Ice Cream Shop Checklists Kit Pro: Opening, Closing & Production Templates

One list in order. Personal hygiene first (clean uniform and apron, hair restrained, no rings or watches, cuts covered with a waterproof bandage and a glove, hands washed, anyone with symptoms stays off ice cream, fruit and toppings). Then a safe start-up: the hood and ventilation on before the pasteurizer and the batch freezer and, if you have gas for waffles or crepes, a check that it doesn't smell of gas before you light anything. Next, the equipment: the dipping cabinets back in service mode (6–10 °F) if your model has a night setting, and checked that they held temperature overnight, the freezers at 0 °F or below and the aging cooler at 36–39 °F, each reading logged, and the blast freezer working. Then the counter: fruit for toppings washed, nuts and sprinkles in closed containers, the scoops in a running-water dipper well or one per flavor, the allergen chart checked against today's flavors, sauces, cones, cups, spoons and napkins stocked, the cabinet glass cleaned and the pans checked for ice crystals. Last, the POS and the starting bank, the card terminal, the sidewalk sign with today's flavors, the patio and the door. The "Ice Cream Shop Opening & Closing Checklists" workbook has all 26 opening tasks written, and the whole-shop checklist covers the alarm, lights, HVAC and restrooms.

Product first: every pan covered, the dipping cabinets left on (with product inside they are never turned off: one night off can cost you every pan; a night setting only if your model has one), the day's waste logged by flavor, amount and reason, pans labeled with their updated use-by date and tomorrow's pans checked. Then cleaning: the cabinets' outside surfaces, the sauce dispensers, the scoops and the dipper well, the counter, the scale and the register area cleaned and sanitized, trash, floors and the patio. Last, the paperwork: the cash count, sales by flavor (your top sellers), the shift log, lights and sign off, doors and alarm. The whole-shop "Shop Closing" tab runs in a safe order: customers out, the patio and signs in, night covers on the dipping cabinets (they stay on) and the closing temperatures logged, then the POS, trash and a final safety check that never unplugs a freezer or a dipping cabinet, and the alarm and lock-up last. The "Cash Drawer Opening & Closing" workbook works out the over/short against the POS Z report for you.

Yes. The production workbook has a sheet for each phase. Pasteurizing: ingredients weighed by recipe card, the dry ingredients blended into the liquids, fats and emulsifiers (cream, butter, egg yolks) added while the mix heats through 104–122 °F, before the hold (anything added after pasteurizing goes in raw), the mix pasteurized at 185 °F for 15 seconds as the kit's high-temp target (typical state minimums are 155 °F for 30 minutes or 175 °F for 25 seconds: your state rules and your pasteurizer's validated program come first), the mix cooled to 41 °F or below (from 135 °F to 70 °F within 2 hours and to 41 °F within 4 more, as the FDA Food Code asks) and aged at 36–39 °F for at least 4 hours, ideally 8–12, then labeled and logged by batch. Batch freezing: the aging time checked, the draw temperature your batch freezer maker gives (around 16–19 °F for ice cream and 10–14 °F for sorbet), pans pre-chilled at −4 °F, mix-ins and swirls in the last minute, each pan labeled with flavor, production date, use-by date and batch, weighed for yield and overrun, hardened at 0 °F or below and moved to the storage freezer, and the batch freezer's dasher, blades and door gasket taken out and cleaned (the cylinder is cleaned in place). At the bottom there is an editable shelf-life table in °F (for example, ice cream and sorbet in covered pans, 2–3 months at 0 °F; pasteurized mix, 3–5 days at 36–39 °F).

It depends on your state. Pasteurizing your own mix usually takes a state frozen dessert or dairy manufacturer license on top of your health permit, and some states also license freezing a mix you buy already pasteurized, or running a soft serve machine; with a bought, pasteurized mix, the health permit is often enough. The kit flags it in the production workbook and checks both papers on the annual sheet, but it is not legal advice: check with your state's department of agriculture or health before you start.

Between scoops, the scoop sits in a dipper well with running water (FDA Food Code 3-304.12) or you use one scoop per flavor. Running water does not remove allergens, so for an allergy order the kit asks for washed hands, fresh gloves, and a clean, sanitized scoop. The allergen chart by flavor is checked every morning against the pans in the cabinet and covers the 9 major US allergens (milk, egg, tree nuts such as pistachio, hazelnut and almond, peanuts, wheat in cones and cookies, soy and sesame, plus fish and shellfish). Cones and toppings are never touched with bare hands, samples go out on single-use tasting spoons, and the pints you pack ahead for a grab-and-go freezer carry a full label: flavor name, ingredients, allergens, net weight and your shop's name and city (FDA Food Code 3-602.11).

The kit works with temperatures that never mix: frozen storage at 0 °F or below, the dipping cabinets at 6–10 °F during service (check your cabinet maker's range), the mix aging at 36–39 °F and never above 41 °F, and the draw temperature of your batch freezer. The dipping cabinets stay on at night (on their night setting only if your model has one) instead of being switched off, catering product has to arrive at 10 °F or below, and the readings are logged in °F at opening and at close, with the shift lead checking the cabinets during service. Probe thermometers are checked every month in ice water (32 °F).

