Countertop Ice Maker

Matt Sawyer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:53:40 +0000

Welcome to the site on Countertop Ice Makers. I have tried to include everything from the smallest ice makers to the ones that border on the professional side. You will find all sizes and types here, from the sophisticated and expensive, to the cheaper brands that might suit you just fine. The ice maker has come a long way since the early days when ice was quite a commodity. The term ice box comes from when perishable goods were stored in a wooden box and ice was purchased and put around the perishables. Later this changed to metallic boxes and smaller chillers were developed and made into refrigerators. Smaller still is the modern day countertop ice maker which is used mainly for parties or where ice is used often in the household.

Magic Chef Countertop Ice Maker
One of the most popular is the Magic Chef Countertop Ice Maker which is perfect if you find yourself buying those bags of ice from the convenience store. It makes ice as quickly as six minutes and about 30 pounds of ice in 24 hours. It has a four pound capacity, but some people said that it didn’t keep the ice cold very long. So with this model you should probably be ready to use the ice as you go. Ice is made quickly so you can keep filling the water tray. Another issue with the Magic Chef was that some say it wasn’t very reliable and would quit working after a few months. There is a one year warranty on the unit and many have been sold without issue.

Countertop Crushed Ice Maker
I did find a machine that made both cubes and crushed ice. It is the Whynter SNO ICE-100S and runs around $350. It’s portable, too, and a lot of people like it. There is a direct hose connection, if you want it to be a little more permanent in your home. It draws water from a 3 gallon tank and keeps making cubes but will dispense them crushed on demand. There are a few other units on the market that make crushed ice, but keep in mind that the machine has to actually masticate the cubed ice.

Waring Pro Professional Countertop Ice Maker
This was a real cool unit and I’m not sure why Waring discontinued it, but if you can find one still out there on the ‘net, buy it. It can make about 35 pounds of ice a day and has simple LED controls that let you set cube size, cycles, and how fast the unit should run. There is an ice storage basket and small cubes can be served up in about 8 minutes. Talk about sweet. But I would try all the online stores that have sold the Waring Pro Professional Countertop Ice Maker and see if there is one still in stock.

Best Countertop Ice Maker
If you had to pin me down, I’d probably go with the Haier line of countertop ice makers because overall I believe most people have been satisfied with them over any other brand. That is not to say you can’t get a good ice maker with another brand, it is simply to say according to my research they had fewer problems and did a better job at what they were designed to do.

Countertop Ice Maker » Perishable Goods

Countertop Ice Maker