In the mechanical production of ice cream and other frozen dessert products,  ice cream mix is combined with  air in order to produce a tasty and profitable final product. For soft serve ice cream, the air content can vary from 0% to 60% of the total volume of the final product. The amount of air allowed in the mix alters the taste of the final product. Product with low quantities of air have a heavy, icy taste and feel and product with a higher air content tastes creamier, has a smoother consistency and is generally considered "lighter". The optimal quantity of air vs mix is determined by ingredients and individual taste. In general, the preferred air content is between 30% and 45% of volume. This is called "Over Run"

Soft serve ice cream mix is kept preserved at the ideal temperature in a tank (PASMO uses a single stainless steel tank with no welds for reliability and safety) which is refrigerated and controlled by a thermostat. The mix remains in the tank until it is delivered by means of gravity or a gear pump into the freezing chamber where it is intimately mixed with the targeted quantity of air, stirred, and quickly frozen to obtain a state of "soft serve".

An important reason for a machine to have an air pump is to increase the volume of the ice cream by adding more air than is traditionally available using the built in "Carburetor" to the mix. This affects the machine in two ways: First, it reduces the amount of mix in a given volume of soft serve, which increases the qty of final product the machine is able to freeze per hour; and, secondly, it decreases the density of the soft serve, and thus increases ice cream “softness” creating a sensation that it is less cold to the palate.

Under ideal working condition, the pump delivers a constant, perfect supply of liquid mix and gas (usually air) to the freezing chamber in a predetermined ratio between air and liquid mix. However, the "Carburetor"  may not work under expected ideal condition due to imperfect mechanical assembly it may become clogged; the ratio between air and mix may be decreased, the volume of soft serve produced per container of mix may be decreased; the taste of final product may be changed; the production performance of the machine may be compromised. Therefore there is a need to provide a solution to overcome the aforementioned problems to improve the efficiency of the soft serve machines - The Air Pump.

I like to give the example of weight versus profit. Most, if not all, modern Self Serve Frozen Yogurt stores require a "more dense" final product to help add weight to the cup and therefore more profit at the scale. Conversely, stores that sell final product on a per cup basis do not need a dense or heavy product, and the use of air both makes the product lighter, fluffier and more volume is produced per case of mix providing more profit. Think of Costco which sells Frozen Yogurt by the cup versus your favorite frozen yogurt store. 

PASMO America offers an Air pump on most of our models. Call for more information, pricing, or to place an order.