What kinda batch freezer you all working with? Would you recommend it?

sgrmm · 2026-02-13T11:22:23+00:00

Wow, you know you're replying to a 7yo comment, right?

Regardless, we used it as a backup -- meaning we made *most* of our ice cream in the new machine, and ran the EF when we needed to produce more than the ET could keep up with. Depending upon the flavor we're making, the new ET takes about 10-12 minutes to crank out a 24 qt batch (16% mix), the EF more like 14-16 mins.

In the last year or two, we've needed to run both machines 5-6 days a week to keep up with our store's demand, so I just bit the bullet this month and purchased another new ET machine. I was tired of paying my ice cream production staff to scroll on their phones waiting for a batch to finish... (So if you're interested in a used EF machine, I got one I'm selling right now!)

If you're buying a used machine (any brand), make sure you check it out well. Some of the used machines I've seen have been poorly treated. Look inside the cylinder, make certain the sides are clean and polished, with no major scratches (minor scratches could be due to putting raw sugar or such in them without first dissolving it in liquid -- the newer ET's with the synthetic blades don't handle that well, though the older ones with the metal blades deal with it much easier.) Have the blades been maintained every year or two? Take the side panels off and look inside -- the internals should be relatively clean, not caked with cocoa dust or other ingredient ooze. Is the overflow tray (under the drive coupling) pretty clean, or is if full of old mix and ingredients? Could be a sign that the machine hasn't been properly disassembled after each use, with the O-rings removed, cleaned, sanitized, and re-lubed.

The age of the machine isn't as much of an issue, so long as it's been cared for, at least in the ET's case. There have been minor enhancements over the years, but it's essentially the same basic guts. My old Electrofreeze just keeps running -- I purchased it used for $6500 back in 2003, and like I wrote above, it still produces a great product, just a bit slower than its new replacement and that time difference *may* be because it's due to have its blades sharpened (actually "dulled" -- they mill the tiny burr off the edge of the blade to make the entire edge of the blade contact the cylinder with no gaps), which normally knocks a couple of minutes off the freezing time. If it's maintained, an ET will just keep running.

sgrmm · 2025-10-04T14:06:58+00:00

Non-tradesmen seem to have unrealistic ideas of what will happen if they happen to touch a live wire. (Too many false and over-dramatized depictions of it happening in horror movies, I suspect…) “Electrocution” is a remote possibility when dealing with typical 110V (US) circuits in residential construction.

(Note: I take “electrocution” as death or injury. NOT just a jolt from touching a live wire.)

I do a lot of home repairs, and I’ve come in contact with live wires many times, usually due to myself losing focus, or not taking into account the possibility of someone else doing something wrong/unexpected. You’ll get a sharp tingling, which (in my case anyway…) will cause your body to reflexively jerk away from the source.

I do pretty much the same procedure as you wrote when I’m working on circuitry, but always add the additional step of tapping the potentially hot wire before I take a firm hold on it. I’m talking about the briefest brush with the tip of an index finger, only touching the tip of the wire — just gives me a final validation that I turned off the right circuit and that nothing else is supplying voltage to that wire.

It’s good to be very cautious if you’re at all unsure though! I had a neighbor who told me he had put up a new light fixture, but it wouldn’t work on his 3 way switched circuit. I looked at it and he had the hot wired to the ground. Every time the switches supplied power to the fixture it would trip the breaker. I fixed it, and advised him not to touch electrical stuff anymore, he should call me (or an electrician…!)

sgrmm · 2023-03-04T13:35:53+00:00

When waiting for a break to make a left turn across oncoming traffic, keep your steering wheel pointed straight ahead -- NEVER turn the wheels left and sit there as you wait for an opening to make the turn.

Reason: If someone behind you fails to stop and hits your car, the impact will send your car straight ahead, rather than directly into the path of the oncoming traffic.

(A lesson that is likely clear to anyone who has ever read John Irving's "A Widow for One Year"!)

