Hard & Soft Serve Ice Cream Machine Guide
Whether you're deciding to open an ice cream shop or adding ice cream to your menu to boost profits, our selection of commercial ice cream machines ensures there's a perfect fit for your unique business. This guide will go over the types of ice cream machines and how to choose the right one based on size, style, and special features. Be sure to check out our ice cream maker reviews as well!
Soft Serve vs Ice Cream
The difference between soft serve and hard ice cream essentially lies in their milk fat percentage, overrun percentage, holding temperature, and the type of machine used to make them.
Soft Serve Ice Cream
- 3% to 6% milk fat
- 40% to 65% overrun
- Stored at 25 degrees Fahrenheit
- Made with a soft serve ice cream machine
Hard Ice Cream
- 10 to 16% milk fat
- 35% or less overrun
- Stored at 0 degrees Fahrenheit
- Made with a batch freezer
Types of Ice Cream Makers
Soft serve ice cream machines and batch freezers are the two main types of ice cream makers. Which one you will need for your business will depend on the type of frozen dessert you're looking to serve.
Soft Serve Ice Cream Machines
Soft serve ice cream machines freeze liquid ice cream mix under agitation and then dispense directly from the machine into a cone or cup.
- Allow operators to dispense on-demand with the pull of a lever
- Can hold finished product for long periods of time
- Come with one or two hoppers
- Come with either single flavor dispenser, double flavor dispensers, or double flavor with twist feature dispensers
- Typically feature a low mix indicator
- Available in countertop and floor models
- Available in air-condensed and water-condensed models
- Some models can be used to also dispense frozen yogurt, custard, gelato, and/or sorbet
Batch Freezers
Batch freezers allow you to produce a batch of one type of frozen dessert, like hard ice cream, by whipping and freezing the liquid mix into a creamy, smooth texture.
- Features a beater that adds air to the mixture and scrapes product from the unit’s sides for optimal consistency and maximum extraction
- Finished product must be transferred to an ice cream freezer to store and serve
- Available in countertop and floor models
- Available in air-condensed and water-condensed models
- Some models can also be used to dispense gelato, custard, sorbet, and/or sherbet
Soft Serve Ice Cream Machine Types
There are two types of feed systems for soft serve machines: gravity-fed and pressure-fed. These functions denote how the liquid mix is fed from the hopper into the freezing cylinder of your machine.
Gravity-Fed Soft Serve Machines
Gravity-fed machines rely on gravity to feed mix into the freezing cylinder with a fixed air ratio. Because there is less ice cream overrun with gravity-fed soft serve machines, the ice cream is more dense and flavorful than ice cream made with a pressure-fed soft serve machine.
- More affordable
- Easier to clean
- Simpler to maintain
- Fewer moving parts compared to pressure-fed machines
- Lower overrun yield
- Ice cream is not as soft and creamy
Pressure-Fed Soft Serve Machines
Pressure-fed, or pump-fed, machines have a pump in the hopper that feeds the mix into the freezing cylinder, which allows operators to control the amount of air that is added to the mix. Because there is more ice cream overrun with pressure-fed soft serve machines, the ice cream is more soft and creamy than ice cream made with a gravity-fed soft serve machine.
- Higher, more controlled overrun yield for a higher-quality product
- Helps maintain constant pressure in the freezing cylinder for consistency
- Ideal for high volume production
- More expensive
- More difficult to clean and maintain
Batch Freezer Types
There are three types of batch freezer styles: horizontal, vertical, and multi-functional. Which unit will work best in your kitchen will mostly depend on what type of products you're looking to make.
Horizontal batch freezers: Best for high volume use. Allows the operator to scoop out the batch into a pan to be transferred to a freezer.
Vertical batch freezers: Dispense frozen product vertically and allows the operator to add any mix-ins during production.
Multi-functional batch freezers: Heats, mixes, cools, and freezes in a single versatile unit to make other foods in addition frozen desserts, such as mousses, pastry creams, and jellies.
Ice Cream Maker Purchasing Considerations
When purchasing an ice cream maker, there are many factors to consider beyond what type of ice cream you'd like to serve, including machine output and style.
Ice Cream Machine Output
Getting a unit that can handle the volume output that your establishment demands is the most important factor to consider in the buying process. Typically, volume capacities of machines will be measured in either quarts per hour, servings per hour, or servings per minute (for a more precise assessment). For a low volume machine, each hopper can produce up to 50 servings per hour, and for a high volume machine, each hopper can produce over 100 servings per hour.
Installation Type
Ice cream machines come in either countertop or free-standing units, which are also known as floor units. As their names indicate, countertop machines are meant to sit neatly on a countertop, while floor models are larger and designed to stand on floors.
