On Thin Ice

HOW TO: BAR TOOLSHOW TO

Ice machine tips for reopening bars and restaurants.

As state COVID-19 restrictions ease, bars and restaurants everywhere are preparing to reopen with their customers’ safety in mind. A commercial ice machine is one appliance the food industry can’t operate without. If you’re planning on reopening your business

BY JOHN MAHLMEISTER

soon, there are some things you can do to ensure your ice machine is ready to start serving customers as well!

Schedule a Preventive Maintenance Visit from a Qualified Ice Machine Service Commercial ice machines require two preventive maintenance visits per year— provided they are installed in a relatively safe area. Certain areas, like bakeries, breweries, or busy kitchens, produce a high level of airborne particles that enter ice machines and require more cleaning.

During a preventive maintenance visit, an ice machine technician will optimize the machine for maximum

performance and clean out any dirt, mold, or scale that might have formed.

If it’s been a while since you’ve had preventive maintenance performed on your ice machine, now is the time to schedule a visit. Mold may have formed in the machine while you were away (especially if the ice machine was still running while your business was closed).

Preventive maintenance will also ready the ice machine for an influx of business. The last thing you want is your ice machine breaking down while welcoming your customers back.

Prepare Your Ice Machine for Service If you’ve called an ice machine service to clean, repair, or perform maintenance on your ice machine, there are some things you can do to cut service costs.

An ice machine technician needs room to work on an ice machine. If containers or boxes are surrounding the ice machine, you will have to move them before the technician gets started.

Also, if the ice machine is too close to a wall or fixture, the technician will have a harder time servicing the ice machine, which will take more time.

Ice machine service companies generally charge labor by the hour. If you need to move boxes, containers, or the ice machine itself, you’re likely paying for that time out of your pocketbook. The same goes if the technician took extra time to service the machine because he couldn’t reach vital ice machine components.

If you have an ice machine technician coming to your bar or restaurant, make sure the area around your ice machine is clear of debris. If there is a large fixture blocking the ice machine, like a shelving unit or other appliance, try moving it at least 2 feet away from the ice machine.

The easier it is for a technician to work on your ice machine, the less he’ll charge in labor costs.

Turn the Machine Back On 24 Hours Before Opening Each ice machine model is rated to produce a specified amount of ice a day. That means if you own a 600-lb ice machine, it will take a full 24-hours for that machine to produce 600 lbs of ice.

If you shut your ice machine off while your business was closed, you want to make sure you have a full bin of ice to serve your customers the day they return. Make sure you turn your ice machine back on 24-hours before you plan on opening your doors.

Each ice machine brand is different, so make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to turn your ice machine back on.

If you shut off the water supply to your ice machine when you turned it off, make sure to open your water line

NEW ICE MACHINE’S “SPHERE” OF INFLUENCE “The interest in premium, specialty drinks (mixology) has increased water from the bottom up into the evaporator chamber until the contamination, O’Hern says the use of tongs is always in the North American market over sphere has been fully formed. The recommended when handling or the past few years. This has driven machine’s small footprint allows it serving the ice spheres. the demand for large specialty ice to easily fit under a bar counter. It Additional benefits of using a cubes,” says Jon O’Hern, vice includes a 36-pound capacity built- machine versus a mold includes president of Sales – US and Canada in storage bin, an easy-to-clean air faster ice production and less labor for Hoshizaki America. filter, and a closed water circuit required to make the cubes. The ice To meet this demand, Hoshizaki that offers the ultimate is also much clearer and harder,

America released its Sphere contamination protection. making the spheres longer lasting

Undercounter Ice Machine this past A reduced risk of contamination and aesthetically appealing. summer. “Hoshizaki has been is just one of the benefits of using —Ashley Bray making the sphere cube for other an ice machine to create ice markets throughout the world for spheres versus molds as there is many years,” says O’Hern, “it was limited human involvement. “With just a matter of modifying the unit limited human interaction, the to be compliant with North chance for cross contamination

American standards.” from contact is reduced,” says

The machine is the only one on O’Hern. “In addition, the way the the market to make sphere ice, and ice is made (continuous water it creates 15, 1.8-inch spheres at a supply) makes for very hard / clear time for a total of up to 50 pounds ice when compared to ice from (500 spheres) of ice in 24 hours. molds. When ice is made from

Each spherical chamber is formed molds, it freezes everything in the by upper and lower half-domes mold, including any impurities in that come together to form the the water.” sphere using a nozzle that injects To further prevent the risk of

THE IMPORTANCE OF ICE MACHINE SANITATION

Cleaning and sanitation bacterias and fungi that form a processes were always slimy buildup,” says Erickson. “As important in bars and restaurants, the ice machine draws surrounding but they have become more air into the machine as part of the essential than ever in the age of cooling process, it can collect COVID-19. A lot of attention has yeast, dust, grease, and viruses in been paid to sanitizing high-touch the air, which settle and often form and communal areas, but don’t pink, grey, or black biofilm that can forget to add your ice machine to come into contact with the ice you the list of things that need to serve your customers.” be disinfected. Improper cleaning can also