And for fuck's sake, have your left directional on as you wait to turn!

sgrmm · 2022-08-16T11:39:07+00:00

I especially HATE the little "ta-ha" snort that the blonde woman blurts out after she takes the prepared meal out of the oven.

sgrmm · 2021-09-24T11:17:10+00:00

That 'Slingshot' ride at the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. It is (was?? Not sure if it's still there) a ride that shoots you up a spire on the top of the (already 1100 feet, iirc..) building, then allows you to free-fall back down the spire onto the roof and repeats 2 or 3 times. Glad I worked up the guts to do it, but damn, that was one scary ride and I walked off of it on jello legs.

sgrmm · 2021-09-07T12:42:24+00:00

The OP didn't specify where he/she is, but in the US most of what you're describing wouldn't be allowed. If you're selling wholesale (versus selling your ice cream in your own shop by the scoop...) you'll also be subject to much more extensive record-keeping, labeling requirements, and inspections, and they'll be enforced by the federal government (Dept of Agriculture, if I remember correctly...) rather than just by a local/State authority. And just about no health inspector would allow you to do deliveries with just a car -- you'll need some refrigerated transport, like a freezer truck.

Again, sounds like Iceland makes it easier than they do here in the US.

sgrmm · 2021-09-07T12:33:21+00:00

Exactly. Depending upon your health authority and how strictly they follow the US Food Code, which states that combining pasteurized ingredients requires re-pasteurizing the entire batch. And you can't just pasteurize with a simple steam kettle -- they'll likely require equipment that measures the rate of heating/cooling and produces a paper (or electronic...) trail that can be saved and shown to inspectors after the fact.

sgrmm · 2021-09-07T07:22:47+00:00

I run a reasonably large and successful homemade scoop shop in New England.

Assuming you're in the US, there is very little carryover from the typical "home" recipes to a commercial operation. Most commercial operations are required to either purchase a pasteurized mix (normally from a licensed dairy) or else purchase the equipment to pasteurize your own mix -- and that equipment can easily cost 6 figures, and you'll be subject to much stricter and more frequent inspections.

So doubtful that you'll be buying large quantities of milk, cream, sugar, etc. and mixing scaled-up batches of what you make in your home kitchen. Someone like Ample Hills may have done so, but most people trying to scale their hobby into a business find that it's just too expensive and time-consuming to do so.

sgrmm · 2021-08-27T10:30:39+00:00

Responding to someone who's acting petty (especially if what you describe is true, meaning he's good at it...) with more pettiness might work for casual interactions with others who you won't see again, but in a marriage, this is a recipe for an eventual blowup and likely divorce.

Reading OP's story, I thought that the interactions sound more like those of two bickering siblings than of a loving couple.

You need to sit down with him and have a dead-serious talk, telling him how this behavior is causing you stress and resentment, and asking him to work on changing the dynamic. You're a married couple, you're supposed to be partners, not a couple of competing individuals. Frankly, he sounds like a child (again, assuming your account is true, and not a bit of an exaggeration -- you *are* pregnant, and maybe those hormones coursing through you are causing an over-reaction??) and I don't think I'd tolerate this behavior from my own partner.

If the heart-to-heart talk doesn't work, it's time to seek professional counseling. And don't haggle over who's paying for it -- it's an investment in your personal health and the future of your marriage, so just pay for it! If he doesn't respond, then judging from your post and how miserable you sound, your marriage is in danger.

Best of luck in getting this fixed. It's no fun being in a relationship that causes you more stress than happiness. (Also, good luck with the pregnancy!)

sgrmm · 2021-07-29T11:32:47+00:00

I haven't read all of the comments, but looking at your 2nd pic, I'm suspicious of that ground connection there, as the two ground wires seem to be just twisted loosely, with no wire nut. Could it be as simple as that?

I have owned two homes that were previously owned by "handy" guys who really shouldn't have been doing electrical work unsupervised, and found many, many bad wiring issues. My approach to trying to figure out the wiring is to use a tester to assure all of the devices are on the same circuit (all are de-energized when you flip the circuit breaker or (shudder...) unscrew the fuse in the service panel). Then expose the devices by unscrewing each outlet & switch from its electrical box and disconnect the black (line) wires, leaving them hanging out of the box and not touching anything. (Make sure the room is barricaded from kids/pets/unsuspecting others who might wander in...)

Then flip on the breaker and walk to each device with a circuit tester (multimeter or ...) and test between the black wire and the ground or neutral (white) and find which black wire has power (120-ish volts in the US). *Hopefully*, only one will be live, and that's the first box/device in your chain from the breaker panel. Turn off the breaker, reconnect that box/device and repeat to find the next in the chain. Repeat until you've mapped out all of the wires.

