Regarding ice, absolutely none of the "chewable/sonic" ice, no flakes either as I really hate them and I don't have a display case either. I like larger cubes but, I do not need nor want the "Gourmet" cubes. I want the cool to last longer with less watering down of drinks - hence my dislike for a restaurant that puts ice flakes in their tea and sodas, I'm no fan of half-cubes either.

For my personal use indoors I will use 8 to 16 pounds of ice in drinks during a normal day, possibly more if I have friends over. If I am outside working on the farm, that will easily go up to 16 to 24 pounds (or more on bad days). I would appreciate the ability to fill a 70 quart ice chest but, that is a very rare event so going to the "twice the ice" kiosk with $3 really makes this a non-concern except for convenience on rare occasions.

The portable Magic Chef served me very well through multiple out of state moves and, although it made a lot of ice it wasn't too uncommon for me to be forced into "rationing" it in my drinks. I am fixed now to a "permanent" home in East Texas.

Occasional ice for friends ice chests full of fish would be nice. Being able to repeatedly fill my 44 ounce tumbler with ice over a short period is the goal.

Regarding placement, a "portable" table top model is attractive because I could move it to the screened in porch in the evening with my tea kettle but, that is not terribly important to me. I am taking out one wall of cabinets to replace a dead cooktop and vent hood so, one of the slide in residential units is a real possibility. The garage with its utility sink and water heater closet is only 20 feet away from the kitchen so, a large noisy one out there is a reasonable option too.

Excellent! Sidpost, that was very succinct and informative. And beyond my own knowledge. Hopefully, those who know more about icemakers will see this and respond. As far as I can tell, the difference between residential units that make enough ice for the Texas heat and ones that will fill your ice chest is merely thousands of dollars, rather than external size. If your budget can handle even a basic built-in model, I think the quantity of ice would do you better than most of the You can check out a lot of what's available at sites like icemakerdirect and icemachinesplus. Compact Appliances seems to have a good variety of bar top units. Once you see some basic specs that are interesting, you can look units up on the makers' websites, where you might be able to get the users' manual, installation specs, etc.

Thanks plllog! I have used Katom a lot in the past but, for the ice machines I'm considering icemachinesplus.com which seems to be a more attractive option.

My dilemma is whether I step up to a residential under cabinet model that people speak so highly of with their Gourmet ice cubes for adult beverages and other uses. At that price point, I am really in the realm of mid-size industrial units that make 90~130#'s a day with their larger foot print and storage capacity at the expense of a minor inconvenience going to the garage 20" away for ice. What is really attractive with that option is all the possibilities it opens up for more than just my drinks on a hot day on the farm.

True. I can think of several uses for large amounts of ice (what's your drought status?) on a farm. Besides just cold drinks, tailgating and picnics coolers. ;)

It doesn't sound like it really matters to you where it goes, starting with your current situation where you put the old one out at night, like an overactive cat. :) In that case it comes down to the tradeoffs of things like ease of cleaning, ease of installation and maintenance, going to the garage for ice (though you can put a small insulated ice bucket in your fridge or freezer to cut down on trips to fill every glass of tea) vs. having the noise in the kitchen and losing the kitchen storage for the machine, etc.

BTW, as an aside, we had a bag of party ice for a recent occasion, and I asked one of the girls to put some in the ice bucket on the drinks table. She used the ice from the freezer--and thus all the refills as well. So the party ice got dumped in the freezer in the ice drawer (twice again the size of the ice maker basket). The bag had what looked like hand chipped ice, fairly large pieces for the most part, though I'm sure there must be a machine that mimics that. Anyway, the evaporator in the freezer makes the ice clump up but it's pretty easy to break up. The party ice has required an ice pick from the first, and I'm not happy about it being wielded in my freezer. I'm going to just dump it when I get a chance. Moral: Choose a machine that doesn't make the ice clump. :)

We are in drought condition during the hottest part of the summer and flooding in the early to mid-Spring timeframe. Late May to early September is tough on cattle and fish in our ponds.

I have Pelican (similar to Yeti) ice chests so, a cold case of soda (adult, i.e. beer, or kid friendly 'coke') topped with ice will last for at least 3 days with ice chunks and will be cold for at least five. My big one easily adds 2 days to this. So a gallon Zip lock bag would be an easy way to have sterile clean ice on the back porch. An ice bucket in the house would be easy too.

I do not like ice in residential freezers as the humidity and defrost control makes it clump as you noted. The ice also tastes off due to mixing chilled air from the refrigerator compartments. Fresh clean ice really is nice.

Table top models and the industrials don't clump but, the industrials can be a little surprising the first time you open one up for ice to discover 20~50 gallons of water in the bin! Got to love those power outages and breakers. Hmm, I wonder how much an ice maker UPS would cost .... ;-)

Sidpost,

lt does sound like you can go either way with a table top or undercounter model. Take a look at the Whynter tabletop models which allows you to add a water supply line. Personally never liked ice makers in the freezer but don't need an undercounter unit. I may consider one of these table top models.

Good luck!

Well, to be fair to my freezer, it's a stand alone, so there's no fridge air in it. It makes good ice, but there's still the evaporator, and clumps, to contend with. :)

So, if your breakers go, is it time to upgrade your service, while you're putting in your new stove, et al.? Can you run a dedicated circuit to the ice machine, if it's in the garage? How much draw does it have? It might be worth the UPS if there's a lot of water going to waste regularly. Unless you have a really efficient way to bail or pump it out for secondary use?

Haven't read all responses, but just this morning I saw a Tuesday Morning add and they have a David Burke model on sale for $89.99.

I'm not a big ice person, but my friend is planning on getting this one for her kitchen. It has excellent reviews.

Portable ice maker

I suspect the residential countertop 'portable' models are all largely made by the same manufacturer (or a select few) using the same parts. Ice baskets, control panels, dimensions, etc. are all very similar.

Regarding waste water from a big garage ice maker, it would all end up watering the grass via my septic system; I'm really in the country not in an urban 'ranch'ette' with city services. All household water drains into a common set of lateral lines (where the waste water gets put back into the ground) on the other side of my pipe fence that keeps the cattle off my back porch and out of my private garden area. I have well water too, though the rural water company supplies 'their' well water to me as service.

I'm just drought obsessed right now. :) And was looking for pertinent blather to bump your thread with. :) If you have sufficient water for it not be be an issue, then it's not an issue. :)

I thought I would update everyone:

Since I am out of ice, I opted to go ahead and make an impulse buy of the MAGIC CHEF MCIM30SST 30-lb stainless steel portable mini ice maker which appears to be a modern version of the one that served me so well for so long.

I think I will also eventually get an under counter industrial model for the garage. I am looking at the Manitowoc NEO models. 100# to 300# cube ice models with large storage bins run from a low delivered of ~$2200 to a high of ~$2500. With that in mind I am seriously considering the 300# model since water is relatively cheap for me and I can live with the higher electrical consumption.

I also opted to get an EdgeStar brand beverage cooler. I got a small cheap one that cools down to the mid-to-high 30's and a larger one that goes "ultra-low" rated at 34F.

Congrats on your decision and being back in the ice business! I hope your new purchases serve you well. If you put that machine in your garage, you're going to be very popular with your neighbors. :)