The only book I can find is the recipe book..... which just states 'use a chilled bowl' - how useful!

Got loads of recipes though!

Tomato savoury sorbet, anyone?

To get back to the question, the machine you have uses the cold from the pre-frozen bowl to chill the cream down, so the colder the bowl the better the mix will churn; and yes, the mix will be very soft when freshly churned, 15 mins in the freezer will firm it, 30 mins and it will be on the hard side. If you manage to keep a batch over night it will need 15 mins in the fridge or you risk breaking the spoon getting it out!