it does. I took my Yonanas apart to rinse it, and just used a spoon to scrape the little bit left in the machine into my bowl. This was also not traumatizing.
5. I had to call in reinforcements (probably bodybuilders) to help me push the bananas in and take the machine apart. ~Really? I’m a regular lady with little spider-monkey arms, and I did not have to call in big, strong people to help me push the bananas in or take the machine apart.
6. It takes a ton of bananas to make a serving. ~No, not really. My Yonanas came with a plastic tub to keep in the freezer. Just today, all by myself, with no bodybuilder friends, no bleeding from the ears, and no dishpan hands, I filled the tub using only 4 whole bananas and 2 cups of frozen blueberries. This seems reasonable to me.
I like bananas, I like banana whips, I like fruit, and I like Yonanas.

No, it doesn’t taste or feel “exactly” like soft serve ice cream but, yes, it is incredibly good and creamy. Fantastic, really. BUT you must follow the directions carefully–yet the directions are inconsistent and full of typos. SO here’s what you have to do: The bananas must be ripe but not really overripe (slightly mushy is good for banana bread, not Yonanas). They should be “cheetah spotted” as they say, and the banana inside must still be white. Peel, break in half and freeze for 24 hours–don’t try to get around this. Thaw on the counter for five minutes–no longer and no shorter. The directions say 5 minutes one page, 15-20 minutes on another page, and also recommend microwaving for a few seconds instead. Forget about it–just leave the bananas and any other frozen fruit on the counter for five minutes. Use slow, steady, even pressure when pushing down with the plunger thing. Too fast and you get ice chips and possibly burn out the motor. Not thawing the fruit is another way to burn out the motor. It really helps to put the serving bowl in the freezer for a half hour or so ahead of time to prevent premature melting. It’s no good when it’s melted. And, finally, don’t even think about putting chocolate in this thing even though several recipes say to do so. Not unless you want to spend the next ten, grumpy minutes scraping it out of that cone shaped part with the blades. Some of the chocolate will get through in irregular pieces but not much. I will soon experiment with chocolate syrup or fudge sauce mixed in but never again with the actual chocolate. If you follow these tips exactly, it’s very, very good. Try 2 bananas and 3/4 cup of blueberries. Awesome combo!