Yes. The peak season checklist runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day: a bigger menu with seasonal fruit, summer staff hired in March–April so they are trained by Memorial Day (many are 14 or 15, so it notes the federal limits: their hours, no work inside freezers and no running or cleaning the batch freezer or pasteurizer, plus the work permit some states require), more stock, a capacity check, two or three batch freezer runs a day, the patio, at least 2 scoopers at peak times, social media and pints and quarts to go (sold by weight only on a legal-for-trade scale). The off-season checklist cuts the menu, adds hot chocolate, waffles, crepes and ice cream cakes, and schedules deep maintenance, new recipes and training. The ice cream catering checklist starts before you say yes: allergens and headcount in writing, a price per guest, a deposit before you produce (event ice cream can't be resold), cancellation terms and freezer space at 0 °F; then production 24–48 hours ahead, insulated carriers and dry ice, the product at 10 °F or below on arrival and, at the event, a dipping cart or dry-ice cooler, one scoop per flavor, temperatures checked during service and melted ice cream thrown out, never refrozen. The bonus calendar adds the 12 months with their US dates, from Valentine's Day and National Ice Cream Day to Thanksgiving and the holidays.

Daily cleaning belongs in the closing checklists (scoops, the dipper well, sauce dispensers, the counter and the scale, floors). On top of that, the kit schedules a weekly deep clean (the dipping cabinets' grates and interiors, sauce and topping dispensers, cone and cup trays, the batch freezer's dasher, blades and gasket (the cylinder is cleaned in place), condenser filters, the production walls and shelves, the aging containers, the ice machine, the freezer interiors and the storage shelves, with the FIFO dates checked), sanitizer checked with test strips, and monthly tasks (thermometers, pasteurizer maintenance, freezer door gaskets and insulation, and a general deep clean of floors, walls and ceilings). Contracted services go on the "Quarterly & Annual" tab: pest control by a licensed operator, refrigeration by an EPA 608-certified tech (your staff never touches the refrigerant), thermometer calibration, fire extinguishers, gas, backflow testing for the dipper wells and the ice machine, and hood and duct cleaning under NFPA 96 only if you cook with grease, such as waffles or crepes.

Yes, you will find free checklist templates online, and a blank one is fine to get started. This kit is something else: 11 Excel workbooks with 298 ice cream shop tasks already written and sorted by shift, area and role, a counter on every checklist that skips the tasks you mark N/A, °F temperatures under the FDA Food Code and a cash count in US dollars. Print it on US Letter, or save any sheet as a PDF from Excel.

Yes. Every checklist comes with the real tasks of a shop that makes its own ice cream already written: production, dipping cabinets, the counter and the manager. You'll want to make it yours: adjust tasks to your shop, delete the ones that don't apply and add your own. The editable cells are green, and the whole-shop and cash drawer checklists end with 5 free green rows that the counter already includes.

Yes. The kit is written for shops that make their own ice cream or gelato with a pasteurizer and a batch freezer, and it scales: a small scoop shop can start with opening and closing, production and the whole-shop checklist, and a chain can use every role, area and the full calendar. If you buy your mix already pasteurized, mark the pasteurizing tasks N/A and the counter leaves them out.

Each checklist has columns for the area, who does it, ✓ (a drop-down with ✓, — for not done, or N/A), the time and notes, and a signature line at the bottom. The whole-shop and cash drawer checklists come with who does it and a due-by time already filled in. The shift lead prints the checklist and hands it out, each person checks off their tasks, and at the end of the shift the shift lead checks it and signs.

Checklist apps charge a monthly fee per location and need connected tablets or phones. This kit gives you the same kind of task lists in Excel for $19, a one-time payment. What it is not: there are no reminders, photos or notifications on your staff's phones.

Yes. One purchase covers one business with all of its shops, which makes it a good fit for ice cream shop chains. If you are a consultant, you can use the checklists with your clients, but you can't hand them copies: each business buys its own.

Yes, and it is a different kit. This one is for running the shop once it is open: daily, weekly and monthly routines. The Ice Cream Shop Business Plan Kit ($39) is for deciding, financing and opening it: a 10-section Word plan, Excel financial projections with summer seasonality and a 12-month cash flow, and an 80-task startup checklist, including the choice between buying a pasteurized base and making your own mix. Many owners use the plan before opening and the checklists after.

Yes, with a few edits, all in cells you can change (the protected sheets have no password). The kit is set up for the US: temperatures in °F under the FDA Food Code (0 °F frozen storage, 41 °F cold holding), the 9 major allergens and a cash count in US bills and coins. In the UK, ice cream is stored frozen at −18 °C or below, chilled food such as the aging mix is kept at 8 °C or below, and allergen information covers 14 allergens (the kit's allergen tasks already note the UK's 14). In Canada and Australia, check your provincial or state food safety rules, frozen dessert licensing and allergen list, and type them into the tasks. For pounds, Canadian or Australian dollars, unprotect the cash count sheet and change the label and value of each bill and coin. The seasonal calendar has a UK note (Mothering Sunday, bank holidays and Boxing Day) and room for your own dates. Every English edition also includes the US · UK · Canada · Australia Equivalents Guide, a bonus with the local terms, taxes, food safety and staff rules side by side.

The price is $19 USD, a one-time payment. At checkout, Stripe can show the amount in your local currency (for example GBP, EUR, CAD or AUD) and converts it for you.

No subscription: you pay once and get lifetime access to the online dashboard. When we add new templates or improvements, you get them at no extra cost — just download the files again.

Yes. A full 30-day guarantee. If you're not happy, we'll refund 100% with no questions asked.