How To Make Great Shakes

Making good malts and shakes isn't rocket science, according to some foodservice operators. But making great ones comes close, insist veteran soda jerks.

Malts and shakes hark back to a soda-fountain culture that had its heyday in the '40s and '50s when ordering an "In the Hay" got you a strawberry milkshake and the guy known as a soda jerk commanded respect.

With the current interest in comfort food and diner cooking, these dairy-rich drinks are making an encore. But practitioners of the art claim skilled soda jerks are in dwindling supply.

"[Making a good shake or malt] takes physical stamina. Your hands get mighty cold, the mixer overheats and if you make enough of them your shoulder blades ache," says Bev Surrency, whose claim to fame is a personal record of making 600 malts in one day. Surrency and husband Ted own Yellowstone Drug Store in Shoshoni, Wyo.

In 1997, the 12-stool, 35-seat landmark sold 55,146 malts and shakes. "It's hard to find young people who want to do this kind of work," Surrency laments. With 59 flavors of ice cream and an average output of 300 drinks a day, she devised a production line to take orders, dip, mix and serve. "An experienced counter person can do a malt in 16 seconds," she adds.

Malts and shakes are first cousins, with malts building on milkshake's formula with the addition of malt powder, according to Malcolm Stogo, an icecream industry consultant. The formula for a shake is two scoops of ice cream, 8 ounces of cold milk and 2 ounces of syrup. Thickness depends on the amount of milk or ice cream, according to Stogo's Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts (John Wiley & Sons Inc., $59.95, 1998).Though recipes for both are basic ice cream, flavoring and milk, the difference between good and great depends on the quality of ingredients, the sequence in which they're packed and technique.