Commercial Ice Maker — 30KG to 120KG/24H Production | High-Efficiency Cube Ice Machine for Foodservice & Beverage Operations

Product Overview

Most foodservice kitchens do not need an avalanche of ice. They need the same amount, freshly made, every day, in a machine that fits where the work actually happens. The ESK series is a commercial cube ice maker built around that idea: six compact models producing 30 kg to 120 kg of cube ice per 24 hours, each with its own insulated storage bin of 18 kg to 45 kg.

A single machine from a commercial ice maker supplier usually replaces a chest freezer full of bagged ice and the daily run to fetch more of it, so one footprint does the making and the holding. These machines end up at the back of a coffee bar, beside the taps in a cocktail bar, under the pass in a restaurant, at the end of a milk tea counter and behind seafood displays where crushed bag ice used to go.

Every model is air-cooled, runs on a 220 V/50 Hz supply and is set up from a digital panel on the front, so the person using it can see what is happening without calling a technician. The cabinets are compact enough to slot into a counter run that already exists, and the stainless finish copes with a working kitchen.

Key Features

• A single-channel ventilation path pulls air through the cabinet and discharges it away from the working side, so heat does not build up around the condenser during a long shift.
• The ice compartment and storage bin are lined in food-grade PE: smooth, neutral in taste and odour, and quick to wipe down at the end of the day.
• An automatic water drainage system carries melt water out of the cabinet instead of letting it pool in the base, which is why the cubes come out clearer and the machine stays drier.
• Stainless steel body panels take knocks and splashes in a working kitchen and clean down with a normal food-safe spray.
• The storage bin sits directly under the ice head, so ice falls in as it is made and is scooped from the front panel — no trays to carry and no second cabinet to open mid-service.
• Everything needed to run sits inside the one cabinet; there is no separate ice head, bin or condensing unit to site and connect.

Model Range and Specifications

Sizing the Machine to Your Service

1. Start from your busiest day, not the weekly average. Count the drinks that leave the bar or counter during the busiest shift, then add the ice that goes into displays, ice buckets, seafood counters and salad bars. That peak is the figure to size the commercial cube ice maker against.
2. Treat the bin as the buffer, not the output figure. Daily output is a 24-hour total; the bin is what gets you through a two-hour rush. A bar turning drinks fast wants the larger bin, while a café serving steadily through the morning can work from a smaller one.
3. Move up the range in steps. Output climbs evenly from 30 kg to 120 kg, so choose the model whose figure sits just above your peak requirement rather than the largest machine you can afford — an oversized unit cycles less often and wastes space you could use for service.
4. Check the footprint against the run you already have. Measure height and depth as well as width, because the models with the bigger bins are also the taller cabinets, and leave the ventilated side clear of walls and other equipment.
5. Match the bin to your scooping routine. If staff refill a service counter or a display several times a shift, the larger bin removes those trips; if ice is used straight into glasses, a smaller bin under the same head is easier to keep fresh and clean.

Typical Installations

• Coffee shops and cafés. One machine behind the counter covers espresso service, iced drinks and the water jugs going out to tables, and it takes over from the bags of ice bought in each morning.
• Milk tea and juice counters. These counters live on cube ice and queue speed, so a cube ice machine within reach of the shaking station lets staff scoop and go without leaving the counter.
• Bars and cocktail lists. Ice is a ingredient here, not a garnish: hard, clear cubes sit in the glass without collapsing, and the bin holds enough for the second round of the evening.
• Independent restaurants. For a kitchen running lunch and dinner, this is the classic ice machine for foodservice operations — it sits near the pass and fills the service wells and the bar at the same time.
• Seafood and fresh display counters. Cubes are laid as a bed under fish and shellfish through the day, replacing crushed bag ice that melts into the tray and has to be drained.
• Hotel breakfast and buffet service. The machine covers the morning rush and then sits quietly until the next service, which suits a unit that restarts and cycles on its own.

Product Advantages

One range, several site sizes. Because output climbs in even steps and every cabinet shares the same build logic, a group can standardise on one series across a small espresso bar, a full restaurant and a hotel pantry, and keep cleaning routines, staff training and spare-part planning identical across all of them.