- Produces about 9.5 quarts to 53 quarts per hour
- More compact with a smaller profile
- Perfect for front-of-house operation
- Generally simpler to operate and maintain
- Typically used for low- to medium-volume service
Free-Standing Ice Cream Machine
- Produces about 30 quarts to 150 quarts per hour
- Usually offer more features and options
- Typically used for medium- to high-volume service
- Perfect for back-of-house or front-of-house use
Production Style
The production style is essentially how your machine freezes and dispenses the ice cream. The production style is a determining factor in the total volume capacity of the machine, so you will need to figure out how much finished product you aim to serve before choosing your unit's production style.
- Most popular option and are great for high and low volume establishments
- Continuously produce frozen product and feed it into hoppers
- Eliminates wait time and allows you to dispense large amounts of soft serve with periodic mix refills
- Need to be refilled between each batch
- Require approximately 45-60 minutes of freezing time
- Typically more simple to operate
- Great option for smaller operations with a tight budget
- Designed to meet the high demand of larger establishments
- Able to accommodate various batch sizes
Number of Hoppers
Soft serve machines come with either one hopper, which limits you to make only one flavor at a time, or two hoppers, which allows you to make two flavors at a time. The number of hoppers usually correlates to the number of dispensers a unit has, but some machines include a flavor twist feature that combines the two flavors by twisting them together as they are dispensed.
Condenser Type
Ice cream machines have two possible condensing unit types: air-cooled and water-cooled. Your machine will produce plenty of heat under heavy operation, so make sure you understand how your machine keeps itself cool.
Air-cooled units draw in air to cool the condensing unit in order to cool down the ice cream machine so it can produce frozen desserts.
- Require just a power connection
- Plug-and-play setup provides more flexibility to place the machine where you want in your space
- More affordable option
- Require ample wall clearance (approximately 6") around the machine for exhaust ventilation
- Need cool, air-conditioned environments to perform efficiently
Water-cooled units cool the refrigeration components with water instead of air. They require a water line connection in order to operate.
- Operate quietly
- Operate efficiently in both warm and cool environments
- Do not require clearance space around the exterior
- Water line limits placement options in your space
- Installation requirements will impose higher upfront costs
Ice Cream Machine Special Features
Many machines come equipped with a variety of additional features to improve the quality of your hard and soft serve ice cream and make the production process even easier.
Hopper Agitator
Available as an option on some high-end models, a hopper agitator slowly stirs the product in the hopper to improve product consistency and prevent product separation. The product must still be mixed prior to pouring into the hopper, but the agitator eliminates the need to manually stir the product over the course of the day.
Pasteurizer
A pasteurizer within a batch freezer is important to have for making house-made ice cream to ensure the mix reaches a temperature that kills any harmful bacteria and is safe to eat. Many batch freezers feature a 2-in-1, where the mix is heated and pasteurized in one cylinder and then frozen in another.
Air Pump
An air pump injects air into the ice cream during dispensing to increase overrun. In addition to creating a lighter, creamier product, the air pump allows you to use less ice cream mix while serving more cones to save on costs.
What is Overrun in Ice Cream?
Overrun is the percentage of air that is introduced to the ice cream during the freezing process, which will then cause the ice cream to expand. For example, if 1 gallon of ice cream has a 50% overrun, it means that the ice cream expanded 50% and you will yield 1.5 gallons of finished product.
Ice Cream Profit Margin
Americans consume 1.6 billion gallons of ice cream each year, with the average American eating approximately 23 gallons per year. Ice cream machines can generate a large profit margin thanks to their relatively low cost of operation. Enter your estimates in each field of our Ice Cream Profit Calculator and see how much money you can make over the course of one year.
Ice Cream Profit Calculator
Related Resources
Types of Ice Cream Cones
The cool, creamy sweetness of ice cream combined with the crispy crunch of an ice cream cone makes for the perfect summer treat. Cones enhance the taste and texture of your ice cream treats, so they are just as essential as the ice cream itself. Having different ice cream cone types at your shop can increase your overall profits and reveal new ways to serve your most popular ice cream flavors!
Types of Commercial Ice Cream Freezers
Ice cream generates a very large revenue for businesses each year, so it's important to keep your indulgent treats fresh and cold in an ice cream freezer that is best suited for your business. Read on to learn more about the types of ice cream freezers, how to store ice cream and other frozen desserts, and how long ice cream lasts in a freezer. Be sure to check out our commercial ice cream freezer reviews as well! Shop All Ice Cream Freezers
How to Start an Ice Cream Shop
Ice cream is a classic summer treat that is enjoyed by children and adults alike. The industry has expanded in recent years, thanks to many new flavors and types of ice cream , the growth of the food truck industry , and the normalization of pop-up and seasonal shops. For many, getting ice cream with friends and family is a summer ritual, meaning there is plenty of demand and interest in local ice cream shops. If you're looking to open your own ice cream shop, check out our ice cream shop startup guide. Looking for supplies for your ice cream shop? Click below. Shop All Ice Cream Shop Supplies Use these links to learn more about individual aspects of how to open an ice cream shop: Ice Cream Shop Concepts and Branding Ice Cream Shop Business
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