How Useful is an Ice Machine in a Commercial Kitchen?

We’ve collaborated with FridgeFreezer direct to investigate how useful it is to have an ice machine in a commercial kitchen.

When setting up a new commercial kitchen for a restaurant, it’s easy to forget to purchase certain equipment where it’s felt that it won’t get enough use. However, menus change and as creative ideas flow, it’s common to discover that certain crucial commercial-grade equipment was left out of the planning.

An ice machine is certainly one piece of equipment that qualifies, especially in the UK where it’s not always scorching hot and the customers’ desire for a chilled iced drink isn’t consistent from day-to-day.

In this article, we look at how useful an ice machine would be in your commercial kitchen.

What Types of Ice Machines Are There?

There isn’t just one type of ice machine; in fact, there are several types that offer different options to chefs and drinks makers if the restaurant serves regular drinks or cocktails to diners.

One popular type of machine is an ice flaker. It’s designed to either create chunky nuggets of ice (basically cubes), or flakes of ice. These machines can create a consistent supply of cubes for drinks and the ice flakes are great for both cocktails and desserts. Other machine types include modular ice makers and ice crushers. You can browse the different ice machine options at Fridge Freezer Direct.

Is Consistency Important?

When buying ice cubes, you don’t have control over the size of the ice cubes. They’re often stuck together too, and this can make them difficult to use. Also, large cubes take much longer to cool and melt – this is not useful for when you need them for making desserts or certain kinds of drinks where the customer doesn’t expect to navigate an iceberg in their drink and drink around it!

With a modular or integral ice maker fitted into the kitchen, ice cubes or flakes can be created in a consistent manner. The ice will be roughly the same size, and you avoid the nuisance of having huge chunks stuck together. With flakes especially, a machine is necessary to create them on the spot before they melt.

Extending the Menu

When you have an ice machine in your commercial kitchen, you’re free to add to your menu. Creating new desserts or drinks is going to please customers who enjoy trying new things. A shaved ice dessert on a hot summer’s day is globally popular and a sure-fire hit with kids and adults alike in your restaurant! Being able to use ice in different, creative ways extends what the chef can do. It also makes it much faster to deliver desserts and avoids the kitchen getting backed up.

It’s easy to forget to add an ice machine in the kitchen, especially when originally there wasn’t much of a dessert menu and drinks selection. Nevertheless, when raising your restaurant game against growing local competition, it’s important to offer more selection and be creative to continue to interest new customers and keep the regular ones coming back.