Chaney’s Dairy Barn reflects on 20 years of business

WARREN COUNTY, Ky. – It’s been a community hot spot for years that’s drawn attention from across the nation, and this year they just hit a milestone and took home several awards to boot earlier this year.

News 40 took a short trip around Chaney’s to check out the ice cream making process and got some knowledge along the way. Carl Chaney, co-owner of Chaney’s Dairy Barn, told us that as things are now, the summer months have sent demand sky high. On an average week, Carl said they’re pushing out around 1,800 gallons of ice cream a week.

Carl remembers near the beginning of their venture, he thought the cold would deter customers from coming by, but it turns out ice cream is year round. He gave us a lesson on how to craft the frozen treat everyone loves so much, saying that the secret to their treat is an ice cream mix of 16 percent butterfat which adds more flavor to the finished product.

He also gave credit to his flash freezer, which brings the soft serve that flows from the mixer to a whopping negative 15 degrees. Carl said the trick to good consistency is making the ice crystals as small as possible.

We spoke to Debra Chaney as well, Carl’s wife, who said they quickly realized if they wanted to stay afloat, they’d have to offer a few other things rather than ice cream.

Debra said they would in the coming years build a full kitchen and a gift shop to captivate interest as the business grew. Debra recalled their first “big order”, which was just 50 sandwiches for a school, but had her worried nonetheless.

Mrs. Chaney said that they had a lot to figure out on their own as business owners but she was glad they’ve been able to do it through almost 50 years of marriage. Mrs. Chaney ended her interview by saying that “opposites attract” and she’s always been the more grounded one in thinking how something would be possible while her husband has always been more imaginative, but when either one is really passionate about something, it usually works out.