A refrigerator appliance may include a cabinet, a door, a sealed cooling system, and an ice cream unit. The door may include a door liner defining an icebox compartment. The door may include a chilled air supply opening and a chilled air return opening spaced apart from the chilled air supply opening. The ice cream unit may be disposed within the icebox compartment. The ice cream unit may include a freezing tank, a rotatable auger extending into the freezing tank, a tank jacket, and a unit duct or support base. The tank jacket may receive the freezing tank and define a cooling passage extending about the freezing tank from a jacket inlet to a jacket outlet. The jacket outlet may be open to the icebox compartment to exhaust air from the cooling passage to the icebox compartment.

A food product dispenser including a cabinet; a freezing cylinder for freezing a food product located within the cabinet; an evaporator including a fluid path that generally encircles the freezing cylinder and that has an evaporator inlet and an evaporator outlet; a compressor located within the cabinet at a location below the freezing cylinder and having an inlet being fluidly coupled to the evaporator outlet; a condenser at least partially positioned between the compressor and the evaporator, where the condenser has an inlet is fluidly coupled to the compressor outlet; a variable flow expansion valve located within the cabinet and having a first inlet fluidly coupled to the condenser outlet and a first outlet fluidly coupled to the evaporator inlet and a second expansion valve located within the cabinet having a second inlet fluidly coupled to the condenser outlet and a second fluid outlet coupled to the compressor inlet, where the second variable flow expansion valve being located within the cabinet at a location closer to the evaporator than to either the compressor or the condenser.

A sealed pressurized food dispensing system with self-cleaning features that can include a freezing barrel, a faceplate defining a dispense bore and a cleaning bypass passage passing through the faceplate and having an open end, where the dispenser can also include a valve stem that may be moved between a dispensing position and a non-dispensing position where the cleaning bypass passage is positioned such that, when the valve stem is in its non-dispensing position, no fluid path exists between the interior of the freezing barrel and the open end of the cleaning bypass passage within the faceplate.

Systems and methods have demonstrated the capability of rapidly cooling the contents of pods containing the ingredients for food and drinks.

An ice cream maker fitting for a stand mixer provided with a bowl includes a double wall vessel having an outer wall and an inner wall, which are coupled so as to define between the outer wall and the inner wall a sealed space. A refrigerant fluid is arranged. The double wall vessel is sized so as to be arranged, in use, inside the bowl of the stand mixer. A fixing system is configured to fix the double wall vessel to the bowl of the stand mixer.

Systems and methods have demonstrated the capability of rapidly cooling the contents of pods containing the ingredients for food and drinks.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure includes a device for manufacturing a frozen edible product, including a cylindrical tank and a dasher disposed within the cylindrical tank and configured to rotate in a direction of rotation on an axis of rotation. A non-circular cylindrical core extends within the core along the axis of rotation. The dasher includes a generally cylindrical frame concentric with the tank and having a plurality of gaps, deflectors extending radially inward relative to the axis of rotation and circumferentially in the direction of rotation from the gaps, and blades extending radially outward from the dasher.

A refrigeration subsystem removably received within a base machine to cool an object. The subsystem includes a body with an opening that receives the object. An evaporator thermally communicates with the object, which is cooled by refrigerant flowing through the evaporator. A compressor receives the refrigerant downstream of the evaporator and increases a refrigerant pressure. A condenser receives the refrigerant downstream of the compressor, which cools the refrigerant. An expansion device receives the refrigerant downstream of the condenser and decreases its pressure, the evaporator being downstream from the expansion device. A refrigerant circuit fluidly couples the evaporator, compressor, condenser, and expansion device such that the refrigerant flows therebetween, all of which are coupled to the body and move together therewith. The refrigerant circuit forms a closed loop that remains unbroken when the body of the refrigerant subsystem is removed from the base machine.

Systems and methods have demonstrated the capability of rapidly cooling the contents of pods containing the ingredients for food and drinks.

A machine for making liquid or semi-liquid food products includes a frame and a thermal system, which performs at least one thermodynamic cycle using a main heat exchanger fluid, and a production unit. The production unit is provided with a processing container having a cavity which defines a processing chamber for making a liquid or semi-liquid food product, a stirrer, applied or applicable on the frame at a fixed position and fitted or fittable in the processing container, and coupling means between the processing container and the drive shaft to allow coupling and hence transmission of motion from the motor to the processing container. In particular, the stirrer is provided with an inner core and an outer covering made of different materials.