Small enough to fit an existing run. These are freestanding cabinets, not built-in fixtures, so a cube ice machine can go into a back room, under a counter overhang or into a service corridor that was never designed around refrigeration.

Simple for staff to use. Ice is scooped from the front, the control panel is on the front, and there is nothing to assemble at the start of a shift — which matters in operations where the person opening the bar is not the person who specified the equipment.

Consistency between containers. As a commercial ice maker supplier shipping from a single Foshan line, we build every unit to the same specification, so the second container matches the first and a chain does not end up with two subtly different machines in two stores.

A machine you can grow with. A site that starts on a mid-range model can add a larger one later without changing supplier, cleaning regime or service arrangements.

Ice Quality and Daily Operation

• Cube ice comes out clear and hard, so it stacks in the glass and melts slowly instead of watering down the drink halfway through service.
• The machine works to a steady cycle rather than reacting to how full the bin is, which keeps output close to its rated figure across a long shift.
• A digital panel on the front shows cycle status and lets staff adjust the setting without moving the cabinet or calling a technician.
• The same cube suits glass service and display work — highballs, soft drinks, ice buckets, seafood beds and buffet presentation all read well with a clear cube.
• It is switched on at opening and runs through to closing; the machine cycles, drops and refills on its own, so nobody has to stand over it between orders.

Reliable Ice Production in Busy Service

Service never arrives evenly. A restaurant pulls almost nothing between three and five, then empties the bar wells in twenty minutes, and a cocktail bar runs two identical peaks a night. For any ice machine for foodservice operations, the real test is the second service of the day, not the first: the machine has to still be cycling at full rate while the bin is being emptied around it. Because the ice head and the bin are sized together, production continues through the rush instead of catching up afterwards.

If the power or the water supply drops, the unit stops rather than running dry and picks up again by itself when service is restored — nobody has to remember to restart it at the beginning of a shift.

Placement decides how hard the machine has to work. A unit tucked between ovens and a fryer runs hotter than one with a clear path for the air leaving the cabinet, so keep the ventilated side free and away from cooking equipment. At the end of the day the machine is left to finish its cycle and switched off, and the bin is emptied and left to dry rather than topped up overnight.

Energy-Saving Cooling and Running Costs

• Heat is pushed out through one ventilation path instead of collecting inside the cabinet, and a cooler cabinet is a cheaper cabinet to run through a long shift.
• Because the condenser is air-cooled, there is no condenser water to buy, treat or pump — a real saving in markets where process water is metered.
• The whole range runs on a single-phase 220 V supply, and even the largest model draws a modest load, so an existing site does not need an electrical upgrade to take one.
• Ice is made as the bin empties rather than bought in bulk and left to melt, which removes the dumped leftovers at the end of a shift.
• A machine that holds its output through the day means one unit where two smaller ones might otherwise be installed, and one running cost instead of two.

Certifications

Manufacturing and Pre-Shipment Testing

The ESK range is built at our Foshan site in Guangdong, a 50,000 m² plant running a fully automated production line with laser cutting, CNC bending, foaming, coating and automatic packing. Cabinet panels are cut and folded to tight tolerances before assembly, and the key components — compressor, digital controller and refrigeration circuit — are selected and checked before they go into a cabinet.

As a commercial ice maker supplier working with importers and chain buyers, we test rather than hope. Every unit goes through a pre-shipment sequence that includes cooling performance and temperature stability testing, a 24–48 hour continuous aging run, electrical safety checks covering insulation, leakage and overload protection, temperature control calibration, and a final structural and appearance inspection. Only units that pass the full sequence are packed for export.

That routine matters more on an ice maker than on a display cabinet, because the machine runs wet, hot and continuously. A unit that has already survived a two-day aging run is far less likely to be the one that fails in a customer's first busy weekend.

