Soft Serve 101: Significant Features, Benefits And Ways To Save

If you are considering buying a soft serve ice cream machine for the restaurant, dinner, buffet or convenience shop, there are a couple of crucial things to make note of.

Soft serve is a kind of ice cream or frozen dessert, like yoghurt, custard, sorbet, which haven't really been hard frozen but instead is produced with the addition of air to the ice cream mixture, increasing its volume by up to 45 percent. The combination of greater temperature (approximately 18º F) and more air gives the ice cream a creamier consistency and makes it simple to dispense.  

Energy Efficiency

Soft serve ice cream machines operate effectively to freeze and include air (quantity ) to specific liquid soft serve ice cream mixtures. Machines run in a temperature around 18 degrees Fahrenheit, keeping the ice cream not just frozen but at appropriate storage temperatures. Because of this, these machines need to run both day and night to protect against any changes in consistency or health code violations.  

Various Sizes

Smaller service operations which need to being offering soft serve ice cream often own small counter machines, allowing a worker to refill and create new batches as required. Buffet and sundae pubs are often self-service, and these operations typically purchase large secondhand machines to keep a higher volumes of ice cream. Bigger machines, but cost more to buy, operate and maintain as well.

Features & Options

There are a variety of features and options that are analyzed when exploring soft-serve ice cream machines:

Soft serve Machines come with either a gravity-feed or even a pressurized feed.  Pressurized machines utilize pumps to supply the freezing cylinder.

The freezing cylinder as well as the dasher bar that mixes the product are at the heart of the soft-serve ice cream machine's functionality. Look closely at your machine's design and how these two features work together.

Newer machines can come with optional touch-pad LED displays to place warmth and consistency of the ice cream. Once installed, the system automatically adjusts to save time when switching mixtures.

Some machines comprise a safety mechanism to prevent compressor burnout. Some components shut down if no one responds to the awake within a certain period of time, along with others yet to shoot hot refrigerant gas from the condenser into the barrel to keep it from freezing solidly when the mix is too low.

General Specs

Soft Serve Ice Cream portions with fruit

Programs:

Soft serve ice cream and desserts may be served straight up in a cone or bowl, or as a foundation for desserts like banana spilts, milkshakes and rootbeer floats.

Size:

Machines can be found in counter-top and floor versions. Even footprints of large machines are relatively compact, using high volume twin barrel machines being about 26" wide and 36" deep.

Ability:

As with several different types of equipment, one important point to consider when selecting a soft serve machine will be capacity. Machine capacity is measured in quantity, either gallons per hour or two servings per minute. Reduced volume is usually 2-3 serving each second, medium is 4-5 parts and high quantity is 7 servings.

Counter Top 7 Quart 4oz Serving 2-3 parts 

Counter Top 20 Quart 4oz Serving 3-7 servings

Characteristics:

Soft serve machines are self contained unit that will store blend, then churn and freeze it in ice cream, and dispense it. Retrieval time is therefore important. If you take a moderate or higher volume machine for manufacturing, the machine needs to have the ability to freeze additional product to replenish what's being dispensed.

 Pressurized machines pumps to supply the freezing cylinder.

Many versions have signature pad LED displays to place the warmth and/or consistency of the final product. Once installed, the machines automatically adjust for whatever mix is utilized.

Other controls include a low-mix light which indicates when it is time to replenish the mixture hopper.  If the barrel isn't full, the mix can freeze strong, preventing the dasher pub from turning. A suspended cylinder can split the bladesand bend the dasher bar, or burn the breaker.

Many models have a security mechanism to stop compressor burnout. On some, the compressor automatically shuts down if you do not reply to the low-mix alarm in just three minutes.  Other models take hot refrigerant gas from the condenser to the barrel to keep it from freezing solidly when the blend amount is too low.

Energy Supply:

To ensure widespread compatibility with most foodservice situations, most smaller units operate on single phase 115 volts and larger units 208-230 volts.

Temperature Range:

A temperature-controlled machine allows the ice cream to distribute as it reaches a certain temperature, usually 18º F to 19º F. Many machines have a"night" or"sleep" switch that lets you conserve energy where permitted by local health programs. In this mode, the ice cream is allowed to thaw and be stored at 38º F till you're ready to restart the machine.

Construction:

The center of all soft-serve machines is that the barrel where the ice cream is generated. Each manufacturer uses its own layout for both the freezing cylinder itself as well as the beater or dasher pub that mixes and pushes the ice cream into the dispensing head.

There are two varieties of dasher bar designs: low and higher displacement.  But some manufacturers use them in soft-serve machines to enhance the machine's efficiency.

Depending on the type of product that you need to function as dasher bar engine speed should be considered. If you plan to use a product with greater butterfat a higher rpm motor can churn the mixture a lot in the barrel.

Blades connected to the dasher bar scratch mixture off the walls of the cylinder as it stinks. Most are created with some type of plastic, nevertheless they really do wear, and when worn blades depart frozen mixture on the walls of the barrel, the machine will function less and less efficiently.

To continue to keep blades sharp some manufacturers have"self-sharpening" blades. Others attach blades to the dasher using a calibrated spring.  Blades normally require replacing every six months or so based on quantity. To signify when a blade is ready to be replaced some have use lines to reveal employees when to change them. Others are designed to prevent workers from installing them improperly when they are washed or changed.

The ability of any machine ought to match the type of production you need for your own operation. Dasher bar engines, by way of instance, include 1/2 hp and higher. Compressor motors begin at 1 HP on small machines, while most machines have 2 HP compressors to swiftly pull product from 38º F to 18º F, and also dispense cone after cone. Many versions currently use Scroll compressors, which can be more energy-efficient than conventional compressor motors.

Though these powerful components are in operation the system will throw off a lot of heat. Since most soft-serve machines are behind the counter or out in serving areas, that heat can affect both workers and clients in addition to how challenging the machine itself functions.

You have a few choices on the best way best to deal with this warmth.

Air-cooled units provide positioning flexibility as they don't expect a water hook-up, only an electrical outlet. Allow about 3" of clearance around the entire machine, and intend to provide air conditioning to dissipate heat from the compressor, dasher motor and condenser.

Water-cooled machines really are a good option if you purchase a model that has a self indulgent recirculating system so that you're not paying for water to go down the drain. As an alternative, you may use the waste heat from the water which cools the soft-serve system to warm water in the rest of your operation.

Soft serve machines using a remote condenser, generally roof-mounted, will dissipate some of the heat outside. However, you must have a relatively short run to the roofing to the refrigerant lines.

Care:

 Before buying a soft serve machines, check with your regional inspector or health department to be aware of the rules for your area.

Several methods have been developed to ease the cleaning procedure, including washout kits, which can be essentially faucet hookups for the top of the machine which enables you to turn on the water directly into the hopper. Most providers also provide parts trays that provide employees molded spaces to store components since they disassemble and clean them. This helps employees monitor parts to properly compress the system.

Other versions have an auto-cleaning manner that flushes and cleans the machine innards at the push of a button. These models need disassembly occasionally to wash and sanitize parts which might not get a thorough cleaning. Auto-cleaning can save employees a lot of time, and companies labour price, if it considerably reduces the amount of times the machine needs to be eliminated for cleaning.

Certifications:

Components must be NSF listed under standard No.7, and UL Safety and UL Sanitation listed.

Have questions on purchasing a soft serve machine? Contact Hommy ice cream machine manufacturer!