Nostalgia PCM805RETRORED Retro Hard & Sugar Free Cotton Candy Maker, Red
$50
- Flossing sugar or hard candies – unique Extractor head allows you to use traditional flossing sugar or your favorite hard candies to make delicious cotton candy
- Cotton Candy kits – this unit works perfectly with any Nostalgia cotton candy kit – try the cotton candy flossing sugar (Ccfs300), or the hard candy party kit (Hck800)
- Simple operation – warm up the unit, add your flossing sugar, and enjoy your cotton candy in just a few short minutes
- Retro design – This unit has retro design and details that will bring you back to the time of record-spinning jukeboxes and American muscle cars
- Clear rim guard – acts as a protective guard and lets you watch the cotton candy being made
- Accessories – Includes 2 reusable cones, 1 sugar scoop, and 1 Extractor head
- Easy cleaning – unit disassembles for easy cleaning
- Extra stability – suction cup feet keep the unit in place and provide extra stability during use
- Note: Parts & Assembly directions are listed on Page 5 while directions on How to Operate are listed on Page 6 in the User manual provided Technical Specification
Specification: Nostalgia PCM805RETRORED Retro Hard & Sugar Free Cotton Candy Maker, Red
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8 reviews for Nostalgia PCM805RETRORED Retro Hard & Sugar Free Cotton Candy Maker, Red
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Johanne –
Note that hard candies will make strands very quickly but sugar floss and even regular granulated sugar takes much longer to melt. I heat it up 6 or 7 minutes when using hard candy, but with sugar, I will let it heat 10-12 minutes at least. If the strands don’t form quickly, just be patient and let it heat!
Salid –
Considering other machines start at $200, for $50 this is a great home cotton candy machine. Once you get the hang of a few quirks, it makes great cotton candy. If you have ever used a commercial machine this will feel disappointing. Additionally, if you want to be able to make cones for folks on the spot – this isn’t great for that, but to be fair, no machine that isnt a $200+ commercial grade machine will allow for that.
What to know:
1. Cleaning is a pain- as others said, getting the spinning head off to clean the machine is incredibly difficult and gets harder with each use. I need my husband to do it now and I’m expecting us to break it in the next few uses trying to remove it for cleaning. (The actual cleaning is very easy- just run hot water)
2. Putting the spinning head back on- if you have to push it down very hard so it’s nearly touching the grate and heat lamps. I have often thought it was pushed down far enough only to wait 10min for it to heat up and still not get any spun sugar. This isn’t an issue as much as something to be aware of for trouble shooting.
3. This isn’t a fast machine. Once it’s heated up (about 10min), it takes about 5-10min to make one small-medium sized cone. I find that after about 4 or 5 cones the tray becomes too filled with sugar spray and it starts catching your cotton candy so you have to take it off to clean it which adds to your time. Basically- if you want to use this to make cotton candy in real time for more than 2 people – prepare to miss half your party and have folks standing around for a while. This really only works or a crowd if you make it ahead of time.
4. It’s picky. Have dreams of creating your own flavors? I, for example, made my own flavored sugar with saffron and rose for ‘adult’ cotton candy. While it was completely dried out when we went to use it- just adding that extra liquid for the flavor meant the low-ish wattage of this home quality machine wasn’t enough to turn it into floss. That tells me that if you tried to use those crazy flavor packs you can buy online, they wouldn’t work either (you have to add the tiniest amount of water to your sugar). This only creates a problem if you’re trying to be fancy and not use your basic pre-flavored cotton candy sugar. But as an adult who bought this for adult use- that was disappointing for me.
Overall it’s a fine machine. You get what you pay for and maybe a little better than what you pay for in this instance. BUT even then, the $50 home machine does not compare to what a commercial machine can do. If you want to make cotton candy an interactive part of your parties- splurge for a commercial grade or get a rental.
Alicia –
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I just received my Nostalgia red cotton candy maker. It’s very cute and very easy to use. The only difficult part was to remove the extractor for cleaning. Initially I tried five different flavors of hard candy lemon, Lifesavers, cinnamon Jolly Rancher, organic lollipop pieces and Werther’s Caramel coffee. All of the hard candy has corn syrup or rice syrup which I believe makes it more sticky and a denser cone. I smashed up the candy pieces at first but then I just put them in whole and it was about the same. The candy pieces started making cotton candy instantly. I tried again with one part organic maple sugar and two parts organic cane sugar. The scoop only equals 2 teaspoons and a lot of the sugar is thrown out onto the edges anyway so you don’t even get that much sugar in a cotton candy cone with one scoop. It took about a minute for the sugar to start making cotton candy floss. I found the regular sugar was much fluffier than the candy pieces. It took about two and a half minutes with the regular sugar. See video. But that caramel coffee flavored cotton candy was really delicious!
