What type of ice cream machine should I buy?
The brand of the machine is important but the business you buy from is ten times more important and will ultimately be the reason the success or failure of your venture. Ice-cream machines are complex – what do you do if they breakdown? Who will you call? It’s imperative you have work with someone you can rely on to support your business with regular servicing, training and continued care. You will need qualified technicians to install and provide any additional parts you may need throughout the life of the machine.
TYPES OF SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM MACHINES
There is a variety of soft serve ice cream machines to choose from. Here are some of the different types:
1. Counter Top or Floor Model
Choosing a counter top or floor model machine will depend on the amount of space you have and the amount of product you expect to sell.
2. Flavour Options
Some machines only serve one flavour, some will have two separate flavours with the option of dispensing them both in a twist serving.
If you anticipate serving ice-cream as an addition to your current dessert menu, you probably just need a single flavour machine.
3. Air Cooled or Water Cooled
An air-cooled soft serve ice cream machine is beneficial as you can place it wherever you like because it does not need a water hook-up. A water-cooled machine must have access to water, which could limit where you place your machine. However water cooled machines cool the ice cream much faster.
4. Gravity vs. Pressure-Fed
Gravity soft serve machines use gravity to transfer soft serve mix through feed tubes into the freezing cylinder whereas pressure-fed machines use a pump to transfer the mix from the hopper to the freezing cylinder.
5. Technology
Most machines we recommend come with a digital screen and remote 4D dial in system. This allows us to solve any issues remotely. You should also ensure your machine comes with a low-level alarm that goes off when the mix level in the machine becomes too low. This is necessary because if this goes unnoticed, you will damage the blades.
The type of machine isn’t the only thing you need to consider when buying a machine. You should also be aware of the following important elements:
Capacity: it is vital that your soft serve machine will be able to manage your needs in terms of capacity.
Cleaning features: If you choose a heat-treated machine this will significantly reduce the cleaning requirements.
Low mix alert: We recommend buying a soft-serve machine with an automated alert that lets you know when the mix has fallen to a low level. When it is lower than it should, this will cause the mix to freeze solid and will damage the machine over time.