Stick Products, Bars and Tubes

The use of wooden sticks for ice cream and water ice products dates back to 1921. For many years, most stick products were ice lollies, and most bars were couverture coated ice creams ( choc ices ). Today the variety is much greater and ice cream, water ice and milk ice are sold in a number of different formats. For example, premium chocolate-coated ice creams are now often produced as stick products, and water ices are sold in tubes. Two main processes, moulding and extrude and cut are used to produce stick products. Tubes use the package as the mould and bars are made by extrude and cut. Bars and stick products are often coated with chocolate or couverture, and sometimes also dry pieces such as nuts. 

When the product is completely frozen, warm brine is sprayed onto the underside of the moulds. The temperature of the brine and the time for which it is applied are chosen so that just enough heat is transferred to the mould to release the product from the mould. Too much heat melts the outside of the product, affecting its detail and shape, and leaves mix in the mould. Too little heat results in poor extraction, for 

Tube products use their own package as the mould. The tube is dispensed from a stack into a holder where it is held vertically by its rim. The liquid mix is dispensed into the tube, and the lid is picked up from a stack, placed on top by a vacuum sucker and heat-sealed onto the rim. The filled and sealed tubes are then frozen on a conveyor belt in the hardening tunnel. 

The mould, which is immersed in cold liquid, is filled with the first mix 

Some of the mix freezes on the walls, and the remaining unfrozen liquid in the centre is sucked out 

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