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Great Lakes Ice Cream Company Operations Manager Andrew Pirie (left) and ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski mix ice cream at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Great Lakes Ice Cream Company workers scoop ice cream on June 23 in Midland.

Midland resident Safiyah Muhammad (right) enjoys ice cream with Midland resident Shameria Jones on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski mixes ice cream at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Blue moon ice cream is churned at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Ice cream makers Aja Philpot (left) and Abby Wisniewski, mix ice cream at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski stirs caramel sauce into an ice cream batch freezer at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Ice cream mixings and toppings sit at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski opens a caramel sauce can at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Great Lakes Ice Cream Company Operations Manager Andrew Pirie minces asparagus on June 23, 2022 in Midland. He is testing out an experimental ice cream flavor.

Ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski pours caramel sauce into an ice cream batch freezer at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Great Lakes Ice Cream Company Operations Manager Andrew Pirie unwraps fireball candies at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland. He is working to make an atomic fireball ice cream.

Ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski mixes ice cream at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Great Lakes Ice Cream Company Operations Manager Andrew Pirie unwraps fireball candies at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland. He is working to make an atomic fireball ice cream.

Ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski dumps out blue moon ice cream in a serving bucket at the Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski mixes raspberry ice cream at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Employees mix ice cream at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski mixes raspberry ice cream at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Ice cream maker Aja Philpot stirs caremel at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski (left) and Great Lakes Ice Cream Company Operations Manager Andrew Pirie mix ice cream at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Ice cream maker Abby Wisniewski mixes ice cream at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company on June 23, 2022 in Midland.

Great Lakes Ice Cream Company workers scoop ice cream on June 23 in Midland.

Midland resident Lilian Thomas, picks out an ice cream flavor on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Great Lakes Ice Cream Company workers scoop ice cream on June 23 in Midland.

Midland resident Major Aguliar, 3, enjoys ice cream on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Great Lakes Ice Cream Company workers scoop ice cream on June 23 in Midland.

Midland resident Lilian Thomas, picks out an ice cream flavor on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Midland resident Safiyah Muhammad (left) enjoys ice cream with Midland resident Shameria Jones on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Great Lakes Ice Cream Company workers scoop ice cream on June 23 in Midland.

Great Lakes Ice Cream Company workers scoop ice cream on June 23 in Midland.

From left to right: Norah Allington, Eden Friedman, and Clara Allington, sit and enjoy ice cream on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Midland residents Gianna Steele, 8, and Major Aguliar, 3, enjoy ice cream on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

South Carolina residents Sally Geese (left) and Damaris Geese (middle left) enjoy ice cream with Midland residents Taylor Geese (middle right) and Juston Kehr sit on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Midland resident Safiyah Muhammad (left) enjoys ice cream with Midland resident Shameria Jones on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Midland resident Katie Rosen feeds ice cream to her son Luke, 3, on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Midland resident Safiyah Muhammad (right) enjoys ice cream with Midland resident Shameria Jones on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Midland residents Taylor Geese (right) and Juston Kehr (left) enjoy ice cream with South Carolina residents Sally and Damaris Geese on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Midland resident Safiyah Muhammad (right) enjoys ice cream with Midland resident Shameria Jones on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Midland residents Taylor Geese (middle left) and Juston Kehr (far left) enjoy ice cream with South Carolina residents Sally Geese (middle right) and Damaris Geese on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Midland resident Major Aguliar, 3, enjoys ice cream on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

People sit and enjoy ice cream on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Ice cream cakes sit for sale on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

People sit and enjoy ice cream on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

Tubs of ice cream sit for sale on June 23 at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company in Midland.

With temperatures now often topping 90 degrees, it's a busy time for a local Midland ice cream store that provides locally made dairy treats.

Great Lakes Ice Cream Company, at 901 E. Ashman St., has been churning its own ice cream flavors since 2003. All the company’s ice cream is made locally, and operations manager Andrew Pirie showed the Daily News how it is done.

Pirie said the process is simple but also time-consuming. It starts with dumping cream and soft flavorings into a machine called a batch freezer. The mix is churned for about seven to eight minutes.

Once the mix has the consistency of soft serve, it is dumped into serving buckets, and chunks and sauces like caramel are mixed in. Pirie said the ice cream is then cooled below negative-30 degrees in specialized hardening cabinet freezers for 24 hours, then stored for use when needed.

The ice cream is at a standard of “super-premium,” meaning the cream used has a 16% butterfat content, Pirie said. He said the creamery makes 25-30 batches of ice cream a day.

Creating flavors is an experimental process. For instance, Pirie was mincing asparagus last week to try a new flavor that may be made once or twice and could be brought back occasionally if customers enjoy it. He was also melting fireball candies for an already-established "Atomic Fireball" ice cream that he brings back every couple years or so.

“I like talking with people about what we can do to make these weird flavors work,” Pirie said.

Andrew Mullin is a reporter for the Midland Daily News.