OHIO SCOOP SHOP CHURNS OUT AWARD-WINNING ICE CREAM
BY JENNA JORDAN YOUNGSTOWN
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — One of the top ice cream makers in the country is churning out some award-winning sweet stuff right here in Ohio.
Max Hoover is the owner/operator of Cockeye Creamery. The 26-year-old has been honing his skills since opening the shop about four years ago.
“I tell people it’s the amount of time to earn a bachelor’s degree,” he said. “So, I think I’ve earned a bachelor’s degree in making ice cream.”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Max Hoover of Cockeye Creamery is an ice cream grand master
His chocolate earned a blue ribbon three years in a row at the North American Ice Cream Association's annual convention
There are fewer than 10 ice cream grand masters in the country
Hoover created more than 200 ice cream recipes in his four years in business
What started as a way for Hoover to make his mark on the menu of his family’s barbecue business turned into its own separate retail space.
“My dad and I cried after our first batch,” Hoover said. “We were like, ‘Man, we really struck gold here.’”
Hoover even fulfills wholesale orders of what he describes as a “super premium” ice cream product. All the production is currently done inside the scoop shop, with plans to open a separate “hospital-grade” production facility in the works, he said.
“We’re sort of a heavier, almost gelato-like product,” Hoover said. “It’s high in fat, very creamy and not very much air.”
He and his team made about 10,000 gallons of ice cream last year, developing about 200 different flavors so far.
But it’s the recipe for a classic that’s causing a stir on the national level.
“Ice cream maker has gotta be the best job in the whole world,” Hoover said. “Plus, being one of the best ice cream makers in the whole world is also pretty good.”
He said sensory scientists from Cornell University analyze samples of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry submitted by manufacturers as apart of the North American Ice Cream Association’s annual convention.
“Things like sandiness, meltability, grittiness, greasiness,” Hoover said. “Things that you wouldn’t really think of for ice cream, but it matters.”
Hoover took home the blue ribbon three years in a row for chocolate, earning him the title “grand master.”
“As close to nearly technically perfect as an ice cream in America should be,” he said.
He’s among an elite group. Fewer than 10 people so far have the honor.
“Coming to work is never a sad thing,” he said. “My customers give me fuel, my employees give me fuel."
It’s energy to help revitalize his hometown of Warren.
“We’re creating more jobs and more opportunity in this area, which I think historically has been looked on with sort of the opposite of the rose-colored glasses,” he said.
Paulette Barnes sneaks away for a cone at least once a week.
“On this side of town, we needed something,” she said.
And Hoover is happy to serve.
“Small business is real,” he said. “We’re out here really doing it. We really are from the Mahoning Valley. And we really are changing the world.”