As we near those sought after warmer days the ice cream industry is gearing up for the summer months.
Of course, the hotter weather will bring customers in droves to ice cream businesses and therefore now is the time to really step up your game and ensure you’re completely prepared for the summer rush. To achieve this, we want to let you in on a well-known industry trick…Ready Bag products.
What is a Ready Bag product?
Ready Bag products essentially work like this… you add the contents of the bag into a jug along with water and blend. You then age this mixture for 30 minutes before putting it into your batch freezer to freeze it down and then moving this into your blast freezer.
Before you know it, you’ve got a very quick, very easy, and not forgetting very tasty, sorbet or gelato.
The benefits of a Ready Bag product
Speedy production
First and foremost, your Ready Bag product will ensure you’re able to produce your ice cream base quickly; no balancing, no weighing, just straight forward blending and freezing.
Adaptable to any flavour
The adaptability of these products can be a key component to creating new flavours quickly, giving you the ability to react to what is happening on the day and tailor your final product to suit.
Consistency
As your product is ready for you to use, there’s no need for ingredient measuring and this of course reduces the risk of mistakes, making for a more consistent product across your cabinet.
Utilise across products
Now we know we’re here to discuss ice cream and sorbets, but Ready Bag products are fantastic for use in lots of different food items.
From smoothies to slushies, soft serve to semifreddo, frozen yoghurt to milkshakes and even frappes, the options are endless, all you need to do is tweak the liquid content. For example, you could add more liquid to reduce the amount of solids within the mix and put this into a soft serve machine.
Furthermore, you could even add the product into a stand mixer to produce a rich and creamy texture, perfect in custards, mousses, or cakes.
Perfect for dietary requirements
Yes you heard that correctly, Ready Bag products are dairy free, making them the perfect option for our vegan or lactose intolerant customers!
Shelf life
Because this product comes in powder form, it’s extremely easy to store (ideal for those smaller spaces) with a long shelf life.
Who would use Ready Bag products?
We mostly find that businesses who use products such as this aren’t looking to spend a great deal of time creating a great base, but do want to serve customers quickly, with great flavours, and for those customers who can’t have milk-based products.
So for example, those who don’t want to balance their own fruits or invest in sugars and other stabilisers, Ready Bag products provide just one simple bag that will cover all requirements very easily.
Does the quality stand up to traditional ice cream bases?
The simple answer is yes!
When manufacturers produce these products, they ensure quality is as high as possible to warrant customers using them.
One example of this lies with fruit flavours; in Ready Bag versions you will typically find up to 20% of freeze dried fruit, therefore when you add water, this rehydrates the fruit, creating a really authentic flavoured sorbet.
But the real pièce de resistance in Ready Bag products is in its ability to create a truly delicious chocolate flavour. Often we want to produce a high quality chocolate flavour without having to pasteurise; using just boiling water and one Ready Bag you can create the perfect chocolate gelato (especially when looking for those rich dark chocolate flavours).
So why should you consider Ready Bag products this summer?
Whilst commercially these products can cost more, during the peak summer season, you have to weigh up how much your time is worth in comparison to ingredient cost.
Consider these products if you want to keep quality high but produce your ice cream more effectively during busy periods. Ready Bags will allow you to speedily produce the highest quality, consistently, without having to slow down the main production of your white base.
Our passion for supporting businesses with their ice cream doesn’t just focus on the technical aspect of actually making a delicious product, but also in making these products as commercially viable as possible.
This is an ethos that Italian gelato makers share. You’ll find many of these products being used in small Italian gelaterias where storage is limited but products are made fresh and quickly each morning.
So there you have it! Whether you’re looking to make something unique such as a Crema Catalana or a mascarpone, or a tried and tested flavour such as chocolate or lemon sorbet, Ready Bag products can really deliver in a speedy fashion without any drama.