Rental+ Catering Equipment Review Show, Episode 22: Ice-O-Matic Ice Cube Machines 

Summary

Well-made and simple to use machines from one of the world’s best-backed refrigeration companies. No matter what the size of your business, Ice-O-Matic have a machine to fulfill your needs.

Pros

Simple to use

Compact

Efficient

Good to Know

Ensure you have pump version if you drain is above the level of the waste water from the machine

Ice-O-Matic

Ice-O-Matic are an American brand, owned by the world’s biggest food service equipment manufacturer the Ali Group. Ice-O-Matic were first made in 1970 and they designed the very first undercounter ice machine for bars, now, apparently, the most popular type of ice machine in the world. The machines themselves are actually manufactured in the EU.

The brand are distributed in the UK by Classeq, who we’ve profiled in another Catering Equipment Review Show.

Simple machine – great outcome

All ice machines work in a similar way  – a condenser chills a piece of metal which water is then passed over or sprayed onto the metal surface to form the cubes, and the metall is periodically heated to release the cubes into the storage hopper. Which gives the familiar ‘crunch’ from the machine as the latest batch of ice falls.

It’s vital in this day and age to have ice on tap – when the weather heats up people want their drinks chilled, and with modern trends such as iced cider, you are only going to find yourself needing more and more ice, so investing in a dependable machine is very important to any businesses serving food and drink to customers.

Ice-O-Matic Range

We won’t be looking at the whole range that Ice-O-Matic do in this post – we’ll be concentrating on those machines suitable for smaller and medium sized businesses.

Production capacity

The Ice range covers a wide range of needs. The smallest machine in the range, the ICEU36, produces 19kg of ice a day. The largest we’re looking at today, the ICEU206, produces 90kg.  They all produce the ‘shopt’ style ice cubes – the rounded ones with the dimple in the middle you get in most bars.

In the rest of the range, to give you an idea about capacity:

The ICEU36 is a great for small bars that need a small amount of ice a day – the machine’s hopper holds 6 kg of ice. The ICEU46 holds 8kg and produces 23kg of ice a day. The ICEU56 produces 28kg and holds 8.5kg. The ICEU66 produces 28kg a day and holds 15kg. The ICEU86 holds 15kg and produces 39kg a day. The ICEU106 holds 22kg and produces 46kg a day. The ICEU126 produces 57kg a day and stores 22kg. The ICEU146 stores 40kg and makes 75kg a day.  The ICEU186 stores 40kg and makes 88kg a day.

Sizes

It’s important to note that the machines increase in size significantly from the smallest to the largest – the ICEU36 is just shy of 60cm tall, just over 30cm wide and just over 50cm deep. The 46 and 56 are the same size, the 66 and 86  are the same and the 106 and 126 are the same.

The 46 and 56 are 64cm tall, 47cm wide and 52cm deep. The 66 and 86 are 69cm tall, 47cm wide and 57cm deep. The 106 and the 126 are 79cm tall, 47cm wide and 57cm deep.

The 146 is 91cm tall, 54cm wide and 60cm deep. The 186 is is 90cm tall, 70cm wide and 60cm deep. Finally the 206 is 97cm tall, 70cm wide and 60cm deep.

So you can see up to the 106 and 126 machines, you could conceivably fit these machines under a counter, and with the smallest, the 36, you could possibly even put it on a counter if needed. Once you reach the 146, and beyond, it might be difficult to fit them under a counter and you need to be thinking of giving the machine its own dedicated space.

Usability

These are very simple machines to use  – you can set them to on, off and wash – to clean the machine. It’s very hard to get things wrong with an Ice-O-Matic!

The machines are all front vented, which means you don’t have to worry about space around them to allow for good ventilation.

Conclusion

The Ice-O-Matic are dependable and well made, with incredibly easy operation and a size to suit any business. That’s why our customers love them – they are simple and dependable – what more could you want!

Learn More

If you are interested in a new Ice-O-Matic Ice Cube Machine, have a look at our range. We offer a variety of flexible procurement methods meaning that whatever your situation, and whether you want to rent or buy, we will have something that will suit you.  Click on the link below to see our complete range of Ice-O-Matic Ice Cube equipment.