Commercial Flaked Ice
Flake ice is irregularly shaped with up to a 30% free water ratio. Poor maintenance and operating condition quickly and undesirably further increase the free water ratio. There are varying implementations of flaked ice between manufacturers. The concept of how flaked ice forms and its uses don’t commonly change. Flake ice displaces most of a beverage in a glass, so the ice-to-beverage ratio is very high, yielding higher profits and faster cooling. Ice begins forming very quickly after the ice machine starts up, allowing rapid “ice on demand.” With the ease of production, flake ice was once the most popular style of ice for soft drink use, as drink service is highly profitable to the facility due to beverage displacement and low cost of ownership. It does, however, melt quickly, particularly into beverages that have not been pre-chilled. The downside to the profitability aspect of flake ice is that the drinks served tend to become diluted (watered down), reducing the beverage quality and decreasing customer satisfaction. Some facility owners still use this type of ice for drinks due to the economics of replacing the commercial ice machine. Note that the commercial ice machine and the commercial ice maker refer to the same machinery; two terms for the same thing. When the flake commercial ice machine wears out, it should be replaced with an appropriate modern commercial ice machine suited for the beverage service at the facility.
Flake ice forms onto an evaporator by spraying or flowing water on the surface of the evaporator cylinder. An auger then scrapes the ice off, and the ice subsequently is pushed out and ejected into the storage bin. Flake ice is ready for use immediately after production, as it does not require any additional processing. The ranges of ice production rates are very high. Commercial flake ice machines can be quickly moved from site to site when installed on trailers and food trucks. One unique aspect of this type of ice is that it can be pressed into small ice blocks when preferred or required by the end customer.
Flake ice is perfect for providing packable ice used in seafood bars, salad bars, drink bars, and more displays. Because this ice quickly shapes, it can provide safe food storage temperatures, usually without physical damage to the food.
Other ideal uses for flake ice include therapeutic medical packs and food displays. When the flake ice is made with saltwater, this ice type is suitable for refrigerating fish storage onboard fishing vessels. Note that the commercial ice machine needed for fishing vessels is proprietary, since the water delivery systems are uniquely designed to compensate for the heaving and pitching of the vessel. Owing to the relatively lightweight characteristics of flake ice, the catch is not easily damaged, making it ideal for long-range transportation and preservation.
