Commercial ice machine makers come in all shapes, sizes and uses. Whether supplying your customers with ice for soft drinks, making snow cones or shave ices in a beachside stand or producing tons of bagged ice daily to supply stores for resale, there are certain supplies you'll need to get the most out of commercial or industrial ice making machines.

You'll need to know where to order supplies for use with new machines or when needing to maintain used ice machines. When buying or leasing commercial or industrial ice makers, you should also remember to:

1. Buy supplies like bins, scoops and water filters to get the most use out of commercial ice machines.

2. Find bags, baggers, signage and even plant designs for large-scale ice plants that use industrial ice machines.

3. Get cups, cones, straws, flavors and portable carts to use with commercial shaved ice machines for your snow cone or shave ice business.

4. Know where to obtain replacement parts and service and parts manuals for maintenance of commercial ice machines.

Action Steps for Choosing Ice Machines
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find accessories and supplies for commercial ice machines

To best utilize commercial ice makers, buy supplies such as dispensers, portable or stationary bins, scoops and buckets. These supplies and accessories are available where you find ice machines for sale including manufacturers and restaurant suppliers.

I recommend: Buy ice dispensers, buckets for filling dispensers and bins, water filters, scoops and scoop holders from J.E.S. Restaurant Equipment. Restaurant Source carries portable ice caddies that keep ice cold for days via reservoirs to keep the ice out of any standing water. They also carry ice valets and dispensers for use in hotels. Katom Restaurant Supply sells a wide variety of ice scoops, funnels, buckets and other totes.

Secure supplies, service and consulting for packaging the products of industrial ice machines

When mass-producing ice to supply gas stations, grocery stores and other businesses with bagged cubed or block ice, you'll need to decide how you want to process your product. You have a variety of baggers, bags and sealing supplies from which to choose. You can even find online design ideas and ongoing support for your business.

I recommend: Find baggers, bags and sealing tape from Mission Restaurant Supply. Modern Ice offers bagging equipment, merchandisers, packaging supplies and custom ice signage. They also offer downloadable ice plant designs as well as project management, training and support for your large-scale ice production company.

Stock up on everything you need to make commercial shaved ice machines profitable

Make your shave ice or snow cone stand profitable by stocking up on supplies like cups, cones, straws, flavors and even portable carts or a wearable cup or cone holder to meet customer demand.

I recommend: Buy cups, ice scoops, signage, uniform shirts and even a business manual at 1-800-ShavedIce. ConcessionStands.com by Jarco Industries offers shavers for shaved ice and snow cone stands as well as flavor juice, cups, cones, straws and portable carts.

Know where to find replacement parts and service information for commercial ice making machines

As with any piece of equipment, you will eventually need to repair or upgrade ice makers you use for your business. Find parts such as pumps and water filtration systems online as well as online service manuals you can download and print.

I recommend: Find parts and service manuals for the models of the most popular commercial and industrial ice makers (Manitowoc, Scotsman and Hoshizaki) at PartsTown. Ice Machine Parts offers a variety of valves, compressors, evaporators, brackets and service manuals for repairing your Manitowoc machine. GalaSource sells remote condensers and water filtration systems for ice machines.

Tips & Tactics for Using Ice Makers

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Ask restaurant supply houses and ice machine manufacturers about maintenance agreements and manuals for new, used or leased equipment to make sure you know what repairs or replacement parts are readily available.

Ice is one of the simplest recipes ever — its preparation requires nothing more than time. But time is of the essence if you are in the restaurant business and you’ve run out of ice. Your best bet when starting any food service business is to purchase a commercial ice machine. Before you start shopping for commercial ice makers, you need to:

1. Figure out how much ice you will need each day.
2. Make sure your kitchen has plumbing in place to fill an ice machine.
3. Decide what type of ice you want to serve: cubed, shaved, round, etc.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose ice makers by the shape of the ice

Ice is a subjective thing. Some people love round pebble ice while others like to crunch on cubed or shaved ice. Before you purchase an ice machine, determine which shape will compliment the beverages you’ll serve

I recommend: IceAndWine.com and SamsClub.com offer a variety of ice making machines that make cubed ice. Atlanta Fixture lets you shop for commercial ice makers by the shape of ice including cubed, nugget and flaked ice.

Ice machines for shaved ice and snow cone ice

If you have a specialty snow cone shop or prefer shaved ice over cubed, you’ll want to find the right ice makers for the jobs.

I recommend: Learn the difference between shaved ice and snow cone ice and comparison shop for commercial ice machines at ConcessionStands.com. Find out how to choose the right ice machines and shop for shaved or snow cone ice machines at 1-800-Shaved-Ice.com. Check out manufacturers slush machines or of snow cone machines at Business.com.

Ice makers for block ice

Some ice machine manufacturers offer block ice making machines. You might be in the market for a machine that makes ice in blocks if you use it for industrial purposes to keep products cool or if you shave ice down from a block form.

I recommend: Automatic Ice Systems manufactures commercial ice machines that form ice into blocks. If your blocks will be used for shaved ice, you can choose a machine by how many blocks a day you need at FlavorSnow.com.

Portable ice makers

If your food service requires you to serve beverages away from your main location, for instance if you’re a caterer, you’ll want to invest in a small portable ice maker.

I recommend: Air-n-Water Inc. and Compact Appliance offer inexpensive — about $100 to $200 — small portable ice machines for sale that make 28 to 35 pounds of ice per day.

Ice makers/dispensers

One of the main uses for an ice machine is to cool beverages. Many restaurants opt to combine the ice machine with a soda fountain.

