If you’ve ever worked in any kind of hospitality industry that involved serving drinks, then you’ll know just how important ice can be. It’s used to make cocktails, to add to soft drinks and mixers, as well as for keeping drinks, glasses and ingredients chilled for maximum refreshment.

However, keeping on top of your ice needs and making sure you always have enough, and not too much, can be tricky. In short, it boils down to making sure you have the right size ice machine for your business. In order to work out how much ice you need, it is worth keeping track of how much you use during a 24 hour period. But even then, this can vary depending on the day of the week and time of year. For example, you will probably need less ice on a wet and cold Monday night in February than you will for a sunny bank holiday in August. So, to determine what size ice machine you really need, it might be best to take an average over a few days, including your busiest and quietest periods.

Another factor you need to think about is the kind of ice you need to produce. Will you need small or large cubes, or perhaps even crushed or flaked ice? Each of these requires a different capacity ice maker, so it’s worth bearing that in mind.

Another way of establishing what size ice machine you need is to do some rudimentary maths. This involves counting how many customers you get in an average day, and multiplying this by the number of ice cubes the average drink will need. So, for example, if you serve an average of 200 people a day, and each drink needs roughly 4 ice cubes, then you will need 800 ice cubes a day. It’s always good to give yourself a cushion, so add 25% for good measure and you’ll need the capacity to make and store around 1,000 ice cubes every day. This then informs what size ice making machine you will need.

But there’s still more to think about. You also need to consider the size of the ice machine you need and whether or not this will fit in a convenient place. You also need to remember that you won’t need all 1,000 cubes at the same time, so you will need a machine that can work on a constant setting, delivering the right amount of cubes, making sure you have enough to cover busier periods.

If you can use the above calculations to get a rough estimate of how much ice you need, and then overshoot this estimate to be on the safe side, then you can find an ice machine to suit your needs. Carry out a few simple measurement checks to make sure the physical size is acceptable for your needs, and that will help you to choose the right ice machine for your business. Check out the selection here in stock at Crown Supplies and you’re sure to find what you need.