Soft Serve Ice Cream Machines

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Add quick and easy profits to your business with a soft serve ice cream machine

Ice cream shops, restaurants, cafeterias, and more can benefit from a commercial soft serve ice cream machine. Customers will love the option to order a sundae, cone, or cup of soft serve ice cream. Some units offer a lower capacity and have one dispenser for smaller operations that won't move a high volume of product. Other machines are equipped to get through the busiest rush with several hoppers and dispensers for several flavors, and even a twisted flavor option. Soft serve ice cream machines can also dispense sorbet, custard, and frozen yogurt, not just ice cream.


Buying Considerations

There are a few things to consider when choosing the right soft serve ice cream machine for your business. By identifying exactly what role you need your ice cream machine to fill, you'll be able to select the right model.

  • Feed type:
    • Gravity fed - These machines require soft serve mix to be manually deposited into the hopper. As the name implies, the mix will be fed to the machine as gravity pulls it toward the dispensers. Machines with a gravity fed system are generally more budget friendly.
    • Pump - A pressurized pump unit will feed product to the machine as needed. This allows staff to control how much air is deposited into the soft serve mix, which will impact texture as it's served. These units generally are able to produce more servings per-hour than gravity fed machines.
  • Installation - Soft serve ice cream machines come as floor models as well as countertop units. A floor installed soft serve machine is ideal for high-volume operations that plan to serve up to 40 quarts of product at a time. Countertop installed units help free up floor space in crowded areas and can serve around 15 quarts of product per hour.
  • Cooling type - These self-contained units work relatively hard to maintain proper temperatures in the unit for the perfect consistency of ice cream. The most common types of cooling systems used in soft serve ice cream machines are air-cooled and water-cooled. Air cooled units allow the machine to be placed anywhere since a water line connection is not required. It will need a few inches of clearance to allow for proper air flow to the compressor. Water-cooled machines often use a self-contained recirculating system to prevent unnecessary waste as water drains out of the machine.

Frequently Asked Questions About Soft Serve Ice Cream Machines

How many servings of ice cream will be produced per hour?

Single serve machines will make about 3.5 gallons of soft serve per hour. That equals out to approximately 100 three and a half ounce servings. Larger machines can produce up to 30 gallons of ice cream per hour for upwards of 800 servings. Check the capacity of your soft serve machine's hoppers, and reference the attached spec sheet to determine how many servings each specific model can produce.


How many flavors of ice cream can be served with one machine?

Soft serve ice cream machines with more than one dispenser and hopper are capable of serving more than one flavor of ice cream. The number of hoppers will tell you how many flavors can be served out of your ice cream machine since each hopper holds a separate soft serve mix. A machine with two hoppers and three dispensers will most likely offer a twist option as a mix of the two flavors.