Heng Lay, a Cambodian ice cream maker in Stockton, California

Heng Lay, 40, catches a batch of finished strawberry ice cream as it comes out of the mixer at Gleason's in Stockton. Lay and his wife own the shop and are in the process of opening a new store on Webster Avenue later this year (Photo: Ariel Zambelich/The Record)

September 17, 2007
By Michelle Machado
Record Staff Writer
The Record (Stockton, California)

STOCKTON - Heng Lay makes life a little sweeter for customers of Gleason's Ice Cream Works.

Lay annually churns up hundreds of gallons of ice cream in traditional flavors such as vanilla and chocolate and more-exotic flavors such as Champagne and kona coffee.

On Wednesday, he was making strawberry.

Lay flipped a switch, and the boxy, stainless-steel ice-cream-making machine came to life with a small jump and a loud gurgle.

Beaters in a refrigerant-cooled cylinder started to spin.

He poured five gallons of ice cream base, a pitcher of syrupy strawberry base and a few tablespoons of strawberry flavoring into the machine's top chute.

Then the wait began.

Lay periodically eyed the chute, into which the pink stuff was churning up.

"When it's ready, it puffs up a little bit more," he said.

And he was right: Twenty minutes later, the goo resembled bubble gum filling with air.

He lifted a handle and a ribbon of soft, thick strawberry ice cream streamed from the machine's lower chute and into the three-gallon plastic pail below.

He filled four of the pails, packing and leveling each with a spatula before snapping on its lid and stacking it in the eatery's walk-in freezer.

During the next 24 hours, the ice cream will turn a deeper shade of rose and harden, he said.

Lay paces ice cream production with customer demand.

During hot weather, the 32 flavors the shop serves run out fast.

"Sometimes in the summer, I have to come back at night," he said.

Not all ice-cream making is fully automated.

Chunky ingredients for flavors that include cookies and cream, bubble gum and strawberry cheesecake are stirred in by hand.

In addition to making ice cream, Lay helps his wife, Serry Som, serve sandwiches, mix milkshakes and heat hot dogs.

The couple has owned the eatery at 501 N. Sierra Nevada St. in Stockton since 1993.

Lay, 40, came to the United States from Cambodia by way of Thailand in 1983, when he was 16.

He graduated from Stagg High School and attended San Joaquin Delta College.

"After that, I got married, so I had to work," he said.

Lay's workload will be expanding: Later this year, the couple will open a second Gleason's at the downtown transit center.

That eatery will also offer a menu of sandwiches, salads, hot dogs, snacks, shaved ice and ice cream, but will open early to serve gourmet coffee drinks and pastries.

Lay will manage the present shop, and Som will oversee the new eatery.

"Sometimes being a business owner is hard," Lay said.

Contact reporter Michelle Machado at (209) 943-8547 or mmachado@recordnet.com.