OEM Programmes and After-Sales Support

• OEM and ODM builds are standard: cabinet size, colour, function set and branding can be set to the specification you send for a private label or a project roll-out.
• Factory-direct supply means the order is placed with the manufacturing site, with stable production capacity for repeat orders and container programmes rather than one-off lots.
• Export support covers documentation, labelling and packing requirements for international buyers; confirm your destination's specific requirements with your sales contact when you enquire.
• One team handles ice makers, beverage coolers, freezers and showcases, so a mixed container can be specified and supported through the same contact.
• Fast communication on quotations, technical questions and after-sales issues, with the same person following the order from confirmation to shipment.
• Ask about a spare-part kit for your market before the first container ships; stocking the common service items locally keeps a machine running while a replacement is in transit.

Ordering and Delivery

1. Tell us the model and the market. Share the model you have chosen, the voltage and plug standard for your destination, and where the machine will be installed so the specification can be checked before production.
2. Confirm the order quantity. Minimum order quantity, mixed-model containers and trial quantities are confirmed by your sales contact against current production rather than assumed from a catalogue.
3. Agree lead time and payment terms. The production slot and payment schedule are set out in the order confirmation, along with the packing specification for the shipment.
4. Agree packing and shipping. Export packing, labelling and shipping arrangements are confirmed per order and per destination before the container is booked.
5. Confirm the After-Sales Support & Warranty arrangement. Every order is backed by an After-Sales Support & Warranty arrangement confirmed in writing with your sales contact, together with the technical documentation for the model you have ordered.

Cleaning & Hygiene Routine

1. Give the scoop a home before the first service. A scoop left standing in the bin has been in every glass in the room, so keep it in a holder or a dedicated sanitiser jar beside the machine, and train staff to use it rather than a glass or a jug. Glass chips and torn plastic in a bin are the contamination this routine exists to prevent.
2. Wipe the bin between fills. The ice compartment and storage bin are lined in food-grade PE — smooth, neutral in taste and smell — so a food-safe sanitiser and a clean cloth are enough for the walls, the base and the lip where ice falls in. Let the liner dry before the next drop instead of refilling over a wet surface.
3. Check the drain every day. On an ice machine for foodservice operations the bin is a food surface, so a damp base matters: the automatic water drainage system carries melt water out of the cabinet, and if the outlet is blocked or the tray is sitting in water, the base stays wet and the ice picks up a stale taste.
4. Clean the front as often as the bin. Door lines, the control panel and the scoop handle collect syrup and splash through a shift; a daily wipe keeps up the appearance of a cube ice machine your customers can see and catches the mess before it reaches the ice.
5. Hold the evaporator and water circuit to a written schedule. The manual that ships with the machine sets the interval for descaling and cleaning the water circuit, and that date belongs on the kitchen cleaning rota with a name beside it rather than in someone's memory. Follow it closely if your water is hard, because scale shows up in the cube long before it shows up as a breakdown.
6. Do not top up ice that has been sitting. Ice left in the bin since the previous service is already melting and has had every scoop through it; empty and clean the bin at the end of a quiet period and start fresh rather than layering new ice over old.
7. Make the routine part of staff training, not the manual. Five actions — scoop in its holder, wipe the bin, check the drain, clean the front, record the date — fit on one sheet on the wall, and a sign-off line turns them into something the shift does. Show new staff the inside of the bin, not just the on/off switch; the ice is only as good as the last person who cleaned it.
8. Include the air path in the weekly clean. Dust and kitchen grease on the condenser grille make any commercial cube ice maker run hotter and longer, and a machine working harder makes softer ice. Wipe the ventilated side and the grille with the rest of the kitchen equipment, and keep crates and stock from blocking that side.

ESK Series Air-Cooled Ice Makers: CB, CE, ETL, NSF, ISO9001 and TÜV Certified

Scale & Supply Capability

ESCOLO has manufactured commercial refrigeration equipment in Foshan, Guangdong since 2010, and the team now numbers more than 800 people. Fifteen-plus years in the trade, a network of 3,000+ qualified partner factories and an annual output of 200,000+ units let us run container-scale programmes and repeat orders for supermarket, convenience and foodservice buyers. OEM and ODM work is standard: size, colour, function and your own branding are set to the specification you send. Factory audit, pre-shipment inspection, consolidated shipping and after-sales support are handled in-house.

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