If you are making your first commercial ice machine purchase, the chances are good that you are overwhelmed by the sheer number of options that you have. To the uninitiated ice is ice, but there are actually numerous different types of ice and these different types of ice have different commercial applications, making some ice, and, therefore, some ice machines, a more appropriate fit for certain types of businesses.
At Auto Ice we sell crescent cubers, square cubers, top hat cubers, cubelets, flakers, and undercounter machines. Crescent cubers are splash resistant, and can be dispensed from ice machines or scooped, square cubers can be in half cube or full cube size, top hat cubers are sometimes known as fancy or gourmet ice because it has a more formal appearance, flakers produce smaller pieces of ice with large amounts of surface area that cool surfaces rapidly and are good for medical applications, and cubelets produce ice that is also referred to as nugget, pearl, soft, or “sonic” ice and that people like to chew.
Finding the Right Ice Machine for Your Commercial Need
However, the type of ice is only one feature of an ice machine. The most important practical part of the ice machine is the condenser, which removes the heat from the ice machine for continuous cooling. There are three different condenser types: water cooled, air cooled, and remote-cooled. Air cooled machines are the easiest to install, tend to be the least expensive, and use less water than other types of machines. Air-cooled machines are a good fit for most commercial kitchens, but air-cooled machines to do have air-flow requirements on the tops, sides, and back, need regular vent cleaning, can get noisy, and do vent heat into the kitchen.
Remote ice machines have condensers located away from the machine, basically to reduce noise and the amount of heat vented into a kitchen. They are often found in grocery stores. Water cooled machines have two water lines, one to feed the ice-maker and one to remove heat from the refrigerant. They use less electricity, but more water, than air-cooled machines. They are less impacted by ambient air temperatures and work well in humid environments.
Still confused? That is okay; Contact Auto Ice and one of our ice maker experts would be happy to talk to you about your commercial ice maker needs and help you find the perfect machine to fit your requirements!
>Categorised in: Restaurant Equipment
