Opal Nugget Ice Machine - Tiki Drinks and Food

A AceExplorer Grand Member (8 years) Deep in the Jacksonville Flori-duh jungle. Joined: Apr 03, 2008 Posts: 2566	A AceExplorer Posted posted on Tue, Jul 14, 2015 11:56 AM Good question. I have a countertop ice maker on my bar, and I have come to really dislike it because: Noisy. Very low capacity for ice. Very small reservoir/tank for the water. Can't hook it up to my plumbing or my bar sink. Melted ice in the tray is not recycled by the machine. And as slow as these tabletop machines are, you will see in excess of 50% wasted/melted while you wait for it to fill your (most likely non-insulated) reservoir. It's a great unit, but it's slow and a pain to keep filled. For the Opal, when I went to their web page, I didn't see many of the things I dislike above listed or addressed in their design. 1 lb of ice per hour is EASILY exhausted. Measure out how much 1 lb of ice really is - how many cocktails per hour can you make when you consider ice for shaking, and ice for filling glassware, and the low volume production of the unit? So, what did I finally decide to do with mine? I'm going to retire it. I found a "scratch & dent" Kitchen Aid standalone icemaker with 50lb capacity for half price - about $750 - at Lowe's. I got very lucky, and in addition I cannot find the dent or scratch... $750 is a lot of money for me, but it addresses all of the problems I have mentioned above. I finally came up with no better option than to just go for broke. And I will be plumbing a water supply line to the wall and I will be required to install a drain line for melted ice. Not everyone can or wants to spend the money or do the plumbing. I'm lucky that the plumbing won't be a huge pain in the butt through the attic and wall. But the money -- well -- it's so totally gonna solve my ice making need at my bar. Right now I have to run to my fridge all the time or keep an ice chest at my bar. So those are my thoughts. My suggestion is to think it through carefully, especially because there already are a lot of countertop ice makers for sale on the web. While I bought a good one at the time, about two years ago, there are much better ones out there now. Hope that helps.

Good question. I have a countertop ice maker on my bar, and I have come to really dislike it because:

Noisy.
Very low capacity for ice.
Very small reservoir/tank for the water.
Can't hook it up to my plumbing or my bar sink.
Melted ice in the tray is not recycled by the machine. And as slow as these tabletop machines are, you will see in excess of 50% wasted/melted while you wait for it to fill your (most likely non-insulated) reservoir.
It's a great unit, but it's slow and a pain to keep filled.

For the Opal, when I went to their web page, I didn't see many of the things I dislike above listed or addressed in their design. 1 lb of ice per hour is EASILY exhausted. Measure out how much 1 lb of ice really is - how many cocktails per hour can you make when you consider ice for shaking, and ice for filling glassware, and the low volume production of the unit?

So, what did I finally decide to do with mine? I'm going to retire it. I found a "scratch & dent" Kitchen Aid standalone icemaker with 50lb capacity for half price - about $750 - at Lowe's. I got very lucky, and in addition I cannot find the dent or scratch...

$750 is a lot of money for me, but it addresses all of the problems I have mentioned above. I finally came up with no better option than to just go for broke. And I will be plumbing a water supply line to the wall and I will be required to install a drain line for melted ice. Not everyone can or wants to spend the money or do the plumbing. I'm lucky that the plumbing won't be a huge pain in the butt through the attic and wall. But the money -- well -- it's so totally gonna solve my ice making need at my bar. Right now I have to run to my fridge all the time or keep an ice chest at my bar.

So those are my thoughts. My suggestion is to think it through carefully, especially because there already are a lot of countertop ice makers for sale on the web. While I bought a good one at the time, about two years ago, there are much better ones out there now.

Hope that helps.

Post #747056 by AceExplorer on Tue, Jul 14, 2015 11:56 AM