Frozen and chilled drinks has gained in popularity making it absolutely necessary to have a proper ice cube maker in your premise. The starting point to this is of course to know how much ice you will need on a daily basis.
Production Capacity
Professional ice cube makers start from 30 Kg/ day and goes upto 300Kg+. It is very important to carefully estimate your requirement taking into consideration number of covers to be served, types of drinks, other areas, private catering requirement. Definitely it is advisable to procure a machine with higher capacity than your requirement. There are estimates available on the net which gives a rough working but it is for the responsible person to give a best estimate.
Storage Capacity
Ice cubers come with built in bins or seperate bins - you need to make sure the bin size is right as per your estimated requirement. Check if the machine will be providing ice to other outlet in the premises. For bigger ice cube machines like 160 Kg/ day production you can have quite a big storage bin.
Space / Location/ Connections
What is the available space? Do you need undercounter or you would like to store it in the store or kitchen? Make sure to get the exact measurement where you are going to install the machine so that it matches. And do not forget - ice cube makers need a water inlet and a drain besides electrical connection. It is also preferable that the water comes in chilled at around 10 degrees for optimum output.
Type of Water
What is the type of water that you have in the supply line? Will you be able to put a filter and maintain that regularly? Or is the water clear? It is suggested to use paddle type machines where the water quality is a doubt. Other than that spray machines though more expensive are more efficient.
Type of Ice Cubes
There is a variety of ice that you can get from the machine you choose. However each machine can only produce one type. Most common is of course the standard cube followed by the bullet type with a hole. Also available are the flake machines generally used for locations with big requirement of crushed ice.
Keeping the above basic points in mind it will ensure a smooth purchase and installation.