TRICKS OF THE TRADE — I CALL IT COMMON SENSE

The dictionary defines common sense as “the ability to make sensible decisions.” Incorporating this thinking is really important in producing great frozen desserts. When making ice cream or gelato you are making good use of your hands, brain, passion,  and common sense in decisions in order to produce a great product while always asking yourself: will my customer like this?

Talk to anyone experienced in this business and he/she will tell you that making a great product involves using all the tricks learned over the years. But when you really get down to it, it is all about using good common sense.

The difference between making mediocre ice cream and great ice cream or gelato is using good common sense. Some (but not all) equipment and ingredient manufacturers will have you believe— buy this piece of equipment, add ready to use ingredients, push some buttons, go get a cup of coffee, and bango— ten minutes later you have a great tasting product. So who is kidding who here? That is not good common sense; primarily because they have taken you and your own common sense (the essence of creating a great product) out of the equation.

Common sense also comes into play when you are just starting out in business. Instead of asking lots of questions many new entrepreneurs just go ahead and purchase ingredients and equipment from the first salesperson they meet instead of asking the right questions and using common sense. Common sense dictates that you ask a lot of questions. Now, that is good common sense!

Many times ice cream makers or pastry chefs in creating new flavors will let their egos get ahead of the consuming public and not use their common sense. For example, they will introduce a product like mushroom or onion gelato— is this really what the consumer wants? Not really. The consumer, in my experience, wants something sweet. If you cannot combine sweetness with savory, it just doesn’t work. Now, that’s using your common sense.

As many readers know, I have been in the frozen dessert business for many years and have learned these common sense tricks of the trade myself or from others. After all, I, too understand common sense and know a good idea when I see one. Using the following common sense “tricks of the trade” will help you acquire the skill for producing a great product.

• Number one rule: don't think you are such an expert that after a few years of being in business you can begin cutting down on the usage level of ingredients, thinking no one will notice, to save a few pennies.
  
  
• Don't depend on your employees making all the ice cream for you. Change your clothes and work along with them making sure the flavors you want to make come out the way you first created them.
  
  
• Never use a flavor extract other than vanilla as your only source of ingredient to produce a flavor. (A flavor extract such as strawberry, lemon, almond, etc. should only be used as a booster). Doing this will result in a very strong alcohol note that is very objectionable to the customer.
  
  
• Learning how to use the metric system will result in more accurate measurements.
  
  
• Using good flavoring ingredients are not that much more expensive than cheap ones. If the choice is buying a superior flavor ingredient with a large freight charge over one that is not as good but comes with a lower freight charge, always go with the more expensive one. The difference in cost is not as great as you might think (usually less than a 1% cost factor to the customer).
  
  
• There is nothing more valuable than a lot of rubber spatulas and marking pens in your ice cream production room.
  
  
• When replacing an ice cream tub with a new tub, just dump the old. Never dump old ice cream on top of new.
  
  
• Never copy; always innovate. Copying is a sure way to attain mediocrity.
  
  
• To preserve the life of any flavor ingredient that comes in either a can or pail, make sure you refrigerate it after it’s been opened.
  
  
• When the weather is cold, feature fewer flavors than normal and reduce the size of the tub to half the normal size. (Smaller size containers can be purchased from many packaging companies.) This will result in better turnover for you.
  
  
• Don't skimp on the use of vanilla extract. When the price of vanilla was cheap, you made a good product. Why change now?
  
  
• The use of egg yolks will always help the flavor and texture of an ice cream or gelato flavor.
  
  
• Remember that ice cream mix has only a 21-day life cycle, so in the months of February through April, don't over order ice cream mix. When the ice cream mix reaches the 21^st day, and you have not used it yet, simply freeze the mix until you are ready to use it. 
  
  
• Totally defrost all refrigeration equipment before you start really getting busy, and make sure you blow out any dust from the condensers of your refrigeration equipment.
  
  
• In flash freezing your product, the rule of thumb is any flavor that has no particulates (nuts, chips, and fruit pieces) in it will freeze faster than one with particulates. This is especially true of nut flavors, and any flavor that has an excess amount of sugar in it.
  
  
• Always temper your ice cream at between minus 8 and 4 degrees for at least 12 hours in a storage freezer.
  
  
• The perfect dipping temperature is about 4-8 degrees F.
  
  
• If you are using fresh or frozen fruit, remember you must marinate the fruit in a 4- 1 ratio of fruit to sugar for at least 8-12 hours to inhibit crystallization from occurring in the finished ice cream product.
  
  
• When variegating ice cream or gelato with fruit, fudge or caramel, the colder the variegate, the less crystallization will occur in the finished product.
  
  
• Use a 1-2 gallon plastic watering can to help swirl a variegate flavoring into a tub or pan.

In short, making a frozen dessert is not rocket science. But it does take a common sense approach, and great ingredients, and (my favorite word) passion to get it right.

Malcolm