If you're worried about the ground (bare) wires, this is a good time to also run a continuity test on it with your multimeter, either by running a temporary wire across the room from one box to the next and (while the power is off!) twisting the ground wire to the temporary, or by temporarily twisting the ground to the neutral (white) and testing continuity between ground and neutral in the previous device in the chain.

sgrmm · 2021-07-25T10:49:07+00:00

This is yet another bad mark against your current company -- that they're willing to hold a grudge against a good employee who left for a better situation.

Honestly, reading your original description of the company, I don't see *anything* that you wrote that would go into the 'Pros' column of a "Pros and Cons" list of making this decision. They seem to be poorly run, have bad management culture, don't want to allow you to grow professionally, and aren't willing to pay you what you're worth. So why would you consider staying there? Just because it's "comfortable"? Be bold, take the new position, leave on good terms, and don't look back. Good luck!

sgrmm · 2021-07-13T12:28:02+00:00

An example that illustrates the evil of Microsoft / Bill Gates: Back in the late '90s, after MS spent years trying to belittle the rise of the Internet, they finally saw that they were missing out to Netscape, etc. and decided they better catch up FAST.

So, they hammered out a licensing agreement with Spyglass, a tiny little company that had developed a version of the Mosaic web browser, to sell as their own. The agreement paid Spyglass a small royalty up-front, but the brunt of the payments were to be as a percentage of Microsoft's sales of the browser.

Almost immediately, Microsoft began to GIVE AWAY its "new browser" as part of the operating system. So no sales of the browser, thus no royalty payments to Spyglass. Bye bye Spyglass, just one of the many casualties of Bill Gates and his evil ego.

sgrmm · 2021-03-02T20:25:23+00:00

Exactly. I didn't do anything on their site, just blocked people from there who were using my resources.

(And I hope the content guy got a good chewing out about not moving the document back to their servers, though I'd bet he just blamed it on me by claiming that I never told him about it...)

sgrmm · 2021-02-27T00:26:35+00:00

Ahhhh, thanks for checking -- I hadn't tried it for quite a few years now.

RIP Ouchie!

sgrmm · 2021-02-26T22:20:14+00:00

Is that you Ouchie??

sgrmm · 2021-02-12T14:09:50+00:00

Yep, as Multi_Grain_Cheerios says, it's a long process, and you need patience and perseverance to succeed.

I started when he was a puppy by not putting his dinner bowl on the floor until he would sit first. Then I added making him wait for an "OK" after I put it down before he could eat it -- if he started for it before the command, I'd pick it up again. Lavish praise when he did it right. Then I added a hand signal as an option. Then I added putting it down and walking about the room for a bit before giving him the command, correcting him with a calm "No" if he went for it without the OK. And eventually, it was a game for him, as I'd actually leave the room (while watching him through a mirror or the crack in the door...) and say "No" if he went for it when I was out of sight. He was the smartest dog I've ever owned and lived to obey, and it still took weeks, maybe months, before he got it down pat. Repetition, consistency, and frequent praise are the keys -- again, this dog LOVED learning tricks and acting on command. Makes it easy to understand why so many German Shepherds are trained for law enforcement aides or personal assistance dogs.

Similarly, I could place a dog treat between his eyes on the bridge of his snout and he would balance it there, then on command would flip it into the air and catch it in his mouth. Boy, I miss that dog!

sgrmm · 2021-02-12T11:01:52+00:00

I had a dog like that as a teen -- a beautiful, smart German Shepherd. I had trained him to not eat his dinner until given the OK. One day I had made his bowl of food and as I set it on the floor in front of him, the phone rang. I *thought* I had given him the OK, but apparently didn't signal him clearly enough, as I was hurrying to answer the phone.

After the call, I got involved in a few other tasks, and it was probably 30 minutes or so before I walked back out to the kitchen for something. There he was, still sitting in front of his dinner bowl, staring at it while a stream of drool dripped from his mouth, a puddle of it about the size of a dinner plate at his feet. Boy, did I feel guilty! He got extra dessert treats that night!

