A Pacojet is a kitchen appliance for club and resort chefs that micro-purees deep-frozen foods into ultra-fine textures without thawing.
For super creamy or silky smooth gelato, club chefs turn to the turbo-charged Pacojet. The “paciotizing” machine was invented in the early 1980s with the original idea to produce the ultimate ice cream. Today club and resort chefs have expanded its use beyond ice creams and sorbets to include savory applications such as mousse/farce, sauces, concentrates, fillings and soup.
The process, to “pacotize,” means to micro-puree frozen food products into super smooth homogenous mixtures. What makes this processor unique is its precision blade that spins downward at 2,000 rpm, shaving a micro-thin layer off the top of the block of deep-frozen ingredients.
And because the blade rotates through the contents, top to bottom, it’s gentler on the ingredients, eliminating fluid separation and helping to keep the inherent fresh flavor and aromas intact.
Ingredient prep is easy:
- Fill the beaker with prepped ingredients. Think ice cream bases, fresh fruits, blanched vegetables, or minimally processed meats.
- Top with liquid to cover which aids in the freezing and pacotizing process and adds more flavor, if desired (water, simple syrup, stock).
- Freeze for at least 24 hours at – 22 °C/-8 °F or flash freeze for 4 hours.
- Attach frozen canister to the Pacojet, select a serving size and press start.
Boasting freshness on the menu, a chef can process only what is needed, a la minute, from 1 to 10 servings per beaker. Once the desired number of servings is plated, the canister is simply put back in the freezer until needed for the next guest check. And that one serving (about 3.5 oz.) is ready in 30 seconds, or the entire beaker (10 servings or about 1 liter) can be processed in only 4 minutes for super speedy service.
The machine is a boon for today’s all-natural and whole-food movement as the Pacojet can pulverize and homogenize skins, cores, piths, seeds, and stems, allowing club and resort chefs to create highly flavorful, nutritious items with minimal food waste.