I think the plastic cones that come with the machine are too big. I used a wooden spoon end instead that I wet and then wipe off. When you use the plastic cone and you bump it against the side it smashes the cotton candy. The instructions say to wipe the exterior with a damp cloth. When I wipe the exterior some of the coloring comes off on the paper towel and the paper towel looks pink. I would recommend this machine for home use. Note: Proposition 65 warning on bottom of box. See photo.
Jordan Garnett –
This machine provides great quality cotton candy at home. For someone who likes cotton candy, this machine will pay for itself through the first container of candy floss sugar.
I found that it works best ith candy floss sugar or plain white sugar from the few things i’ve tried so far. In addition to the cotton candy, you also end up with a ring of hard sugar around the edge of the catching bowl that also makes for a nice treat too.
It takes the machine about 10 minutes to prepare, but once its there, you can make multiple cones of cotton candy in one go.
Cleaning is relatively easy. You just need to take it appart and soak it in hot water and with a bit of wiping it all comes clean. The plastic bowl is easy to remove and there is only one hexagonal nut located in the metal spin disk that holds the disk on that is also pretty easy to remove. Note that it doesnt come with a tool to take it apart.
Jessica –
I haven’t tried this with hard candy yet, but with flossing sugar it made cotton candy super well. It was a really simple process and you only have to wait 10 minutes for it to heat up and then you’re on your way to make delicious cotton candy.
The one thing I wanna complain about is that the extractor head is really hard to remove from the machine for cleaning. Otherwise the parts are easy to clean and overall good machine.
Sara Vallier –
Works far better than I expected – with both the nostalgia cotton candy sugars and with just any hard candies (peppermint cotton candy – yum!). So easy my 12 year old can use it. Cleaning is easy enough with a wipe down – and the unit itself is solid and seems to be of good quality. A happy surprise as my daughter begged for a cotton candy machine for her birthday and I didn’t have high expectations this would work out!
C. Smith –
It makes cotton candy – about half the sugar melts into the cracks of the machine and is wasted unless you stop repeatedly and sneak it out with a toothpick. It’s okay! I mean, cotton candy in our kitchen is awesome for sure. But durability? I can’t see it lasting long. There are scorchmarks on the spinner that I can’t remive and the paint is already chipping. Less than a week old and about 15 uses in.
Cooler by the Lake –
I bought this cotton candy machine for my granddaughter for Christmas, and she loves it. She’s 11 years old, and it is simple enough for her to put together and use. We read the directions, and she understood that it is important to allow enough warm-up time in order for the sugar or candy to melt properly (3 minutes). I bought a set of the flossing sugar bottles and a large box of the paper cones to go with it. She and her friends had a great time experimenting with the different flavors of flossing sugar and then trying out hard candies, which worked equally well.
It took a little time to master the art of how to hold the paper cones and how to gather the “cotton.” At first she kept dipping the cones vertically into the spinner, but it was too easy to bump the heating element and then melt the ball of candy on the cone. She also found that the candy gathered too tightly around the cone and ended up in a heavy ball instead of the traditional cottony fluff. After reading some reviews, we found that starting the cone inside the bowl and then holding the cone above the bowl allowed the “cotton” to very lightly wrap around the cone, thereby producing a huge and fluffy cotton candy, just like at the carnival.
Although the machine does work very well, there are a few issues I wish the manufacturer would address. The machine vibrates so much that you really need a second person to hold it in place. Putting some rubberized shelving material under it helped some, but you still need a second person to help. This vibrating also shakes the plastic bowl loose.
Clean up is easy with the exception of the heating element. Once the heating element has cooled, it needs to be removed for soaking/cleaning. This is NOT an easy chore. I am a pretty strong person, but I had a very hard time removing it. When you push the unit on, you will notice that it goes on VERY tightly. So once it is coated with sugar, cools, and hardens, it is even harder to get off. I actually am concerned that I will break it or bend the post it is mounted on. Be sure there is an adult to do this step of the clean up.
I read a few other reviews that addressed these issues, so I know it isn’t just the one I bought. But I’m surprised more people haven’t mentioned these things in their reviews. Perhaps not all of these machines do this.
Once the heating element is removed, clean up is easy. Everything is soaked in hot water for a short while to melt the remaining sugar. No scrubbing is needed.
This is a fun machine for a small group of kids (and adults), but I wouldn’t plan on using it for a huge birthday party of children; it takes too much time for each cone…maybe 4 or 5 minutes.
It’s a good idea to read the directions well and some of the reviews here on Amazon before using your machine. Some people have already tried all the different candies that work and will tell you what does not work. This is good information. Overall, we are happy with this purchase.