To help you decide which soft serve ice cream machine will work best in your establishment, you should consider both how many flavors you need or want and which cooling system will work best for you. Larger buffets and cafeterias typically prefer soft serve machines with three wands and three flavor options. Traditionally, the three flavors are vanilla, chocolate and twist, though many other flavor options can be found today including flavors like strawberry and mango. Obviously, twist isn’t technically a unique flavor. The dasher simply combines equal portions of the other two flavors in the machine to give customers the best of both worlds. Additionally, one and two wand soft serve ice cream machines are also available for establishments that don’t need three flavor options. Many of these soft serve machines are popular in establishments that make a lot of milkshakes and thick smoothies.
Regardless of the number of wands, you will also want to consider the cooling system of each soft serve ice cream machine. The compressor on a soft serve machine can be either air- or water-cooled. Air-cooled machines draw hot air off the compressor using a fan while water-cooled models have a water line running against the compressor that absorbs the heat produced. Soft serve ice cream machines with water-cooled compressors tend to be more efficient than air-cooled models, but they will waste a significant of water. In fact, in many arid counties and municipalities, they may even be banned by local codes, so it is important to check your local regulations before deciding on which type of cooling system will work best on your new soft serve ice cream machine.