An industrial ice maker can become an essential element in a hospitality business, especially in bars and specialized beverage service establishments. Although some businesses still use ice packs, more and more are turning to these ice machines to save time.
What is an industrial ice maker?
An industrial ice maker is a device designed to produce large quantities of ice cubes intended primarily for cooling beverages.
The operation is similar in all the machines, regardless of the manufacturer: the water dispenser pours the liquid into a tray where the mould for the ice cubes is located. In some cases, the pulverization method is used to obtain purer, residue-free ice.
Little by little, the tray is frozen until cubes are formed. Then, by heating the tray, the cubes break off and fall into the container automatically.
Making and using ice are essential in the hospitality sector, but ice can also be used in other sectors that require food preservation, such as fishmongers, where crushed ice is used to preserve the products for sale.
Types of industrial ice making machines
There are different types of industrial ice making machines, which vary in capacity, power and production:
- Intensive use machines that produce up to 150 kilos of ice per day.
- Small production machines that produce up to 10 kilos of ice per day
- Machines with different sizes, shapes and thickness of the cubes (from 10 to 80 grams)
- Machines with Spray technology to manage the durability and transparency of the ice.
- Machines for hollow cubes, although they are increasingly in disuse.
- Machines for compact cubes with longer duration.
In addition, there are large and complex machines that require complete installation of electricity and water, and other smaller ones that can be self-installed on desktops, although the latter are not usually efficient in hospitality environments.
Ice Maker vs Buying Ice Packs: Which is Better?
The main advantage of industrial ice makers is that they give you complete independence to produce and store your own ice. This means you don’t have to rely on suppliers, buy bags, figure out if you have enough in stock, and worry about where to store it to prevent spoilage.
This way, you will always be able to meet your business demand for ice, plus, in the long run, continuing to buy bags of ice is more expensive for your business.
If you calculate the cost of the ice packs you need and add the expense of having a refrigerator large enough to store them, you will realize that it is much more economical to invest in your own industrial ice maker.
During the first year, you may not notice a significant savings due to the initial cost of the ice maker, but after that you will see how your expenses are reduced to just electricity and water, whereas with ice packs the expense remains constant from year to year or may even increase if the price of ice rises.
How to choose an industrial ice maker
To select the best ice maker you must know the amount of ice you consume. Once you have this information, you will be able to choose the machine that best suits your needs.
- A method to calculate your daily ice consumption so you can select the right machine:
- Calculate how many cubes are used in each drink that is served.
- Multiply that number by the number of drink orders placed in a day, and you’ll get the total number of ice cubes you consume.
- When reviewing the specifications of the industrial ice cube maker, look at the weight of each cube and divide it by the number of kilos that the machine produces per day.
In this way, you will obtain the number of cubes that the machine produces and you will be able to compare it with your daily consumption. This will allow you to determine if the machine is right for your needs.
This simple calculation will help you save a lot of money per year, not only when purchasing an industrial ice maker, but also when choosing the one that meets the demand of your business.
It is worth investing in an industrial ice maker, such as those offered by the manufacturer Scotsman, since they meet high standards of quality and durability. In the long run, it will not only save you money, but it will also bring greater convenience and efficiency when serving cold drinks to your customers.
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