Ice type and production is an important factor in deciding what ice machine will keep your business running smoothly!

Does ice type really matter when deciding what ice machine to buy? It does! The type of ice you need really depends on what your customers want. If you own a fish market you need an ice machine that produces ice that keeps perishables cold and fresh, so maybe top hat cubes aren’t the best. Simultaneously, if you own a bar you would not want flaked ice because it would melt quickly in your drinks.There are five types of ice that Hoshizaki models make: Edge Cube, Square Cube, Top Hat, Flaked, and Cubelet.

The Edge Cube is crescent shaped with one flat side and one round side. This ice type is best for beverages because its’ design allows more cubes to fit in glasses of all shapes and sizes. Models that make Edge Cube ice is the DKM-500BWJ, KM-80BAJ, and the KMS-822MLJ.

The Square Cube is that classic ice cube shape that we all know. It’s a hard and square. This ice type works best for beverages, but may not fit in all glass types. A model that makes the Square Cube is the IM-200BAB. The Top Hat Cube looks like a small glass top hat, which is an unusual ice type from the traditional square cube. This ice type works best for most beverages, and will fit most glasses. A model that makes the Top Hat Cube is the AM-50BAJ. Flaked ice is the most unusual of all these types. Flaked ice is soft, chewable, and fragmented. This ice works best for keeping pershiables cold like in a grocery store. The F-801MAJ makes the Flaked ice.

Finally, the last ice type Hoshizaki offers is the Cubelet. This type is a hybrid of the flaked and square cube ice. Soft, chewable, small, and nugget-shaped, it is perfect for beverages as well as keeping perishables cold. The cubelet has three sizes: mini, small, and medium. Finally, the models that make cubelet ice are the C-80BAJ (mini), F-1002MWJ-C (small), and the F-1501MA-C (medium).

Now that you know what ice type you need, then you may want to figure out how much ice you need for your business. This is a simple calculation! You take the pounds of ice your business uses daily multiplied by the number of daily customers served, and that should equal the pounds of ice your machine should produce to satisfy demand. For example, let’s say that you own a coffee shop here in town. You need ice for the iced coffees that make up 50% of your menu. You use 2 pounds of ice a day serving about 50 iced coffee drinkers day. This means that you need a machine that makes 100 pounds of ice a day. The KM-115BAJ would be the perfect match for this customer! This stainless steel unit with slide door produces around 116 pounds of ice per 24 hours. The front-in, front-out airflow keeps your machine running continuously. Removable air filter makes maintenance easy.

Determining the ice type and production that’s right for your business is the first step to figuring out which ice machine will be a perfect for you!