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There is nothing better than soft serve ice cream in the summertime and it is always a crowd pleaser. There are few things more disappointing, though, than making a pilgrimage for a mouthwatering scoop of creamy soft serve, only to discover the equipment is broken. You should take all possible measures to reduce downtime if your company utilises soft serve devices and make sure to use taylor soft serve machine repair for its maintenance, because it damages both your image as well as your earnings.
Advice on Taking Care of a Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker
101 Sanitisation
Because of damaged or worn seals, a leftover bacterial byproduct from ice cream and yoghurt products has the amazing capacity to get into the back of units. This soon develops an unpleasant smell, and when the machinery isn’t maintained, the sludge will clog up mechanical components or spill on controls and relays, which will eventually cause the unit to malfunction and cost money. Occasionally, adequately sanitise the tool to prevent this problem.
Sanitising soft-serve machines is required by medical rules in order to prevent contamination of products. In certain states, you must get a monthly bacterial test. An additional rinse step using a sanitising solution permitted by the manufacturer is typically required to sanitise these machines. To find demands, check your local health ordinances.
On certain models, heat-treatment systems might assist with sanitation. To properly manage bacterial development, a piece of heat-treatment equipment cycles through a daily conditioning and heating procedure. Every 24 hours, a heat-treatment cycle is required by the rules governing food safety.
For air-cooled condensers to effectively distribute hot air, the condenser filter must remain pristine. Occasionally, check the filter by employing a brush, towel or hoover to lightly clean it if it’s unclean. Before putting it back in the machine, rinse it with warm water as well as allow it to dry. The frequency of complete machine disassembly as well as cleaning might be lowered to 14-day intervals (28 days in some areas) with one company’s heat-treatment alternative. It may conserve a lot of time, but it does not take the place of thoroughly cleaning the machine each day. If the heat treatment mechanism malfunctions, it could also be wise to have a checks-and-balances mechanism in place.
Avoid Ignoring the Condenser
Hot days, although they are often among the best days for ice cream sales, may cause a machine to break down if the condenser is neglected. The condenser pulls heat away from the unit. If your machine has a water-cooled condenser, be sure its water is clean and cool. If the condenser is air cooled, then ensure adequate ventilation space around the machine.
Lubricate the Appropriate Components
Consult your operator’s manual to learn which moving parts need lubrication. We recommend cleaning these with a food-grade lubricant as part of your regular cleaning routine before reassembling. This will extend the service life of the moving parts of your machine and keep it running.
Maintain a Supply of Crucial Replacement Parts
Maintain a supply of essential parts on hand and do routine inspections of the equipment, replacing any worn or harm parts. O-rings, belts, gaskets, as well as scraper blades are among the parts that may become damaged and momentarily stop working. Ignoring gaskets and o-rings can cause ice cream to get to a machine’s interior parts, which could cause an indefinite malfunction.
Reassembling and Replenishing
Spend some time lubricating several pieces of a soft-serve machine before reassembling it. These typically consist of the handles and pins that hold the machine’s internal moving parts in place. You may seek out the right lubricant to use along with how to apply it in the owner’s manual. Be sure that you employ a hygienic, food-grade lubricant. Making sure that pieces move and seal correctly requires this crucial step. Any worn-out or broken parts should be replaced and restocked, as should every component that the manufacturer suggests. They could consist of scraper blades, brushes, gaskets, belts, filters, inserts, O-rings, and more. Remember to stock up on sanitising solutions. For products which will eventually wear out from regular use, the majority of manufacturers provide an auto-restock procedure.
You are able to preserve the machine’s functionality by keeping a tune-up kit on hand; if not, you risk losing soft-serve sales whilst you wait for components to arrive.
Avoidable Errors
Whenever it comes to fixing soft-serve machines, technicians warn us they frequently run into the same “issues.” Most are simple to stay away from. Here are some things to be mindful of:
- Not using the appropriate food-grade lubricant; instead, petroleum jelly. Petroleum jelly has the potential to break down, taint products, or harm machinery. Other oils become sticky and jam up. To avoid tempting yourself to “make do” with the incorrect product, only apply the lubricant that the manufacturer recommends while maintaining an adequate amount on hand.
- Losing components while putting the unit back together, including O-rings or gaskets. Teach your staff to gather all of the pieces in a plastic tub or the manufacturer’s provided parts mould.
- Skipping the process of priming the product. It stops the soft-serve from flowing as well as causes freeze-ups in the barrels.
- Not providing enough space for ventilation in the unit. The compressor will need to work more to maintain temperatures, as well as will wear out sooner if the equipment is unable to disperse its hot air.
- For the same reason, placing the unit adjacent to hot equipment.
Final Words
It will prove beneficial for you that you have a solid understanding of the needs for upkeep if your business depends on soft-serve profits. The more you understand about the machine as well as how to maintain it, the greater reliably it will produce delicious goodies for patrons. They will return over and over again because of that experience.
