There's a particular look a bartender gets at 9pm on a hot Saturday when the scoop hits the bottom of the bin. It's the same look you'll get when they hand you the receipt for six bags of servo ice. Nine times out of ten the machine isn't broken. It was just sized for a Tuesday in July.
- Size off your busiest day, not your average one, then add a buffer.
- Rated output assumes mild conditions. A hot, cramped spot under the bar will make less ice than the spec sheet says.
- Output and storage aren't the same thing. The bin covers your rush; daily output refills it.
- Pick the ice type for what you serve: cube for drinks, granular for displays and blended work.
Ice is one of those things nobody budgets much thought for until it runs out. Then it's all anyone talks about. The good news is that sizing an ice machine isn't hard. You just need to be honest about how you actually use ice, and a little sceptical about the headline number on the brochure.
Work out what you really go through
Forget per-seat formulas for a minute and count what leaves the bin. A tall spirit and mixer takes a fair scoop. A cocktail shaken over ice and strained onto fresh ice uses it twice. Water jugs, iced coffees and smoothies all add up, and so does ice that never touches a glass: chilling down bottles in a tub, packing a seafood display, keeping salad bars cold or cooling stocks quickly.
The easiest way to get a real number is to measure it. If you're replacing a machine or currently buying bagged ice, track how many kilos you get through on your three busiest days. If you're opening fresh, estimate drinks per service on a big night, multiply by a rough weight per drink, and add your non-drink uses on top. Whatever you land on, add 20 to 30 per cent. You won't regret the buffer. You will regret running short at the wrong time.
Then remember that the daily output on a spec sheet is measured in comfortable conditions. Shove the same machine under a bar with no airflow, next to a glasswasher, in a Brisbane summer, and it will make noticeably less. Air-cooled machines need room to breathe. If the space is hot and tight, either size up or fix the ventilation. Ideally both.
Output, storage and ice type
Two numbers matter, and people tend to mix them up. Daily output is how much ice the machine can make in 24 hours. Storage is how much it can hold ready to go. A machine that makes 36 kg a day but only stores 15 kg won't save you if you need 25 kg in a two-hour rush, because it can't make ice that fast. For venues with sharp peaks, like a pub at knock-off time or a function room before speeches, storage is often the bigger worry. That's where a larger machine or a separate storage bin earns its keep.
Ice type matters too. Clear, hard cube ice melts slowly and looks good in a glass, which is what most bars want. Bullet ice is a decent all-rounder for smaller venues. Granular ice packs tightly, so it's the go-to for seafood and deli displays, chilling product, and blended drinks. If you mostly pour drinks, buy cube. If your fishmonger's counter is the star of the show, buy granular.
| Model | Format | Ice type | Rated output | Storage | Cooling | From (AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blizzard SN-25C | Under bench | Bullet | 25 kg class | — | Air | from $1,019 |
| Blizzard SN-80P | Under bench | 22 mm clear cube | Up to 36 kg/day | Approx. 15 kg | Air | from $1,353 |
| Blizzard SN-068F | Under bench | Granular | 60 kg class | — | Air | from $3,182 |
| Blizzard SN-128F | Freestanding | Granular | Up to 120 kg/day | 50 kg | Air | from $3,978 |
As a rough guide, the SN-25C and SN-80P suit cafes, small bars and restaurants where ice is mostly going into glasses. The SN-068F gives you granular ice without giving up floor space. The SN-128F is for venues where ice is part of the product, like seafood displays, busy delis or a bar that blends a lot. All four are WaterMark certified, which your plumber will want to see.
Before you sign off on one
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1Check water and drainage
You need a cold water feed and a drain close by, ideally with gravity fall. A drain pump is fixable, but it's one more thing to fail.
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2Give it room to breathe
Air-cooled machines dump heat into the room. Leave the clearances the manual asks for and keep them away from fryers, ovens and glasswasher steam.
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3Filter your water
Hard water scales up the evaporator and slows production. A filter costs far less than a service call. Change the cartridges on schedule, not when you remember.
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4Plan for cleaning
Ice is food, and inspectors treat it that way. Put a regular sanitise on the cleaning roster and make sure the bin is easy to get into.
Buy one size bigger than you think you need, put it somewhere cool, and you'll rarely think about ice again. That's the goal. If stepping up a size stretches the opening budget, equipment finance can spread the cost over the machine's working life. On a busy summer, the bagged ice you stop buying covers a fair bit of the repayment.
Never run dry on a Saturday again
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