Gelato
Gelato is Italian ice cream, gelato has been around for quite some time, it is usually seen as a higher-end dessert, more artisanal. Gelato is usually made with natural ingredients and differs from American ice cream because it is lower in butterfat, doesn’t have eggs and is whipped with much less air. The reason gelato shops serve smaller portions and use smaller spoons is that when the fat and air ratio are lower, the flavor is much more intense. Gelato shops do well in locations with more affluent customers, who have more likely traveled to Italy and appreciate the smoother richness of gelato. We have seen interest in gelato steadily growing in America and we expect that to continue for a long time to come. Gelato is made in a batch freezer; however, it is important to purchase one with slower rpm as this will decrease the amount of air whipped into the product. You will probably be best off with a 12quart machine since it will produce the perfect amount for gelato pans. Gelato pairs well with coffee, to mix a scoop of gelato and espresso.
Best Machines for gelato B12V
American Ice Cream
American ice cream is rich and creamy, usually, around 14%-18% butterfat, whipped at a much higher rate than gelato 80%-100% air ratio is normal. Ice cream is so much fun to make because there is no limit to what is possible. As long as there is enough fat to hold the air, and enough sugar to keep the texture right, there is an unlimited amount of combinations to make your own distinct flavors and set your shop apart from everyone else. Adding milkshakes to the menu will open up your product line with very little added expense. American ice cream is usually made in a 5-gallon bucket therefore the 24-quart machine is ideal.
Best machine for American Ice Cream B24E
Recommended Products Green Mountain Flavors
Soft Serve
Every small town has an iconic ice cream shop selling high quality creamy soft serve. Similar to ice cream, the options are endless to add and invent new flavors or products. A single soft serve machine can produce up to 40 gallons of ice cream per hour, and paired with a mixer, could increase your menu options without adding many extra SKUs. One machine would give you the option to make ice cream cookie sandwiches, cakes, milkshakes and of course cones.
Best machine for soft serve SLX 500
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Lloyd's of Pennsylvania
Honey Hill Farms
Italian Ice
Italian ice is iconic, however, depending on where you are from, you may have a very different image of what Italian ice is compared to someone in a different area. Italian ice is water-based fruit ice, a derivative of the Italian granita. Granita is more course and has larger ice crystals. In America, Italian ice can comprise of a hard cup of ice scraped off layer by layer or soft water ice like the kind found everywhere in Philadelphia.
Best machine for Italian Ice B12E
Frozen Yogurt
Lessons from history, don’t get caught in the frozen yogurt trap. Frozen yogurt is a fantastic, relatively healthy dessert treat many people will enjoy for years to come. However, there is a real lesson to be learned from the frozen yogurt craze that took over from about 2009 until 2017. This isn’t the first frozen yogurt craze either, in the 1980’s TCBY exploded with stores opening everywhere. Frozen yogurt is a fantastic product, however, the market quickly saturated, and more and more shops kept opening. As an example: in our small city of about 130K residents, we had 9 Frozen yogurt shops open all within a few miles of each other. This is all while competing with every other frozen dessert restaurant in the local area. It was just too many, a bunch of those stores closed, and the market stabilized, now we have 3 successful stores which fit the demographics. If you are looking to get into this market, I would be very careful to make sure you are in a location with tremendous foot traffic. Because each sale is typically less than $5 you will need a lot of sales.
Best machine for Yogurt SLX500
Recommended product Sugar Creek Yogurt