Yonanas Review

by mulberry

Yonanas is a frozen dessert maker that touts the ability to create an ice cream like treat that is much healthier than traditional ice cream. Find out if it lives up to its claim.

Trying to cut added sugar and excessive fat from the diet isn't always easy when you are a dessert lover. Yonanas claims to be the dessert maker that is the answer to this problem, creating an ice cream alternative that's smooth and creamy yet 100% natural. I decided to give it a try to see if it lived up to the hype. Here's what I found.

The Claims

From the advertisements on television and online, I had seen several claims regarding Yonanas. They included:

 

1. It could produce a healthy and natural alternative to ice cream desserts. 

2. It was affordable.

3. It was easy and could create a dessert very quickly. 

4. The dessert that Yonanas would create would be very much like ice cream.  

Yonanas Review
Yonanas Review
Yonanas 902 Ice Cream Treat Maker, Black/Silver

Yonanas instantly turns frozen fruit and other flavorings into a delicious and healthy soft-serve treat. The unit combines frozen bananas and any additional fruit or chocolate a...

$34.3  $31.05

Yonanas: The Basics

I purchased my Yonanas dessert maker at a local department store. A care and use manual as well as a recipe booklet were included. It came fully assembled and so it was ready to operate after removing it from the packaging and plugging it in. 

For those with limited counterspace the overall size might be problematic, but only if it was something the user would want to leave out on the counter all of the time, but for most people I doubt this is likely.  It measures approximately 6" wide by 6" deep by 15" high when fully assembled. It is lightweight but sturdy enough for the task.

The base of the device has a stainless-like finish with a black chute assembly. The housing appears to be made entirely of plastic although as I stated before, it seems sturdy enough. The base includes the power (on/off) switch, the electrical cord, the motor inside, and the receptacle where users will place the chute.

The chute assembly is placed upon the base and is rotated counter clockwise to lock it in place. There is a blade cone at the base of the chute which purees the fruit as it is loaded and pressed down into the chute. Using the included plunger, frozen fruit can be pressed into the chute easily and safely.

The Yonanas device operated smoothly with no vibration. The 60Hz 200W motor was fairly loud although no worse than most food processors or blenders. More importantly, the motor easily handled all of the frozen fruit I fed through the chute and did its job fairly quickly. 

Clean up was very easy. To disassemble, I merely had to rotate the chute assembly to unlock it, pull it off, unscrew the cap, remove the gasket and blade cone, and wash all of those pieces by hand or in the dishwasher.



 

Yonanas Power Switch
Yonanas Power Switch
Yonanas Assembly
Yonanas Assembly

Yonanas: Does It Do What It Says It Will Do?

I ended up concocting three separate desserts with the Yonanas dessert maker. First with frozen bananas only, then with strawberries added, and finally with peaches added. The results were consistent.

The first question is whether or not this device will create a healthier alternative to ice cream. My answer is yes, absolutely. The desserts that I created were made entirely of frozen fruits. No fat and no cholesterol were involved. No added sugar, no added salt, no artificial flavorings, coloring, or preservatives. For those who have problems with dairy products, the dessert that Yonanas creates, won't be a problem. There is no milk, cream, or anything of that nature added either. It's fruit and nothing but fruit; unless of course, you choose to add something else, such as chocolate.

The second question is whether or not Yonanas is affordable. Certainly, the answer to this question is dependent upon your budget, but in general, I would say the answer is again yes.  The price seemed to vary from store to store and website to website, but I paid $49 for mine at Target. As I indicated before, it comes with a recipe book and includes a 90 day warranty.

The next critical question is whether or not the device is easy to use and if the process is quick. I consider making treats with the Yonanas dessert maker to be a very simple process. To make the dessert, one simply  turns on the power, loads some fruit into the chute, presses it down with plunger using a steady pressure, and within 15 seconds it begins dispensing the frozen treat into a bowl you place at the bottom of the chute. Within a minute or two, a couple of servings are ready for consumption.

Quick and easy. Of course, some pre-planning is necessary. Bananas are the basis of all of the desserts. Whether you want something strawberry flavored or chocolate flavored or whatever else, bananas should be the basis of the dessert. This is what provides the creamy consistency that's necessary for it to emerge similar to soft serve ice cream. This mean that you will have to assure that you have some bananas that have started to turn brown, ones with "cheetah spots". You will need to have peeled those bananas, frozen them for at least 24 hours, and defrosted them on the counter for 5 minutes or in the microwave for 20 seconds before using them.  In fact, all of the fruit should be handled this way, so some pre-planning is necessary.

The final question is whether or not the Yonanas device creates an ice cream-like treat. Yes and no would be my response to this question. The consistency and temperature of the treat you create with this device will be very much like soft serve ice cream. Cool, thick, and creamy.  Wonderful on a hot summer day. The bananas will lend some sweetness and the other ingredients or fruit that you add will lend more flavor. However, don't expect the sweetness of ice cream.

The Yonanas treats that I created were consistently smooth although peaches, strawberries, and presumably other fruits won't blend quite as completely as the bananas. However, it is still much smoother than what you would get from a food processor or even from name brand ice creams that include bits of fruit in them.

Yonanas Dessert
Yonanas Dessert

Conclusion

For the most part, I feel like the Yonanas frozen treat maker lived up to its claims. It's affordable, easy to use, and is capable of creating a healthy dessert that is very similar to soft serve ice cream. However, if you expect the treats it produces to be as sweet as traditional, name brand ice cream, you are likely to be disappointed.

Updated: 04/20/2012, mulberry
 
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Comments

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mccollim on 04/06/2014

I can always appreciate good advice on making frozen treats. Thank you, Mulberry.

kimbesa on 05/30/2013

This sounds like it would meet my needs well. We have the counter space, and I don't like my desserts overly sweet.

Pinkchic18 on 08/03/2012

Very neat! I've heard of yonanas but I had no idea what it was!

Tolovaj on 07/24/2012

Thanks for this review and hints on preparing. Yonanas looks cool to me and if sweetness is the only drawback, I believe we have a winner!

AngelaJohnson on 05/19/2012

I've never heard of the Yonanas before. I love fruit and want to give this a try.

kajohu on 05/14/2012

This Yonanas device looks like a great way to make sweet cold treats! I like bananas, and have made banana-strawberry-berry smoothies before, so I think I'd like the taste of the ice cream like treat.

sheilamarie on 05/03/2012

This sounds like a handy device to have and not too expensive. I've never heard of it before, so you've introduced me to something new. Thanks!

lostcyclingdude on 04/27/2012

Great review! My Wife and I have made fun of this device... but I've always wondered if it had any validity.

Very fun.

BrendaReeves on 04/25/2012

I'm going to consider buying this. My mother who is addicted to sweets and especially ice cream lives with me. If she doesn't have her sweets, she gets really mean from withdrawals. The trouble is if ice cream is in the house I'll eat it, and I don't want all of that fat and sugar in my diet. Thanks for the review.

tribute_to_erasmus on 04/23/2012

Thanks for introducing me to this product! I`m curious to learn more about it. Thanks!


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