“With the increased focus on cause biofilm and scale buildup to sanitation, we’ve found that impede moving parts on your sometimes operators and staff machine and cause them to wear aren’t aware that the inside of the out earlier. Maintain your machine needs to be accessed and investment by scheduling regular cleaned,” says Bo Erickson, vice maintenance and cleaning president and managing director of appointments. Manitowoc Ice. “Since ice is Manitowoc recommends consumed, it’s considered a food preventative maintenance product, and so it’s very important cleanings twice annually. that cleaning the ice machine However, the company cautions becomes part of the standard that each situation is unique. If a protocol for your operation.” machine is located in a

Erickson says there are two microbrewery or a facility where separate cleaning processes that breads or pizzas are made, it will should be done: descaling to probably have more exposure to remove scale buildup and yeast, so additional cleanings sanitizing to remove biofilm may be necessary. Water and contaminants. conditions also play a role, and

“Biofilm is a collection of operations in areas with heavy microorganisms comprised of lime and mineral content in the water supply should de-scale equipment more frequently. Manitowoc recommends using a water filtration system with a prefilter to take out hard sediments, and a water filter to remove microorganisms in the water.

Manitowoc’s ice machines also come equipped with many sanitation features. For example, Manitowoc’s flagship ice machine, the Indigo® NXT, has over 15 standard and optional sanitation features. Standard features include a front-facing evaporator and a hinged door for easy visual inspection of the foodzone; rounded corners on plastics in the foodzone for easier wipe downs; and an interactive easyTouch display, which guides the operator step-by-step through the cleaning process and records when the machine has been cleaned.

Optional features include LuminIce, which uses UV-C spectrum light to defend against viruses and bacteria. It releases cold oxygen plasma, which helps to prevent the growth of biofilm. iAuCs is an automated cleaning device, which lets you automatically schedule machine cleanings. It’s most effective when paired with LuminIce because the iAuCS device can descale the machine while the LuminIce device keeps the machine cleaner, longer, which should result in fewer overall preventative maintenance cleanings.

All of Manitowoc’s machines have one-touch cleaning and many automatically return to producing ice after cleaning.

Erickson provides a few final sanitation tips: Always use an NSFapproved scoop when serving to avoid touching the ice. Minimize the number of times that the ice is being accessed as every opening of the bin door exposes the ice to contaminants in the air. And finally, don’t store anything in the bin (like bottles or cans) as this exposes the ice to all the contaminants that were carried in on the item. —Ashley Bray

BEFORE turning the machine back on. Running an ice machine without water going to it can cause damage to the unit.

Prepare New Safety Protocols for Your Employees Following state health guidelines can help prevent the spread of diseases like coronavirus, but protecting your customers starts with your employees.

Ice machines are not known to attract bacterial or viral contaminants. The most common way ice machines spread illnesses is when employees don’t follow ice handling best practices.

Just as with food, employees need to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water before handling ice. While pathogens won’t survive very long on an ice cube’s surface, many can survive the trip from the ice machine to the table.

Cleaning and disinfecting hightraffic surfaces of the ice machine throughout the day will help reduce the chances of accidental contamination. Placing a supply of hand sanitizer or disinfecting wipes near the machine is an excellent way to encourage clean habits while using the ice machine. The cleaner the surface of the ice machine is, the less chance it will transport contaminants from one employee to another.

It’s Always the Right Time for Ice Machine Care Each of these tips will help you prepare your ice machine for returning business. With the exception of turning on your machine, business owners should consider following these tips year-round.

Keeping your ice machine in peak performance is a best practice for all seasons. Not only will your customers always have safe, sanitary ice, but a well-performing ice machine will save your business in utility costs. The smoother your machine runs, the less water and energy it will use.

Overall, if you treat your ice machine well, it will treat you and your customers well. Neglect it, and it will cause you an unnecessary headache.

Officer and Co-Founder of Easy Ice. Easy Ice is co-headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona and Marquette, Michigan, and is the national leader in the full-service ice machine subscription industry with warehouse and distribution facilities in Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, and Orlando. Since its founding in 2009, the company has rapidly grown its ice machines under management to 25,000 units across 47 states. Easy Ice’s commercial ice machine subscription programs include installation, cleaning, preventive maintenance, repairs, backup ice, and peak demand ice. The company operates under three brands: Ice Masters in Kansas and Missouri; Automatic Icemakers in Chicago; and Easy Ice in all other cities and states. For more information, visit easyice.com.

ADD PIZZA TO YOUR MENU, SELL MORE ALCOHOL!

Bake & serve in 3 minutes

» No kitchen? Serve directly from your bar! (no need for suppression system or hood) » Mistake-proof, plug-and-play solution » 100% natural, authentic Italian pizza » COVID-19 food safety compliant!

First Case of Pizza on Us!

When You Schedule a Virtual Demo at https://calendly.com/donnaitalia/ and subscribe to the Donna Italia pizza service