What is the batch freezer?

The gelato batch freezer is one of three key components to your shop that’s going to require the largest investment (the other two being your display case and the blast freezer). This piece of equipment in the gelateria is responsible for freezing and churning your recipe to produce your perfect pan of gelato or sorbet. Be sure that you are choosing a machine that is made to produce gelato (such as the Bravo Trittico or Bravo Business) and not ice cream, as the gelato batch freezer will spin the product at a slower speed than an ice cream machine so that it does not incorporate too much air (or overrun) into the product. 

Electrical requirements on the batch freezer:

Typical gelato batch freezers such as the Bravo will require a 220V outlet along with three phase wiring. Be sure to have your electrician check that your beaters are spinning the correct direction (clockwise). If your beaters are turning counter clock wise, your product will not freeze completely and if you have a combination machine with the pasteurizer at the top, such as the Bravo Trittico or EVO, this beater will also spin counter clockwise. You can also find an arrow on the beater to insure that it’s moving in the correct direction.

Water or Air cooled:

You will have the option to choose either a water cooled or air cooled unit. We always suggest going with a water cooled machine so that you do not heat up your working space too much. Common sense dictates working with frozen desserts in a warm environment is never a good combination, so the more common reasons people will opt for the air-cooled unit vs the water cooled is if they’re going to be moving the production frequently, such as smaller units for catering or demonstrations. 

Combination Machine or Not?

Combination machines such as the Bravo Trittico, Bravo EVO or Bravo Business line will feature a pasteurizer built into the top and a batch freezer on the bottom. The Bravo Gelmatic line will strictly be a horizontal batch freezer with no top chamber for pasteurization. For gelaterias, the combination machine gives you the ability to use pasteurization process when creating your gelato recipes, which often results a longer lasting product and also a better mixing process. These machines will also have an infuser at the top of the unit to utilize aromas from ingredients such as fresh mint, basil and other products with a strong aroma. Bravo has patented the ability to drop your pasteurized recipe directly from the top chamber to the freezing chamber with a simple open and close chute located in the bottom of the pasteurizer base. If you’re going to be wholesaling product to businesses such as restaurants, a pasteurizer is a must for most health purposes. Additionally, the Bravo Trittico line will allow you to use the pasteurizer at the top to make things such as chocolate with tempering, pastry cream, ganache, jams and many other pastry related applications. 

Bravo Gelmatic

When going with something like the Bravo Gelmatic line, you will need to mix your product and drop it into the freezing chamber. We do recommend doing something like this if you’re going to be purchasing a pasteurizer on it’s own such as the Pastmastic 60 or 120, allowing you to pasteurizer 60 to 120 liters of base in one cycle. 

Batch freezer maintenance:

Cleaning your batch freezer at night is an absolute must. Every night you will need to remove the beater, dislodge the scrapers and clean the barrel(s). We also recommend removing the door on the front to clean. The Bravo line doors are made of a heavy duty food grade material that is lighter than the traditional metal or steel doors, making it easy to remove. Additionally, the patented door design material is the only gelato batch freezer door that keeps all of the cold inside the drum, whereas the metal or steel counter parts allow the condensation to escape to the outside. 

When choosing the batch freezer for your shop, there are many things to consider. Combination machine or strictly batch freezer, size of the barrel, air cooled or water cooled and many other things. If you need any help deciding, don’t hesitate to visit our showroom or contact us directly for any pointers.