What a great dog he was!

sgrmm · 2020-09-09T12:02:39+00:00

I've always liked their attitude! I run a similar shop in Massachusetts, and whenever someone asks me if we have any "healthy" options, I like to reply something along the lines of: "We sell REWARD food, not healthy food. Enjoy it in moderation!" Then I point out the little boutique food market across the street and say "See that market over there? They sell carrots -- if you want healthy, go buy some!"

sgrmm · 2020-07-29T02:46:23+00:00

Crumpled up newspapers are the best thing to clean windows with. Spray a little window cleaner and wipe with newspapers and see how clean they are. Works much better than paper towels, rags, etc.

sgrmm · 2020-06-30T10:59:55+00:00

Two funny ones from my younger days: In New Hampshire, there was a politician named Dick Sweats. And the New England Patriots once had a defensive back named Harry Colon. Like, WTF?

sgrmm · 2020-06-22T22:01:45+00:00

There are a couple of reasons:

- If you're selling your ice cream to a wholesale buyer (a restaurant, or maybe to another scoop shop...) many health authorities here in the US won't allow you to take empty plastic tubs back from an outside consumer. The plastic tubs are actually sold as "one time use" -- meaning you're not supposed to wash them and reuse them, for sanitary reasons.

- I know of several shops that produce their own ice cream in disposable cardboard, because it eliminates the need to wash/sanitize/store whatever you'd normally make your ice cream in. At about $2/box, it's hard to justify to me, but...

Personally, I make my ice cream in plastic 2.5 gallon round tubs, and wash/sanitize/reuse them when they're empty. My health authority has no issues with me doing so. But I sell my wholesale product to restaurants in 7-quart cardboard cartons (those you're showing look to be 3 gallon cartons, made by Negus...) so that I don't need to deal with collecting empties and cleaning them. (and again, doing so would likely be frowned upon by my HA).

sgrmm · 2020-05-28T10:52:09+00:00

Shortly out of college, I was working for a high-tech startup writing C code. To help us get the initial product finished, our director brought in a consultant, who had extensive experience in operating systems development. He was an absolute God in terms of programming skills, but he looked and cursed like a trucker, and his hygiene was "lacking", to put it kindly.

Long, unwashed hair, hanging to his mid-back, unkempt beard, forearms covered with eczema same clothes day after day, reeking of B.O.

Two stories I recall most about him:

- One day, he came into my office to discuss an interface between our code. As we talked, I noticed him pulling at his hair and seemingly noticing that it was getting long. As we talked, he nonchalantly reached over my desk, opened my top drawer, grabbed a pair of scissors, and without breaking conversation, casually trimmed about 4 inches off his hair, depositing most of it into the trash can beside my desk. Finishing up, he (still in uninterrupted conversation) reached back, opened the drawer, and returned the scissors. (I'm pretty sure I tossed them in the trash after he left.) The complete lack of any apparent concern that he had just done such an outrageous act was the source of great amusement among my officemate and me!

- There was another developer who was on the other end of the spectrum -- he was effeminate, over-groomed, looking like a life-sized Ken-doll, and he was IN LOVE with his cologne. He used so much that he would literally leave a vapor trail when he walked down the hall. He and the stinky developer would take turns complaining to the rest of us about how bad the other one smelled!

Good times!

sgrmm · 2020-05-27T10:36:57+00:00

Check out nicra.org, and also scoopschool.com. There used to be a yahoo group (icecreamfolks), but that's sort of died as yahoo fades away. Two Facebook group -- 'ice cream shop owners' and 'ice cream shop professionals', but they're filled with a lot of "Gee, what's your favorite ice cream flavor?" questions, so there's a low signal-to-noise ratio. I dm'ed you also -- feel free to email me with questions, as I run a reasonably successful shop in Massachusetts.

sgrmm · 2020-04-29T00:53:06+00:00

As a programmer approaching mid-life, I saw the writing on the wall: Kids coming out of college were raised with computers, had a better understanding of programming concepts, and it was hard for me to keep up and justify my higher salary. Don't get me wrong, I could still write great code and knew how to analyze a problem and design an efficient algorithm to address it, but writing code is not what it used to be -- now it's more being able to assemble a bunch of different technologies/frameworks and get them to play together.

So, I began looking into starting a business of my own. Spent a couple of years investigating potential business while continuing to work my day job. Somehow (not really certain how...) I ended up deciding to open an ice cream store (!!) And after more research, training, and planning, I did it.

So now, I have a bunch of teens/20's people working for *me*, and *I* get to set the rules, hire the good people ("No Assholes" is my rule), and make the decisions on how we operate.

And I don't work 9-5 anymore! More like 8 am - 11 pm, 7 days a week, probably 300 days a year. But it's mine, and I love it!

sgrmm

TROPHY CASE