As I look out the window into the frozen tundra, I’m thinking about ice. Ice on the windshield of my car, ice in the roads, ice that I’ve been scraping off the parking lot for days. It all starts off as pristine fluffy white snow. We make snowmen, snow angels, some even make homemade slushies or ice cream. (Have you seen this snow ice cream thing? I love the idea, but have never tried it.) Within just a few short days, that pristine white fluff turns into dirty, grey frozen ick that no one would want to put in their face, ever.
It makes me think about ice machines. Because it’s a similar story. A new ice machine starts off all clean and sparkly, but before you know it, it’s full of ick just like that nasty stuff on the side of the road a few days after a blizzard. We’ve all heard the horror stories, right? Restaurants who NEVER and I mean, NEVER clean their ice machines, putting their filthy bacteria and slime-laden ice into what used to be your delicious cold beverage. ICK. Just, ick. So, I’m digging out and ‘oldie but a goodie’ blog about the importance of cleaning your ice machine. Don’t be that restaurant. Because no one wants dirty ice in their face.
Normally I’m not much of a germophobe, but there’s something about the idea of slimy ice that gives me the willies. I think the assumption most people make is that since ice is frozen, it’s automatically clean. Once you’ve seen the insides of a few neglected ice machines, you might change your tune. Did you know that the industry-recommended standard for ice machine maintenance is once per … [Read more…]