How to Choose Your Frozen Drinks Machine

Regardless of the season, some people always prefer the smooth feel and cool concoction of an icy drink. Deciding to purchase a  cold drinks machine can be a lucrative and streamlined investment for your business if you carefully consider several factors.

Viscosity Control – Beverage Thickness
This function of a frozen drink machine automatically shuts down refrigeration when your beverage reaches the desired thickness. This feature gives you menu flexibility because it enables you to offer a variety of different frozen cocktails and smoothies that vary in thickness. A machine with a specialty-designed viscosity control ensures consistent quality each and every time a customer orders a frozen beverage. With adjustable controls, you can modify the thickness of your beverages.

Temperature Control – Beverage Coldness
While you want all your fruit smoothies, cocktails, and iced coffees to be cold, actually being able to adjust the thermostat allows you to operate the unit in either “frozen” or “chilled” drink mode. This function enables you to offer a wide selection of drinks via the frozen drink machine.

Ice Shaver or Slush Control – Beverage End Result

A frozen drink machine that shaves ice includes a bin at the back where you can dump ice. The ice is then shaved by the machine and transferred into the blender. Some machines offer this process in a digital format where it automatically dispenses a number of different mixes into the blender.
A slush machine does not take ice in a bin in the back; instead, it has a bowl (or 2, 3, or 4) where you pour the mix and water (or ice). With this function, the auger (the piece of equipment that continually chills and rotates the mixture) prevents the mixture from freezing solid. Some frozen drink machines allow you to pour your alcoholic ingredient directly into the mix; others do not because alcohol can damage plastic seals.  Once you put the mix in your slush machine and it’s started, you simply need to pull the handle and pour a drink.
The ice shaver, on the other hand, makes custom drinks in different quantities and is perfect for making smoothies and cool concoctions that include fruit or texture in the mix. The ice shaver option is best for a stand-alone bar atmosphere or a restaurant/hotel bar because it allows you to offer a variety of drinks.

Condenser Filter – Machine’s Integrity

Before purchasing a frozen drink machine, make sure it has an easily accessible condenser filter.  This small but significant piece of equipment prevents dust from accumulating on the condenser and improves ventilation for your machine’s optimum performance. Since the filter is washable and easy to replace, change, or clean, you can rest assured your machine won’t overheat and negatively impact its compressor (as long as you remember to do routine maintenance checks on the filter!)

Defrost Timer – Machine’s Integrity
This feature can be preset to have your machine go automatically into chilled mode when not in use. Most machines come with a 24/7 battery-operated defrost timer to make sure it is running properly and not over-freezing.

While these components are important to explore before you make the investment in a frozen drink machine, there are other factors to consider. Be sure to find out the dimensions of the machine so that it fits the space you have available. In addition, find out what parts and service warranty is offered by both the manufacturer and the company where you purchase it.

See all Frozer Drink Dispenser Machines at  Refrigerated Beverage Dispenser