Commercial Modular Ice Makers

When the machine you have stops keeping up. If an underbench ice maker is running dry before the night is over, and adding a benchtop ice maker alongside it would not close the gap, a modular machine is the next step. Most underbench models max out at around 120 kilos of ice a day, while modular units go up to around 310 kilos, which is more than double.

Yes. The output is what the machine can make, not what it has to make. In the quiet season, or after a menu change, you can dial production back to what you are actually using instead of making ice that melts in the bin.

The thing to plan for is where the ice goes. Smaller underbench and countertop machines hold their own ice in the same cabinet. With a modular machine the bin does that job, so size the bin to the head and to your peak session. For moving ice out to the bar, an ice caddy keeps it clean and cuts melt on the way.

That comes down to what you serve, how much ice goes in each drink, and how much you want sitting in the bin before a rush. A venue with 100 seats or more serving plenty of chilled drinks, wine in buckets included, is usually looking at 200 kilos of ice a day or more. A modular machine covers that, and the point of the bin is that staff scoop from a full one rather than waiting on the machine between rounds.

The head sits on top and drops the finished ice straight into the bin below it, so the two are bought and installed as a pair. Bins are matched to the head's footprint and mounting, so check the pairing on the product page or ask us to confirm it.

The bin is insulated with a drain, not refrigerated the way a freezer is, so some melt is normal and the bin takes the water away. Ice keeps in it for a shift rather than indefinitely. Sizing an ice tub to the head is how you avoid both running out and making ice nobody uses.

Mostly the hard, slow-melting cube that suits spirits, cocktails and soft drinks. Some models will also make nuggets or flakes. If you like a machine but it only makes one shape, an ice crusher gives you a second option off the same machine.

In one practical way, yes: the head is a separate unit from the bin, so there is less to pull apart to get at it. Descaling, sanitising and filter changes are the routine jobs, and most units have removable panels and a drain designed to make them quick. Clean the bin on the manufacturer's schedule as well, and keep a dedicated scoop stored outside the ice.

Water, power, drainage and space. The machine needs a water supply and somewhere for the waste water to go, room for the cabinet, and clear air around the condenser so it can shed heat while it works. Check the clearance the maker asks for on the product page before the joinery goes in.

Water quality is the other one. Metro supply is generally low in minerals; outside the city, a filter stops scale building up inside the machine. Even on metro water, a filter is worth fitting if you want the clearest, cleanest-tasting ice you can get.

A modular machine is the highest-output format in the ice machines range, and it keeps making ice into the bin while the bar is drawing from it. That is the difference through a long Friday night: the bin is being refilled the whole time rather than emptied once and left.

Less walking and less juggling. One machine filling one bin means nobody is checking two cabinets, carrying ice from the kitchen to the bar mid-round, or deciding which machine has enough left in it. With more stored ice to draw on, the bar can keep its pace through a peak.