Ice Machine Quality

Most recent answer: 02/19/2011

Q:
Why do some refrigerator ice machine make white ice instead of clear ice? What causes the differences?
- kelly (age 43)
ga
A:
The white/cloudy ice you are referring to is either a result of the ice being frozen too quickly, resulting in a significant amount of trapped air, or the existence of a high amount of dissolved salts (in ice made from hard tap water) trapped in pockets throughout the ice.

The way in which restaurants make their ice appear so clear is through freezing water in layers. The ice machine constantly has a thin layer of water forming over a plate, freezing on top of other successive layers of ice, discouraging the entrapment of air.

Thanks for the question!

-Chris

(published on 02/19/2011)