I recommend: Central Restaurant Products offers a large selection of countertop ice dispensers from a variety of ice machine manufacturers. Fixture King sells combination fountain drink and ice making/dispensing machines. Many of the restaurant suppliers listed at Business.com offer ice makers/dispensers.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Most modern ice machines have a shut-off switch that prevents them from overfilling the machine.
• •  Make sure you follow the manufacturers suggestions on water usage. If your municipal water supply is high in mineral content, you may need to buy an ice machine that filters the water or install a filter on the line that goes into the machine.
• •  Check with your local health department to keep up with the sanitation standards for ice machines. Ice dispensers are often found to harbor a lot of dangerous bacteria, including e-coli, if not properly and regularly sanitized.
• •  You can reduce energy costs by placing your ice machine in the coolest part of your building.

Commercial ice makers come in a large range of types and sizes. From the smaller capacity flaked ice machines for your drink counter to the large industrial ice making machines capable of producing tons of bagged ice chunks or blocks per day, you should consider the type and amount of ice you need when considering how much you need to spend when buying or leasing an ice maker.

The size, pricing and costs of commercial ice machines varies widely based on your need, the amount of space you have to accommodate it and the amount of money you can spend. Before investing in commercial ice makers for your business, you’ll need to consider the following:

1. Determine the type of ice – chunk, flaked, pellet and such – you want to serve your customers for drink consumption so you can decide which commercial ice machine makers to consider.

2. Consider the amount of ice you need to produce each day to determine the type of ice making machines that could best keep up with consumer demand while still keeping in your budget.

3. Look for used commercial ice machines to save money on costs.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose the type of ice you want to serve your customers with your ice machines

You'll find commercial ice machines for sale that produce any type of ice you think your customers will prefer. Decide if you'd like to serve cubes or chunks or the more easily consumed flaked, pellet or crushed ice.

I recommend: Commercial Refrigeration Service offers a wide range of commercial ice making machines with prices varying based on both type and production amount, from the smaller self-contained cube units starting around $1,300 to the largest modular chewable (flake, pellet or crushed) ice unit that runs as high as $6,000. They also offer lease-purchase agreements. Consolidated Foodservice provides undercounter cubers starting around $1,200, low profile cube flakers from $1,500 to $3,800 and the large capacity remote cuber ice machines running from $2,400 to $8,400.

Consider how much ice you need to produce each day with your ice machines

Your ice needs could range from supplying ice for customer drinks, icing down meat and seafood in a market or providing bagged ice on a large scale. The amount of ice you need each day and the space you have to produce and store the ice will determine what you'll have to spend to meet your needs.

I recommend: Katom Restaurant Supply sells undercounter machines, ice machine heads and head/dispenser combination machines, depending on the space you need for producing and storing ice. Their machines start around $1,700 for about 300 pounds of ice a day to around $8,700 for production of about 2,250 pounds a day. If needing ice in mass amounts, Automatic Ice offers machines producing from three to 100 tons of ice a day as well as packaging and storage equipment you’d need for a large-scale ice production business.

Price used ice machines to help save money when needing to buy ice makers or supplementary equipment

Whether you need a small ice machine for your diner or a machine that produces tons of ice a day to supplying bagged ice for resale, you can find used ice machines for sale that meet your needs.

I recommend: ACityDiscount.com offers a wide range of used ice makers for less than $1,000 as well as equipment such as bins and merchandisers for less than $200. Modern Ice sells used ice machines and other equipment for large-scale production, with used equipment from bag closers (around $800) to a used Keith Walking Floor model for around $50,000.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider maintenance costs in your budget when buying ice machines, such as water purification filters, sanitizing and parts.

At its simplest, the ice-making process requires only water and cold air. But if you need to produce a large amount of ice in a short period of time, you will need a quality commercial ice machine. However, before you begin to look for commercial ice machines, you should have a good understanding of terms—such as cubers, flakers and nuggets—that are used to describe different types of machines. You should also be familiar with industry language such as bins, block ice makers and ice dispensers.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Cuber

A cuber is a commercial ice maker that produces cube-style ice. Cubers are typically large machines that have a self-contained condenser and an ice storage capacity in the range of 30-50 pounds.

I recommend: Check out Atlanta Fixture & Sales Company for pictures of cubers and more information about them.

Flaker

A flaker is a commercial ice machine that produces ice in a flake style. Flakers are typically large machines with an ice storage capacity that is as high as 100 pounds or more.

I recommend: Galasource Ventures has excellent additional information about flakers.

Nugget

A nugget is a commercial ice machine that produces small, nugget-style ice cubes. Nuggets usually have a self-contained condenser and come with a stainless steel exterior.

I recommend: For examples of nugget-producing ice machines and their specs, check out Ice-O-Matic.

Bins

Bins are ice-storage units that can hold hundreds of pounds of ice. They are great for establishments that serve a high number of beverages in a short amount of time. An ice maker is mounted on top of the bin, so that the freshly-made ice empties directly into it.

I recommend: Instawares provides dozens of examples of bins, with detailed descriptions.

Block ice makers

Block ice makers are used to make large pieces of block ice. Models are either automatic, or they have to be manually filled with water. Block ice makers can be used to make extremely large pieces of ice that can be used in ice sculpting. However, they do not make ice very quickly.

I recommend: For more information about block ice makers, check out Automatic Ice. The company also provides the specs for several types of machines.

Ice dispensers

Ice dispensers dispense ice through a chute, typically when a button or lever is pushed. Ice dispensers are ideal for busy or public locations because they keep the stored ice clean. The ice never comes in contact with employees or customers until it is dispensed from the machine.

I recommend: Central Products has pictures and more information about several types of ice dispensers.