What Water is Best for an Ice Machine and Why Does Boiled Water Freeze Faster?
Ice machines and cube cocktails became a popular innovation in different spheres like cocktail crafting, catering, making ice sculptures and others. In this article we will talk about the important aspect of how to choose the best water for your ice block maker machine and get incredible results all the time.
Why Choosing the Right Water is Crucial for Your Ice Machine
Using the right water supply for ice maker is a significant moment that will have a positive impact on the final result. That is why you need to learn everything about this before starting to make your ice.
Why Choosing the Right Water is Crucial for Your Ice Machine
Talking about ice machine operation, you need to have the clear understanding that the right type of water will make your equipment work longer. As an example, distilled water has no contaminants and it is a benefit for your ice maker. Instead, tap water or boiled water contain some minerals, which can produce scale in your ice machine. Scale can affect negatively on proper operation of your equipment. In this case you should clear and descale the machine regularly.
According to the information above, choosing the right and distilled water for an ice maker is what you absolutely need to get a tasty cool drink and long-term equipment.
Key Parameters for Choosing Water for Ice Makers
To get the perfect result of making ice cubes, be sure that you use the right type of water. Keep in mind that crystal clear water from the first point of view can have a lot of minerals, bacterias and substances in it. The main parameter for choosing water is filtered and distilled without impurities. This is the ideal material for making ice cubes.
Reverse Osmosis vs. Simple Filtration: What to Choose?
To remove water hardness while using your ice maker machine it is important to choose the right type of ice machine water filter. It will affect the final result and water quality, so be sure you find the right kitchen water filtration system before starting the process.
Benefits of Carbon Filters for Ice Makers
The main purpose of using a carbon filtration system is to reduce chlorine from water. Except this you can also remove other contaminants from water. High quality carbon filters can remove much more contaminants to get the best water for an ice maker.
The main benefits of carbon filtration are:
- water hardness;
- reduce bacterias, chlorine and a huge amount of other contaminants;
- make water tasty and suitable for the next freezing;
- reduce unpleasant odors from water.
It looks like carbon filters are one of the best ways to have access to water with no contaminants.
When to Use Reverse Osmosis Systems
Osmosis systems can remove a lot of contaminants from water, like: chlorine, fluoride, salt, sediment, arsenic, VOCs, PFAS, microplastics, heavy metals and others. But keep in mind that the reverse osmosis system doesn’t remove bacterias and viruses. In practice these systems can remove some bacterias, but they will leave in the membrane and can get into the water over time. So, you can bravely use this type of kitchen water filtration system in the case when you are sure your water absolutely has no bacterias and viruses.
This type of filtration system is also one of the most popular to make high water quality for ice makers.
Why Does Boiled Water Freeze Faster: The Mpemba Effect
If you are about fast water freezing and quickly ice cubes creating, most likely you have heard about the Mpemba effect. So why does boiled water freeze faster? Let’s talk more about it to learn all necessary details and how they affect ice quality.
What Is the Mpemba Effect?
When we talk about the Mpemba effect, it can be simply explained with the help of an example. When a vessel with water is placed in a freezing environment, different parts of it freeze at different times. The water around the outskirts of the vessel becomes cold faster. So, when water is boiled (for example 212 degrees, like Mpemba describes) there is some steam on the top and it helps to decrease the water volume which needs to be freezed.
With the help of this effect you can truly get your ice cubes quickly, it is a great advantage, especially if you need it for a special event.
How It Can Improve Ice Quality in Ice Block Makers
Except for the fast freezing process, Mpemba effect also can improve the ice cubes quality. When you freeze cold water, often you can see a layer of frost on the surface and it can insulate the water from freezing for some period of time.
The main advantage of this effect is that it helps to equilibrium on water surface and as the result – homogeneous freezing of ice cubes.
How Different Types of Water Affect Ice Maker Performance and Freezing
A lot of people don’t know what type of water to use in an ice maker. To reach the best result ever, try to learn the advantages and disadvantages of all water types, which can be used for ice freezing.
Tap Water: Common Issues and Benefits
First of all check your local water conditions to form a clear understanding if tap water is safe for your health. If you are sure that it is, you can try to use it for making ice cubes.
Keep in mind that in a variety of regions the common issue is water pollution. So, it can be one of the main disadvantages of using domestic water in an ice maker.
Clean tap water may contain some minerals and give the ice a specific flavor and clarity without harmful effects on your health. Absolutely, this benefit depends on personal preferences and there are a lot of people for whom this taste will not be the advantage.
Distilled Water: The Pros and Cons for Ice Makers
Choosing the best water to use in an ice maker, you must have heard about distilled water. As with all possible types of water for making ice cubes, it has pros and cons. So, let’s learn more about them.
The main benefit of distilled water is that all components, minerals and substances are deleted. It will have a positive impact on ice making equipment and be safe for your health. This is the reason why millions of people use distilled water for ice making.
But distilled water also has some cons and it is the taste of water and, as a result, the taste of ice. Be ready that your ice will not taste like bottling water. Distilled water for ice maker has absolutely no flavour and taste.
Boiled Water: Why It Produces Better Ice
Using boiled water for making ice, you can see the Mpemba effect. On one hand you will ice cubes quicklier, on the other hand boiled water will remove dissolved air. As a result you will get clear and aesthetic ice cubes. It is worth saying that the appearance of the ice is of a great importance for cocktail crafting and using them during special events.
Keeping Your Ice Maker Efficient with Proper Water
To reach the best result ever it’s not enough just to prepare the water, you also need to take care about your ice making equipment. Don’t forget about it, if you have a purpose to use the perfect ice in your drinks.
Cleaning and Descaling Your Ice Maker
Modern stores offer a variety of different equipment models. You can buy it according to your needs and personal preferences. As an example you can use BF.TECH machines like Ice Block Maker P300 (for big ice volumes in restaurants and hotels) or Ice Block Maker P30 (compact design for small cafes or bars).
No matter how professional and quality the equipment is, keep in mind that you need to clean and descale it. It will help to produce the best ice ever.
Why Proper Water Preparation Is Key for Long-Term Efficiency
Often ice machine users have a question about what type of water to use in an ice maker. As we notice above, there are three types of water you can use for ice cubes: tap water, distilled water and boiled one. It’s absolutely true, but if we talk about long-term ice making equipment efficiency, it is worth saying that distilled water is the most suitable variant. As it has no contaminants, there will be no scale on your machine.
Also, you need to have a high-quality filtration system for all types of water and clean ice block maker with the appearance of the first signs of pollution and dirt.
Conclusion
To get aesthetic and delicious ice cubes you need to choose the right type of water quality. Prepare it with the help of a filtration system. It’s important to clean and descale your ice making machine for long-term working. Also use boiled water and Mpemba effect to get your clear ice faster.
FAQ
How does water quality affect the performance of my ice maker?
The more contaminants are in the water - the more scale you will find in your ice block maker. It can have a negative impact on equipment operation, so cleaning and descaling - must be the regular processes.
Is distilled water safe for ice production?
Absolutely yes! Distilled water is suitable and safe for making ice cubes, but be ready that the tasty will be unfamiliar, not like bottled water.
Do I need a water filtration system for my ice maker?
No matter what type of ice making machine you have and its product details, you need to buy an ice machine filter to use clean and treated water.