| Hot summer days call for cool summer drinks. | | | | not need to be plumbed in, as it has no drain hoses |
| Whether your tipple is an iced tea, fruit crush, or a | | | | and is filled manually rather than fed by a mains |
| whisky on the rocks you'll need plenty of ice to keep | | | | water connection, making it portable, practical and |
| cool. If you are preparing liquid refreshment for | | | | easy to squeeze in wherever it is needed. |
| yourself or serving the needs of parched punters, an | | | | If demand is of a greater scale, industrial sized units, |
| ice machine may be just what you need. | | | | starting at 50kg will produce 2kg of ice an hour and |
| We all know the frustration of the usual ways of | | | | costs around 900 GBP. A 250kg unit can cost in the |
| keeping up with ice consumption, especially in a busy | | | | region of 3000 GBP, and churn out a whopping 10kg |
| household, at a party or even when running a | | | | of an ice and hour and has the capacity to store |
| business. Filling up plastic trays, ice cube bags and | | | | 100kg of the icy nuggets, to keep up with a |
| waiting for hours for it to freeze, only to find that it's | | | | constant high demand. The installation of these |
| all gone a couple of drinks later. Or in the flurry of an | | | | machines is similar to installing a washing machine as |
| impromptu gathering having to buy bags of ice and | | | | they require connection to a mains water supply, as |
| keep it from turning to water when the freezer is | | | | well as needing a drainage route and an electrical |
| just too full. Even the best laid plans can go awry - | | | | supply. |
| Having a stockpile of ice ready for busy bar hours, | | | | Both the domestic and industrial machines have |
| only to find oneself with an unexpected rush that | | | | settings for variable cube size and type; bullet-shaped |
| hasn't been accounted for. These problems can be | | | | to crescent and square; ultra hard cubes and crystal |
| alleviated with an Ice Machine. There is a choice of | | | | clear ice. The way the water is fed through the |
| built-in units, or tabletop versions, the type required | | | | machine is the major factor that determines the type |
| will depend on expected consumption. | | | | and quality of the ice produced. When water is |
| For the domestic user, a low-use portable version | | | | poured straight into a reservoir where it then |
| that can be used at home, on a boat, caravan or | | | | hardens, it will produce a lower quality cube than one |
| holiday home will produce a cube a minute, and | | | | that has been processed using moving water. The |
| comes with a clever device to tell you when the ice | | | | faster that rate, the higher the quality as impurities |
| is ready and when the reservoir needs refilling. For | | | | will be eliminated, this is judged by the hardness of |
| moderate use in a guest house, small bar or | | | | the cube; the more impurities, the softer the ice. The |
| restaurant a larger table top version produces cubes | | | | most common processes in commercial machines are |
| at a faster rate and has a greater ice storage facility, | | | | vertical and horizontal evaporation, with horizontal |
| up to 2kg, to get through those busy times. These | | | | being judged as the best producer of crystal clear |
| types of machines can be bought for under 200 GBP. | | | | and super hard ice. |
| The benefits of having a tabletop unit is that it does | | | | |