Who doesn’t love ice cream? It’s the one dessert that’s guaranteed to satisfy any palate no matter the season, but most especially on warm summer days. Moreover, ice cream is tried-and-tested merchandise: it is practically able to sell itself. And with the combination of the right promotions, equipment, and distinct flavor profile, it can make for a very profitable business.
At the core of the successful ice cream business is the equipment that keeps these delightful treats entirely frozen. It won’t be ice cream if it melts quickly and isn’t sweet and creamy. It would help if you had an ice cream freezer you can trust to serve this memorable dessert and classic comfort food.
Summary
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Equipment Needed to Start an Ice Cream Business
This delightful frozen treat is a time-tested favorite. After all, who wouldn’t like to cool down with something refreshingly cold and sweet? When made well, ice cream guarantees happiness in every cup, cone, or tub.
Have you ever wondered how ice cream is made — and how the biggest names in the ice cream business perfect their blend? Besides a repertoire of classic flavors and trendy novelty treats, you need the right equipment to whip up and seal these flavors.
Every ice cream business needs blenders for combining the perfect ratio of cream, dairy, flavor extracts, and toppings. Once blended, you will also need dipping and storing cabinets and ice cream freezers for long-term storage and product display. Together, these essential equipment keep every ice cream tub adequately frozen and preserve their quality taste and flavor.
Tips for Choosing the Best Ice Cream Freezer
Ice cream should stay frozen — it wouldn’t be ice cream otherwise, nor as delightful of a dessert as it’s been known for ages. The best ice cream needs the right freezer to preserve its quality and ensure customer satisfaction in every cup. So, what’s the best ice cream freezer for your business?
Before buying one, you need to consider several factors, including its features, performance, and size. First, look at how big your shop is and how much ice cream you plan on selling. The right-sized ice cream freezer should meet your storage and product volume requirements while still comfortably fitting inside your shop.
More importantly, you need to look inside the freezer: how cold does it get, and does it self-regulate? The freezer cabinet needs to meet specific temperature requirements to keep ice cream frozen consistently. As the freezer runs, you also need to keep an eye on utility costs. To ensure energy-efficient function and avoid sudden spikes in your electric bill, steer clear of any unit that is not energy-star-rated, to begin with.
Benefits of Buying Commercial Ice Cream Freezers
If you’re getting in the business of selling delicious frozen treats, there isn’t an appliance more critical than a commercial ice cream freezer. A reliable freezer is the backbone of every ice cream business. Not only is it the best — and only — storage solution for this frozen merchandise, but in-store, an ice cream freezer makes for an attractive and accessible product display.
Ice cream freezers are available in a range of dimensions and models to suit your needs. Most popularly, chest-style models come in one- or two-door units that offer generous storage and feature transparent glass displays for a convenient shopping experience. With proper cleaning and maintenance, you get years of energy-efficient function from these reliable freezers or can easily upgrade to a bigger model as needed as your business grows.
Types Of Ice Cream Freezers
What type of ice cream freezer do you need? Each ice cream shop is unique, requiring different storage and display solutions. Know what to buy:
Dipping cabinets
These are glass-top models that conveniently display flavors for customers to browse, with self-serve units available.
Glass-top display freezers
It is available in angled, curved, or flat lid models for easy customer access. In addition, it has double glass doors that retain cold interior temperatures and boost impulse purchases due to their familiar appearance.
Drop-in freezers
Drop-in freezers can be stored at the counter where customers order, pay, and claim their cones, cups, or tubs quickly, saving on storage space and floor area.
Gelato dipping cabinets
Gelato dipping cabinets were designed to display multiple flavors through clear, insulated glass lids that offer maximum visibility and retain optimal chilling temperatures.
Chest freezers
These are designed for back-of-house or stock room storage, where large quantities of inventory are stored well ahead of in-store restocking.
Keep Ice Cream Frozen for Longer
Once the flavors are blended, it’s the ice cream freezer that does the heavy lifting of keeping every tub frozen, with every bit of its delightful flavor sealed in, which means your ice cream freezer needs to run smoothly 24/7.
Ice cream freezers perform best with proper maintenance. However, they require regular inspection and tune-ups to identify cooling issues early on and prevent breakdowns that can cost your entire inventory.
In between maintenance checks by a certified technician, make sure to clean the freezer chamber regularly using recommended food-safe cleaners and soak and scrub the inner moving parts. With regular cleaning and maintenance, you can increase the lifespan of your freezer — and keep these delicious treats perfectly frozen.
I’ve always loved food and I’ve always loved sharing my love of food with the world. This love led me to become a professional foodie, opening my very own restaurant called The Great American Cafe and writing a blog called Foodieso.com, where I’ve been able to share my recipes, ideas and thoughts about food.
