Sephra Elite Home Chocolate Fountain

If your not willing to buy the 23" or the 27" for well over $1,000, this is the machine to buy. I searched all over the internet to find a good sized Chocolate Fountain for a wedding of 120 guests, and not pay the huge cost of the commercial ones. The Sephra brand is made very well with good quality parts. I bought the machine on Amazon.com and and had it shipped last minute for the wedding. It came here as promised in 2 business days. When I opened the box I was expecting to see the fountain tiers and the auger piece all stainless steel, it was not. I was very disappointed because the picture looks like stainless steel (read the info about the machine, if it doesn't say stainless, it's not stainless). Fortunatly is was made of good quality thick plastic. I never had a chance to practice with the machine before the wedding, so I chanced it (something I would normally never do). The machine is very easy to use if you know how to run a simple crock pot. I used just used inexpensive chocolate melting chips and vegetable oil. I heated the chocolate in the kitchen to give it the right viscosity. Poured it into the base of the machine, turned the machine to med heat (this model has low, med, high) and turned the auger on. It worked the first time without a hitch all night. Never had a single problem! We used it for well over 2 hours. Just keep some melted chocolate/oil in a pitcher and pay attention to refill. When you see gaps in the chocolate curtain that means it's time to refill. The larger the wedding the more you need to keep adding the melted chocolate. I beleive I was told plan for a 3/4 to 1 pound of chocolate for every 10 people. You will have left over chocolate in the machine that will go to waste but you just have to get over that. The machine needs the extra chocolate or it will not flow evenly. Clean-up: Clean-up took about 15 minutes (depending on how messy your guests are). All the plastic peices for the three teirs and auger bit come apart and the stainless steel base comes off of the machine and can be rinsed and put in the dishwasher. Considerations: We originally were going to have the fountain outdoors, but it was a windy day and I was told that the chocolate will blow in guests. Plus it had rained and it was still very wet out side and you don't want extra moisture in the chocolate. We moved the fountain inside before the event and had no issues.Super easy machine, and if I cater more events I may decide to purchase the larger one.

Makes a little noise,Plastic parts can brake easily if your not careful.I return 2 of them because shipping and handleling damage.

Worked great first 2 uses. 3rd use beeped excessively, trouble shoot guide says if this happens to shut it off and let it cool 1hr. I did that and it still kept beeping. I gave up for that day.4th use started beeping after running 30minutes! It is supposed to be good to run for up to 3hrs!I'm returning it before my 1yr warranty runs out. Should have guessed they expect it to break within a year!

After considering other products offered locally in major department stores, then searching for more choices on line, I am pleased with my choice. The Sephra Elite was not the cheapest choice, but as the title suggests 'You get what you pay for.'Having the ability to remove the bottom basin made it much easier to clean.The only thing I was disappointed with was that Amazon.com sent the product in the original box (without additional packing), which was damaged during shipping. While the product itself was undamaged, I did plan to store it in the box when not in use.

After researching chocolate fountains, I decided to splurge on this one. I figured it's better to invest in a high quality product that will last and that I won't be frustrated with. I am very happy with this! I'll admit, I only used it once (Feb 2010), but it was a breeze to set up and a breeze to clean. Somehow amongst the pre-party frazzle of getting everything ready, I missed the very important section in the manual about testing the viscosity of the chocolate... so the fountain didn't produce a perfect flow, but that was my fault, not the fountain's. I was too distracted with everything else going on, but even so, everyone raved about the chocolate (Wilton's) and the fountain. My in-laws were here from overseas and were very impressed, so I got a few points there. I'm planning on using this again in July, for my son's birthday. This time I'll check the viscosity.

I was pleasantly surprised and very happy with this fountain. Since we didn't bother reading all the instructions, (yes my bad!), the most important thing is to turn this machine on and let it warm up BEFORE putting the chocolate in!The chocolate flow was just perfect, the machine is quiet and people absolutely loved it. We used it for a house warming party and it was a huge hit. We used 12" bamboo skewers that you can get at the grocery store. We served it with marshmellows, strawberries, pound cake, pineapples and apple slices.The clean up was fairly easy, the machine disassembles very well. We let the leftover chocolate harden in the machine overnight, then wiped it out. Soaked the rest in warm water for a few minutes, popped the pieces and the dishwasher and voila, ready for the next party!Well worth the investment, this will get much use!Janette,Washington DC area

We were very pleased with this fountain! We found the Sephra to be easy to assemble, and easy to clean. It is sturdier and quieter than others we have seen. We purchased the fountain for a mother/son dance, for elementary aged boys. The fountain was the focal point of the food provided! Boys and their Moms had their pictures taken by the fountain! We also love the versatility this fountain offers. We have a son in high school who saw that cold dressings or sauces could be used in the fountain. He is thinking of using this fountain at his graduation open house with chicken wings, and ranch dressing in the fountain!

The fountain run better than expected. However, after about an hour the chocolate didn't run smoothly and evenly (one could easily see thru). We used the proper choclate and followed all directions. But kids still had a lot of fun and enjoyed it.