Professional batch freezer (gelateria)
How ice cream shops make it: a pasteuriser, a batch freezer, a blast freezer and a display cabinet. Not for home use, but it explains why artisan ice cream is so smooth.
An artisan gelateria does not make ice cream with a single machine but with a whole production line. The mix is pasteurised and aged, then frozen in a batch freezer, quickly hardened in a blast freezer and finally moved to the display cabinet. You will not have such a line at home, but once you know how it works, you will better understand why good gelato is so smooth — and what you can imitate in your kitchen.
The line step by step
| step | machine | what happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. mix | scales, blender | milk, cream, sugars, solids and stabiliser are combined according to the formula |
| 2. pasteurisation and ageing | pasteuriser | heating (usually around 85 °C for gelato), cooling to about 5 °C, ageing while stirring constantly |
| 3. freezing | batch freezer | freezing, churning and incorporating air all at once |
| 4. hardening | blast freezer | rapid freezing of the finished ice cream |
| 5. sale | display cabinet | gelato is served at −14 to −11 °C |
We write in more detail about hygiene and regulations in the article How ice cream shops make ice cream.
1. Pasteuriser
The pasteuriser heats the mix to kill pathogenic bacteria, then quickly cools it and stirs it while the mix ages. During ageing, the fat partly crystallises and the proteins and stabilisers bind water — the mix then takes on air better during freezing and the ice cream is finer.
The sizes are completely different from home: Carpigiani Pastomaster pasteurisers, for example, process 30 to 180 litres of mix per cycle; the Pastomaster 60 HE model up to 60 litres.
Some machines combine several steps. Since 1974 the Italian manufacturer Bravo has made the Trittico — a single machine that pasteurises, cooks and freezes the mix and takes up about one square metre.
2. Batch freezer
The heart of a gelateria is the batch freezer, in Italian mantecatore. It is a cylinder — horizontal or vertical — chilled by a powerful compressor. Inside, a dasher with scrapers rotates, constantly clearing the freezing layer off the cylinder wall. The mix is frozen, churned and aerated all at the same time. Italians call this mantecazione.
The difference from a home machine lies mainly in speed and output:
| machine | mix per cycle | output | power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpigiani Labo 8/12 XPL P (countertop, for small businesses) | 1.5–2.5 kg | 8–12 kg per hour | 2.2 kW, 230 V, weight 90 kg |
| Carpigiani Labotronic 10 45 HE | 1.5–7.5 kg | 12–63 l of gelato per hour | 6.4 kW, 400 V (three-phase connection) |
| larger models in the Labotronic range | up to 17 kg | – | – |
According to the technical literature, one batch usually takes 10–15 minutes. Modern machines do not freeze by a timer — Carpigiani detects the amount and type of mix and controls the cooling according to how it thickens. The ice cream therefore always comes out with the same consistency, whether there is one kilogram or seven in the cylinder.
Did you know?
According to Italian sources, artisan gelato has at most 35–40 % air, usually 20–35 %. Industrial ice cream often has 70–80 %. That is why gelato is denser and tastes more intense.
The ice cream comes out of the machine soft, with the consistency of thick soft serve. To be scoopable, it still has to harden.
3. Blast freezer
A blast freezer (abbattitore) is a cabinet with very powerful cooling. It freezes the finished ice cream in its containers far faster than an ordinary freezer. Rapid freezing prevents large ice crystals from growing: the water that has not yet frozen in the batch freezer forms small crystals instead of coarse ones. Blast freezers are used by gelaterias and pastry shops alike.
4. Display cabinet
In the display cabinet the ice cream is warmer than in storage, so that it can be scooped and tastes good — gelato is served at −14 to −11 °C. Some gelaterias display ice cream piled high in open cabinets; others keep it in recessed tubs with lids (pozzetti), where the customer cannot see it.
What kind of ice cream the line makes
The combination of an aged mix, very fast freezing with constant scraping and blast hardening gives small crystals and a smooth, dense texture. This is how gelato, cream ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, custard and frozen yogurt are made. The countertop Labo 8/12 also has a granita program.
What to take home from it
You will not have a professional line at home, but its principles work in the kitchen too:
- Pasteurisation and ageing: heat the base (to 82–84 °C with egg yolks), cool it quickly in a cold water bath and let it age in the fridge for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
- The coldest possible base into the machine: the faster the base freezes, the smaller the crystals.
- Rapid hardening: transfer the finished ice cream to a chilled, shallower container and put it in the coldest part of the freezer.
- Serving at the right temperature: take gelato out of the home freezer (−18 °C) 10–15 minutes before serving.
- A balanced formula: gelato makers calculate the mix so it has the right firmness at display cabinet temperature. The composition calculations in zmrzka recipes work the same way — try, for example, pistachio gelato or fior di latte.
Maintenance and hygiene in a business
Every gelateria is a food business; it must be registered and work according to HACCP procedures. After production the machines are taken apart, cleaned and disinfected. A pasteurised mix can be recontaminated by utensils, hands or a poorly cleaned machine — so hygiene is just as important as pasteurisation itself.
Prices and suitability for the home
Manufacturers of professional machines rarely publish prices. To give you an idea: even the semi-professional Nemox Gelato Pro 2000 and 2500 cost roughly CZK 40,000 and CZK 72,000 on zbozi.cz in September 2026. We have not checked the prices of professional batch freezers, pasteurisers and blast freezers. They are heavy machines, though (even the countertop batch freezer weighs 90 kg), and the larger ones need a three-phase connection and water cooling.
That is why zmrzka offers no recipes for this equipment. This page is meant to explain how ice cream is made in a gelateria — and why some of the steps are worth following at home too.
Safety
Strict hygiene applies in a business: pasteurisation, rapid cooling, ageing in the cold and processing the mix within the prescribed time. Leftover mix is not put back into the machine the next day. For the home, this boils down to a simple rule: always cook a base with egg yolks, cool it quickly and use it within two days.
Pros
- Very fast freezing and constant scraping of the wall give small crystals and a smooth texture.
- The machine controls freezing by the consistency of the mix, not by time.
- Large batches — from 1.5 to 17 kg of mix per cycle.
Cons
- Unsuitable for the home: price, weight (a smaller machine weighs 90 kg) and often a three-phase 400 V connection.
- A batch freezer makes no sense without a pasteuriser, a blast freezer and a display cabinet.
- The business must follow hygiene regulations and HACCP procedures.
How to adapt a recipe
- At home you can imitate what matters: heat the base, cool it quickly and let it age in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
- Put the base into the machine as cold as possible — the faster it freezes, the smaller the crystals.
- Transfer the finished ice cream straight away into a chilled container and put it in the coldest part of the freezer — the home equivalent of a blast freezer.
- Serve gelato warmer, at −14 to −11 °C — take it out of the home freezer 10–15 minutes ahead.