I bought the ice cream maker about a month ago and immediately took the advice of putting the drum in the back of the freezer and chill for 24 hours before using. This is very important. Don't rush it. The hardest part has been developing different recipes, but that is part of the fun. One other word of advice - set everything up and turn the machine on then pour the mixture in that order. We tried making chocolate pudding and churning it. I put it in the drum before assembling the paddle and top. The thick mixture immediately froze to the sides and the machine could not churn. After scraping all out, I started over but poured the mixture as directed, from the top while churning. The drum had defrosted to the point where we could not get ice cream until refreezing the drum and starting over. 
Bottom line - this is a very easy machine to use if you follow the directions.