Why chefs love the Pacojet
Dear Surgery: I've heard a lot of top chefs talk about using Pacojets to make ice creams and sorbets - what are they?
The Surgery says: Yes, the Pacojet has become one of the kitchen essentials for discerning chefs all over the world. At around £2,000 each, these unique food processors certainly aren't cheap, but those chefs who use them - and this includes many two and three Michelin-starred chefs - can't praise them highly enough.
Measuring just 50cm (20in) high and 20cm (8in) wide, and weighing 14kg (31lb), these Swiss-made machines were developed by engineer Wilhelm Maurere. The Pacojet was initially manufactured in 1992 as a multi-functional device for mousses, soups, sauces and frozen desserts.
One of the unique selling points of these compact machines is their simplicity and speed. While most ice cream and sorbet makers require a chef to blend ingredients before they are placed in the machine to be churned or frozen, the Pacojet transforms fresh ingredients into ready-to-serve sorbets and ice cream by processing them from a frozen state, without thawing.
This means that a chef adds the raw ingredients (for example, chunks of fresh fruit, water and a pinch of sugar) to a beaker, puts it in the freezer for 24 hours and then simply puts the frozen beaker in the Pacojet before pushing the button.
The high-speed blade (2000rpm) shaves and blends without breaking the freezing chain so partly-used beakers can be safely put back into the freezer with no wastage.
The Pacojet has enabled many chefs to experiment with a number of unusual ingredient combinations.
Claude Bosi, of two Michelin-starred restaurant Hibiscus in Ludlow, Shropshire, uses it for green apple peel sorbet and a chorizo mousse. Bristol chef Chris Wicks, of Bell's Diner restaurant, has made vindaloo ice cream to accompany coconut mousse.
For more information about Pacojets, call the Magrini sales office on 01543 375311 or check out additional details on the website www.magrini.co.uk. It is also worth noting that every Pacojet comes with on-site training for chefs and workers.
