One machine for the gelato counter and the pastry bench
Most kitchens that make both gelato and pastry end up with a batch freezer for one job and a cooker or two for the other. ReadyChef is Carpigiani’s answer for smaller spaces: a countertop batch freezer that heats as well as freezes, so the same cylinder can turn out gelato in the morning and pastry cream in the afternoon.
It comes in two sizes. The smaller 8/12 turns out 1.5 to 2.5 kg of gelato a batch, while the 14 20 handles 2 to 4 kg, and across the range pastry cream batches go up to 4.5 kg. Over 30 built-in programmes take in gelato, sorbet, granita the Sicilian way and American-style ice cream, along with pâtissière and Bavarian creams, ganache, and chocolate melting and tempering. The heat goes as high as 95°C.
Smart about heat, easy to clean
A few details stand out. The machine can make the mix, pasteurise and age it, then freeze it into gelato without leaving the cylinder, the approach Carpigiani calls the ‘easy way’. Its heating and cooling control stops product catching on the cylinder, and the display turns red above 50°C as a warning when hot product is inside. The Crystal programmes make a firmer, semi-dense gelato for filling moulds and jars: we covered that in our Crystal story.
Clean-up is thought through too. A delayed-cleaning programme keeps the cylinder at a safe temperature during a break, a drying function removes moisture before chocolate work, and the extraction chute comes off for washing. If you need an even wider pastry and savoury range, have a look at the Lab-O-Chef 5.
