The blast freezer - the underestimated helper in the ice laboratory

Like everywhere, they also exist in the ice laboratory: devices whose importance and influence are often completely underestimated. Two of these "hidden champions" in the ice laboratory are the Blast freezer and the Micronizer. We admit it: neither of them is really "sexy". But both can make your work easier, significantly improve ice quality with little (time and financial) effort, and help you save money. 

That's why we would like to introduce you to these two devices in a little more detail - and here, in the first part, we'll start with the Blast freezer start. 

The blast freezer - not sexy, but immensely useful

We already said it at the beginning: A blast freezer is not really sexy. Basically, it is "only" a small but extremely powerful freezer that reaches temperatures as low as - 40°C.

But the crucial question is: Why do you need it? The extremely low temperature in the blast freezer gives the finished ice cream an extremely cold and solid "protective shell" that is about one centimeter thin. And this protective shell brings you several important advantages!

High air impact - creamier ice cream, higher profit

First, modern, high-quality ice cream machines can produce ice cream with a high air markup ("overrun") of up to 50% - and as a seller, you would like to conserve this air, because the higher the air markup, the more (free) air you sell with your ice cream scoops. Your cost of goods sinks, your profit rises. And your customers benefit too, because the more overrun, the softer, creamier, and less cold the ice cream feels in their mouths. However, the softer and warmer you take the ice cream out of the ice cream machine, the higher the overrun - and now is the hour of the blast freezer: Without this blast freezer, the soft, creamy ice cream would partially collapse again - some of the air escapes, and the appearance of the ice cream suffers. The hard "corset" - the cold, stable protective cover - prevents exactly that.

Attractive appearance due to "support function

Let's stay with the "corset", because that brings us to the second advantage: just as the corset supports the figure of the wearer and thus keeps it attractive, the hard outer layer also keeps the ice cream stable and perfectly in shape. So if you want to present your ice cream attractively, as piled up "mountain icecream" and especially decorated, then the blast freezer is an indispensable tool to keep your creation in shape.

Thermal sealing and optimal durability 

The third advantage now has to do with the shelf life of your gelato: Because the protective layer acts like a thermal seal and thus protects your ice cream from temperature fluctuations on the one hand - a great advantage especially if you produce your ice cream in a central laboratory and transport it, for example via thermal containers, to individual sales locations, because minor (or major) temperature fluctuations cannot be prevented in this case. 

And in addition, the protective layer also protects your ice cream from the penetration of water from the surrounding air - preventing the growth of ice crystals in the ice cream, which eventually make the ice cream taste "sandy" and therefore old.

Overall, the shelf life of the ice cream (and we don't mean the "hygienic" shelf life, but the period over which the ice cream tastes fresh and creamy) can be at least doubled with the help of a blast freezer.

Easy handling and the right size

And how to properly work with the blast freezer? Quite simply. After removal from the ice cream machine, the (ready-decorated) ice cream trays are not placed directly in the ice cream storage cabinet, but are first placed in the blast freezer for approx. 15-20 minutes - this corresponds to exactly two production cycles of the ice cream machine.

So you remove the first ice cream from the machine and put it in the blast freezer, as well as the second. And while the third type freezes out in the ice cream machine, you remove the first from the blast freezer and place it and the storage cabinet.

And that also answers the question about the right size of the blast freezer: it should hold twice as many ice trays as your ice cream machine produces per cycle.

Conclusion: The blast freezer - actually indispensable!

As you can see, the blast freezer offers a whole range of advantages for the ice cream producer for a manageable amount of money (units for four mountain ice cream or six narrow trays are available from about € 3,000 plus VAT.) a whole range of advantages for the ice cream producer. 

The air impact is preserved, the ice is presented in a permanently attractive manner, thermally sealed and lasts significantly longer - and all this for a reasonable cost. 

Especially for central productions and ice cream parlors that present the ice cream in a particularly attractive way, the blast freezer even belongs to the indispensable standard equipment for us. 

Are you interested? Just contact us or have a look at our Blast freezer directly on our site our website. 

By the way, in the next part you will learn more about the second underestimated tool, the Micronizer. And if you don't want to miss any new article - just click on "Activate notifications" below and don't miss any article anymore (unfortunately not possible on IOS devices due to technical reasons).

Your Alois Krä GmbH