Ice makers
Submitted by Dale on Sun, 2010-03-07 17:11
Howdy all, I'm thinking about buying an ice maker. I'm seeing all different types from ones that will make 18kg a day, but only take a couple of litres of water each time, so you need to be on top of that to get enough ice obviously, to bigger commercial ones that are plumbed to a water line and produce 30-40 kgs of ice a day. You can pick up one of these for about a grand. Anyone else out there doing there own ice on a large scale? I tend to use about 10 kgs of ice every time I go out, so it will probably pay for itself pretty well over time.
Cheers
Dale
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"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Dale, I'm pretty cheap but I
Dale, I'm pretty cheap but I just freeze 2l icecream buckets in the chest freezer. You can rack up a bunch at a time. The cubes melt too fast to be too useful, but the 2l blocks last quite well.
scottscurious
Posts: 236
Date Joined: 17/03/09
2l icecream buckets? my nana
2l icecream buckets? my nana uses plastic bags! as long as no holes in the bag it works a treat :D
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Technically you only want
Technically you only want enough water in the mix to allow the contact between the fish and the ice, so you need to be able to let water out over the day.
Plastic bags aren't reuseable in that sense, I don't take the plastic icecream containers with me, I just pop the iceblocks out again and again.
STEVE231
Posts: 1443
Date Joined: 05/01/10
Ice
I do exactly the same as Till, freeze 6 or so 2 litre ice cream containers at a time. Last all day.
dtr
Posts: 55
Date Joined: 12/08/07
I used to do the 2 litre
I used to do the 2 litre containers till we got an ice machine at work....raid it on a Friday arvo, but the ice seems to last all weekend if the esky is full of ice.
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Thats a different case -
Thats a different case - assuming you have to pay for ice cubes, and you aren't getting an esky load for free, then the amount you're likely to use is going to melt too fast in a slurry.
2l is an easy compromise between long lasting block ice not melting fast enough to cool the fish, and the way that icecubes just vanish when exposed to seawater.
Edit: can you poach some from work for me =)
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Thanks for your comments
Thanks for your comments guys, I always like to have an ice slurry in the esky when fishing and after spending 15 bucks or so at the servo each time, it soon adds up. It always lasts all day too as a rule. I like to have some ice available for when I need to put a box of beer on ice or something as important as that. Priorities need to be in the right order huh, but for BBQ's and overnighters with the lads somewhere always calls for plenty of ice, so I can easily justify an ice machine I guess. A bigger commercial model will not take up much room in the garage and that's under the main roof and oh so close to a water pipe and power outlet, so I guess it's solved then.
Cheers
Dale
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18026
Date Joined: 11/03/08
just a word of advice, the
just a word of advice, the ice machines are great but they do chew the power. we had one at our first shop and stopped using it and noticed a big drop in the power usage
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
G'day FF, Yeah I understand
G'day FF, Yeah I understand that side of it. Will probably only run it when I'm on days off etc.
Cheers
Dale
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf