Described are improved methods of manufacturing cocoa-flavored frozen desserts, comprising the steps of: a) adding water to cocoa beans or nibs to form a suspension; b) wet grinding said suspension; c) subjecting said suspension to a heat treatment at a temperature of 70° C. or less; d) separating the suspension into a water phase (heavy phase), a fat phase (light phase) and a solid phase, said fat phase comprising cocoa butter as a major component and solids and/or water as minor components and said solid phase comprising cocoa powder and water; and e) subjecting a mixture comprising a natural or artificial sweetener to pasteurization, homogenisation and freezing to obtain the cocoa-flavored frozen dessert; wherein the non-dried solid phase obtained in step d) is added to the mixture before or during step e). In embodiments, the invention relates to the use of a wet solid phase prepared from cocoa beans or nibs for the manufacture of cocoa-flavored frozen desserts including ice cream, sherbets, sorbets and frozen yoghurt products, for example.

Described are improved methods of manufacturing cocoa-flavored frozen desserts, comprising the steps of: a) adding water to cocoa beans or nibs to form a suspension; b) wet grinding said suspension; c) subjecting said suspension to a heat treatment at a temperature of 70° C. or less; d) separating the suspension into a water phase (heavy phase), a fat phase (light phase) and a solid phase, said fat phase comprising cocoa butter as a major component and solids and/or water as minor components and said solid phase comprising cocoa powder and water; and e) subjecting a mixture comprising a natural or artificial sweetener to pasteurization, homogenisation and freezing to obtain the cocoa-flavored frozen dessert; wherein the non-dried solid phase obtained in step d) is added to the mixture before or during step e). In embodiments, the invention relates to the use of a wet solid phase prepared from cocoa beans or nibs for the manufacture of cocoa-flavored frozen desserts including ice cream, sherbets, sorbets and frozen yoghurt products, for example.

A method of operating a beverage preparation machine that permits automated preparation of a variety of beverages. A plurality of stations add ingredients to a beverage container and process the contents directly in the container in some embodiments. Parallel preparation of more than one beverage may be performed in some embodiments. A robotic arm moves the beverage container to the stations. The robotic arm may include a weight sensor as part of controlling the addition of ingredients.

A frozen product dispenser provides a controller to control the rate of freezing and the temperature range of a frozen product. The controller monitors the temperature of the product as well as the torque applied to a scrapper blade. For example, the torque may be measured based on monitoring a current draw of a scrapper motor. The torque may be tracked over time to determine a rate of change in the torque. The rate of freezing may be controlled by setting a maximum rate of increase in the torque. Upon determining that the rate of increase in the monitored torque exceeds the maximum rate, a compressor for the frozen product dispenser may be turned off for a predetermined period of time and/or a hot gas bypass may be opened. A heat transfer medium may decouple thermal contact between an evaporator and the product to control the rate of freezing.

A method for making semi-liquid iced food products includes the following steps: providing a container containing a liquid base product; opening the container containing a liquid base product; pouring only the contents of the container into a receptacle; transferring only the contents of the container, which have been poured into the receptacle, into a processing chamber provided with a stirrer and thermal treatment means; cooling with the thermal treatment means and simultaneously mixing with the stirrer, only the contents of the container which have been transferred into the processing chamber until obtaining a semi-liquid finished product.

The present disclosure provides an improved system and method that includes a food dispensing machine for dispensing a base food product through a dispensing valve and adding ingredients and other additives, such as flavors and the like, to the base food product when the product is dispensed from a product chamber. Apparatuses and methods for maintaining a consistent mix of the base product in the freezing chamber are disclosed as are processes for calibrating desired proportions of ingredients.

A heat exchanger includes an inner tube extending longitudinally along a central axis and having an inner surface bounding a product chamber and an outer surface having a plurality of channels disposed at circumferentially spaced intervals in alternating relationship with a plurality of fins about the circumference of the outer surface of the inner tube; and a longitudinally extending outer tube disposed coaxially about and circumscribing the inner tube in radially spaced relationship, the outer tube having an inner surface contacting the plurality of fins of the inner cylinder, the outer surface being welded to the fins at a plurality of weld locations.

The invention relates to a system (100) for delivering frozen or chilled beverages. The system (100) comprises a device (10) and a container (20), the container (20) comprising a frozen product and the device (10) being configured for receiving the container (20) and for processing the frozen product of the container (20) to deliver the final beverage. The device (10) comprises: a slicing element (60), the slicing element (60) and the frozen product being relatively rotatable to each other about a rotation axis in order to slice the frozen product, and a driving unit (50) configured to provide the relative rotation between the slicing element (60) and the frozen product. The container (20) comprises a container inner wall (301) being in contact with the frozen product, wherein the container inner wall (301) has a cross-section, which is shaped such that a relative rotation between the container (20) and the frozen product about the rotation axis is blocked.

Applicants have created an improved multi-flavor food and/or beverage dispenser including an improved nozzle for injection of flavored liquids into a base liquid. The apparatuses and systems described herein can be used with different food and beverage products including, but not limited to, frozen carbonated beverages, frozen alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, frozen yogurts, frozen ice creams and other dispensable food and beverage products

A method of forming frozen beverage blocks from a liquid beverage. The method may include introducing a beverage into a hot beverage reservoir of a beverage receiving subsystem to initiate the process. Next, the beverage may flow from the hot beverage reservoir of the beverage receiving subsystem into a cooling subsystem. The flow from the hot beverage reservoir into and through the cooling subsystem may be done entirely via gravity. Cool air may be blown across the cooling subsystem to cool the beverage as the beverage flows through the cooling subsystem. Upon the temperature of the beverage being measured at or below a predetermined lower threshold temperature, the beverage may be permitted to flow, via gravity, from the cooling subsystem into a cool beverage reservoir of a freezing subsystem. The freezing subsystem may be configured to convert the beverage from a liquid into frozen beverage blocks.