Summer is here, and that means soft serve machines all around the world are going to be working overtime for the next few months. If you sell soft serve at your establishment, we’re bringing you some tips in order to keep your machine running smoothly all season long and your customers coming back for more. Continue reading to learn about the best practices to ensure your Spaceman machine functions perfectly, as to not interfere with your sales or profits.
PRE-CHILL YOUR SOFT SERVE MIX
This tip is useful year round, not just in the warmer months, however, we like to remind our customers that you must pre-chill your mix before adding it to your Spaceman machine. If you add room temperature or warm soft serve mix to your machine, it will take longer to freeze and the mix will also freeze along the walls of the machine’s hopper. For more information on this, please refer to this video on our Instagram.
KEEP YOUR MACHINE IN A WELL-VENTILATED, COOL SPACE
While our machines are capable of producing soft serve in all environments, we highly recommend keeping them indoors, in well-ventilated areas (Even better if they are in air-conditioned spaces!) If you must have your machine outside, please keep it out of direct sunlight and be mindful that if it is a hot day, the machine will take longer to freeze product. To avoid the product from dispensing soft, make sure you time your pulls, adjust your set screws, and give your machine enough time to recover after each pull. You can learn more about spacing out your soft serve pulls here. For more information on the proper environment and clearance requirements for your Spaceman machine, please refer to this video on our Instagram.
KEEP THE MACHINE CLEAN AND LUBRICATED
As always, you must clean your machine as often as required by your state or local health codes. Although all of our soft serve machines have refrigerated hoppers, dairy and the heat don’t go together too well. To avoid any bacteria from building up in the machine, it’s important to take apart your entire machine to clean inside all of the holes with your Spaceman-specific brushes and underneath all of the gaskets. A vital part of cleaning your machine also includes relubricating all of the o-rings and gaskets. In summer, it’s likely that your machine is being used a lot more often than it is in winter, which makes lubricating that much more important. For more information on lubricating your Spaceman machine’s parts and the importance of doing so, please refer to this video.
KEEP EXTRA MIX READY
It’s also safe to assume that during summer, you will be going through gallons and gallons of product at a pretty quick rate. In order to avoid any issues with the low-mix sensor, we recommend always keeping an extra batch of soft serve on hand for when your mix gets low. This soft serve should be pre-mixed and pre-chilled in your refrigerator, ready to be poured into your machine. If you use liquid soft serve product, be sure that you have it already thawed and ready to use. For powdered soft serve, make sure it is already mixed with water or any other liquid required for that mix, and make sure it’s pre-chilled as we mentioned earlier. For more information on low-mix, please check out this video from our Instagram.
We hope these tips have you feeling prepared for the long, hot summer we have ahead! If you follow all of these best practices, your Spaceman machine should work perfectly all season long, and your customers will be happy to know the machine isn’t down! If you have any other questions, please reach out to success@spacemanusa.com.
Cheers!