How Artisanal
Gelato Is Made.

Most people who eat gelato have never seen how it is made — and the gap between an industrial operation and an artisanal one is wider than most consumers imagine. Here is an honest account of the full process, from the morning delivery of ingredients to the moment a scoop reaches a customer.

Sourcing

Everything starts before the kitchen. Artisanal gelato-making is inseparable from sourcing. The ingredients are the product — not a backdrop for a recipe. At Gelatone, we source pistachios from Bronte in Sicily, hazelnuts from Piedmont, and milk from Somerset. Each ingredient is chosen for a specific reason, and we can account for every one. Industrial gelato makers use standardised pastes that allow any ingredient to be swapped for a cheaper equivalent without detectable change. We work the opposite way.

The base

The base of a gelato is a mixture of milk, a small amount of cream, and sugar — plus any stabilisers or emulsifiers if used. At Gelatone, we use a minimal stabiliser derived from natural sources, in the smallest quantity necessary to maintain texture without interfering with flavour. Some purists use none at all; we take a pragmatic position, using just enough to ensure consistency without compromise. The base is prepared fresh each morning.

Pasteurisation and ageing

The base mixture is gently pasteurised — heated to a precise temperature to eliminate bacteria, then rapidly chilled. It is then allowed to rest and "age" for a short period, typically a few hours. This resting phase allows the proteins and fats in the mixture to stabilise and bind, resulting in a smoother, more cohesive texture when churned. It is one of those steps that is easy to skip and difficult to replicate if skipped.

Flavouring

At this stage, the core flavour is incorporated. For a pistachio gelato, this means real Bronte pistachios — ground into a paste in-house, with nothing added. For a fruit gelato, fresh or minimally processed fruit. For chocolate, a single-origin couverture. The flavouring stage is where industrial and artisanal gelato diverge most sharply. An industrial paste contains everything — stabilisers, flavouring, colour, sugar — pre-measured and pre-mixed. An artisanal approach uses the actual ingredient and adjusts to it.

Churning

The flavoured base is transferred to a batch freezer — the machine that simultaneously freezes and churns the gelato. Gelato is churned more slowly than ice cream and at a slightly higher temperature, which limits the amount of air incorporated. The process typically takes 10–15 minutes, during which the mixture transforms from a liquid base into a dense, creamy gelato. The gelato is extracted from the machine at around -6°C to -8°C and transferred to serving pans.

Hardening and service

Freshly churned gelato is soft and needs a brief period at a slightly colder temperature to firm up before service — typically 30 minutes to an hour in a blast freezer. It is then transferred to the display cabinet at serving temperature: around -11°C to -13°C. Critically, authentic gelato is made in quantities designed for same-day consumption. We do not carry stock overnight. What is made in the morning is served that day.