Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My wife and daughter LOVE cotton candy. I used to run all the concessions at a large amusement park, so I would have been happy if I never made cotton candy again in my life. However...I saw this and thought it would make a great Christmas present for them. I was a little dubious when I saw that the heat is generated from small halogen light bulbs. I was used to the commercial makers that get VERY hot. The heat is certainly sufficient to make nice, fluffy cotton candy. It isn't nearly as fast as the machines you see at a fair, but it works well enough for making a few cones at home. I saw other reviews that said it didn't work well until the fourth or fifth time it was used. It worked fine on the first use for me. This is not what you are looking for if you want to make a lot of cotton candy at once, It probably took about 3-4 minutes to make a small cone that a commercial machine would make in a few seconds. On the other hand, this one didn't cost $1200. Hints: 1. The warm up period of 5 minutes is absolutely necessary. 2. The Floss (cotton candy) does not come out fast enough and the bowl is not big enough to pick up the cotton candy the way you see it done at the fair. I had the best result by getting it started on the cone and then slowly twirling the cone directly over the head (where the sugar goes in). 3. Do not turn off the machine until all the sugar is out of the head. The remaining sugar can solidify and become quite a hassle to get out. This is the number one cause of having to repair the commercial cotton candy makers. I also ordered the Cotton Candy Express Fun Pack Kit with three flavors and a bunch of paper cones. It worked very well.