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Crushed Ice Machine |
Thortiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 29, 2006
Posts: 190
From: Maryland (Land of Pleasant Tiki Living)
|  Posted: 2013-01-21 05:45 am Permalink
We just got a Ninja, for Xmas works GREAT! Thortiki
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TropicDrinkBoy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2011
Posts: 155 | Posted: 2013-01-22 09:14 am Permalink
I've had many Trader Vic drinks at the restaurants and have tried several methods to make shaved ice like they serve. Refrigerator ice crushers are much too coarse but are a good starting point for manual crushing. A Lewis bag and wooden mallet work O.K. but I get nearly perfect results with a Deni ice crusher I bought at Bed Bath and Beyond for about $32 after coupon. It doesn't make snow (thank goodness, Mai Tai's are not slushies). I put two crescent shaped cubes at a time from the refrigerator, it makes a racket but in short order I have enough ice for my wife and I. It would be tough to use for a party. I'd like to try the Waring Pro someday. I've priced commercial flake ice machines online but $3000 is too high for my limited use so I'm happy with the Deni!
[ This Message was edited by: TropicDrinkBoy 2013-01-23 01:00 ]
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nui 'umi 'umi
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 21, 2011
Posts: 379
From: La Mirada Atoll
| Posted: 2013-01-22 9:19 pm Permalink
I have 3-4 ice-o mat's, 3-4 ice-o matic's, and a couple others I can't recall the names of. Some work better then others, some just look cool. The huge "Rival" ice-o-matic I keep cuz it sounds like a WW2 rotary airplane engine as it winds up before it's ready to get to work. I get the best results using a Sears brand Ice-A-Mat.I like using ice from Costco. It's very hard,clear fresh tasting ice and already coarsely broken so it doe not jam up the crusher like cubes sometimes do. I suspect the Sears crusher is superior to the others because the blades are probably sharper-otherwise they are identical. I only use the crusher when crafting Mai Tai's for 6 aficionados or less. For other drinks I use the Costco ice outta da bag.
Cheers
[ This Message was edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2013-01-22 21:20 ]
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AceExplorer
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: Apr 03, 2008
Posts: 304
From: Deep in the Jacksonville Florida jungle.
| Posted: 2013-01-23 04:09 am Permalink
Using crushed ice from a refrigerator can be a dilemma because the chunks are often too big or too small. My Whirlpool Gold fridge does a decent job, but still, a few large chunks do pass through. I have bought three different vintage Oster blender-attachment ice crushers (eBay!) and they work surprisingly well, although there is slush created in the process. I've come to recognize that crushed ice, generally, unless you make it by hand in a towel with a mallet and hand-select the non-powdered ice, or unless you have some sort of high-end machine, will inevitably be so-so and water down your drink. But then, a watered-down drink is also tied to how quickly you comsume it no matter how good (or bad) the crushed ice is. And for certain drinks I have switched to using ball molds now. (The world of using silicone ball molds is a whole other topic. There are a lot of crappy ones being sold, and I had to invest about $100 until I settled on a brand of ball molds that work "mostly" well and didn't leak and had a good size.)
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Hakalugi
Site Administrator
Joined: Aug 10, 2004
Posts: 2804
From: Redondo Beach, CA
| Posted: 2013-01-23 11:33 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2013-01-23 04:09, AceExplorer wrote:
... And for certain drinks I have switched to using ball molds now. (The world of using silicone ball molds is a whole other topic. There are a lot of crappy ones being sold, and I had to invest about $100 until I settled on a brand of ball molds that work "mostly" well and didn't leak and had a good size.)
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And what brand was it?
Oh, don't answer here, answer in the Silicone Mold topic (just created)...
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=44686&forum=8&0
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TraderPeg
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Aug 10, 2006
Posts: 91
From: Haunted Hudson Valley
| Posted: 2013-01-26 10:06 am Permalink
The Waring Pro is pretty good -- I drop two crescent cubes from the fridge at a time and it crushes consistently. I've had it for four years now.
I also sometimes use a hand-cranked machine IKEA made, called the Groggy! It's good for snow, and the small, bullet shape makes it easy in your hands. But it's only viable for a four-person cocktail party.
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