Let's Talk About....Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

Over Labor Day weekend, some high school friends and I went on a California adventure, and one of the places we explored was San Francisco. In San Francisco we definitely participated in sightseeing, but our main mission, was to try as many restaurants and foods as possible during our visit. One of those spur-of-the-moment discoveries was Smitten Ice Cream! We ended up visiting two different locations because we loved it so much. In each location, there was different signage illustrating how Smitten got started, and why it's the new, old-fashioned ice cream. Definitely, if you are in San Francisco, stop here! Below, I am going to share some of the signage information about what makes this ice cream parlor delicious and unique! When we were visiting, the flavors being featured were:

• Crème Fraiche with Pear Caramel (shown below, last photo)
• Cookie Dough with Pretzels and Chocolate Chips (shown above on the right)
• TCHO 60.5% Chocolate
• Fresh Mint Chip (shown above on the left)
• Simply Vanilla

Why You'll Be Smitten
The only ingredients in Smitten Ice Cream are the ones that should be.

• For instance: Fresh Mint Chip
• Organic milk & cream from cows in Petaluma
• Fresh mint leaves (not extract) from Sonoma County
• Sugar
• Dash of salt
• Hand-cut chocolate chunks made from TCHO 60.5% dark chocolate
• That's it! No stabilizers, emulsifiers, or preservatives.

Why we always make your ice cream to order:

• Storing ice cream in a conventional freezer leads to larger ice crystals in your ice cream, creating a grittier, icier texture. Packaged ice cream needs preservatives, emulsifiers, and/or stabilizers, which can change or mute taste, to survive the distribution chain.

We make every scoop to order to ensure that we give you the freshest, smoothest, purest and most flavorful ice cream the world has to offer. It's new, old fashioned ice cream CHURNED JUST FOR YOU!

Who/What is our Brrr Machine?
Brrr is Smitten's very own special, patented ice cream churner designed to make the perfect scoop in just minutes, using liquid nitrogen. Only Smitten has Brrr, which is why we call ourselves Brrristas. And, no other machine in the world can do what Brrr does as well as Brrr does it!

• One-of-a-kind, patented mixing system that makes the smallest ice crystals possible.
• Internal smarts (proprietary software) that ensures the ice cream is frozen exactly right.

What is Liquid Nitrogen (LN2)?

• Gaseous nitrogen is a naturally occurring element that makes up 78% of the atmosphere all around us. LN2 is created when gaseous nitrogen is brought down in temperature until it changes its state of matter into liquid. So in essence, LN2 is a piece of liquid air.

Why do we use LN2 to freeze our ice cream?

• Freezing at lower temperatures, if done right, creates smaller ice crystals in ice cream, which means a creamier, more luscious scoop for you!

Why is Brrr so special?

• Sure, you could pour LN2 into an off-the-shelf mixer, and it will indeed make ice cream...but there's no machine in the world that can make ice crystals as small as Smitten Brrr can. Thanks to Brrr, Smitten has the smoothest, purest ice cream on earth!

Scoop Dreams
In 2007, Robyn Sue Fisher dove head-first into her dream: re-imagining just how good ice cream could be. So she spent several years and her life's savings in a basement workshop prototyping and inventing the one-of-a-kind Brrr Machine.

The Big AHA! With the help of Deep-freezing Liquid Nitrogen, Brrr patented double helical mixers churn ice cream with the teeniest of tiny ice crystals. And get this-with mega-smart software, Brrr actually senses and interprets viscosity so we can guarantee your ice cream is frozen to PERFECTION!

Wagoneering--in late 2009, Robyn Sue strapped her prototype Brrr, a milk crate bursting with fresh ingredients, and a tank of LN2 onto a Radio Flyer wagon...and hit the streets of San Francisco serving made-to-order scoops to the crowds that gathered. This is how Smitten Ice Cream was born!

Brrr machine, and made to order scoop of liquid nitrogen ice cream

Crème Fraiche with Pear Caramel