Freezing & Tempering Ice

Some additional notes on freezing & tempering ice:

Freezing Ice

Perhaps the most overlooked item when working with this product is freezing ice.  How hard can it be right?  Fundamental flaws in the process can lead to problems down the road so let’s shore up some misconceptions…

•  10 times out of 10 round blocks (frozen in the ice pails we sell) will perform better than square blocks, especially any “compressed” ice generally sold by ice suppliers.
• No freezer is alike!  There are five main types of freezers that you will choose from when buying.  I will list the slowest to fastest freeze time based on the style of freezer being filled with room temperature water pails:
  1. Chest freezers.  Generally take 5 – 6 days to harvest blocks of ice.
  2. Upright freezers.  Similar physical look as a home fridge/freezer, 3 – 4 days.
  3. Merchandiser freezers. Commercial grade outdoor freezer cabinets that are fan driven.  2 – 3 days.
  4. Walk-ins.  Frequently found in restaurants 1 – 2 days.
  5. Glycol freezers.  “Bath tub” chest freezer with a pool of glycol that is churned through ice blocks.  Generally12 hours of turnaround time. 
     *An added benefit to glycol, aside from the very quick freezing process, is these freezers trap more air in the water which in turn create an even softer ice that isn’t as touchy with tempering.
• All freezers must be set to 5 – 10 degrees above zero Fahrenheit for proper freezing of blocks, (with the exception of a glycol freezer). If colder then blocks will crack and fracture in the process which is dangerous on the shaver when used.  Freezer units too warm will slow down your process over time.
• Ice pails should be filled to ½ inch from the lid of the pail.  Water expands when it freezes and the ideal block of ice will freeze up against the lid of pail.
• Determine the appropriate amount of freezer space needed in order to fulfill the demand of your business!  It’s easy to over shoot your inventory of ice on hand. It is incredibly stressful when there isn’t enough ice to keep up with demand.

Freezing ice correctly is essential to your success.  Many people in the industry fail to freeze ice correctly. Use the above steps and you’ll be far ahead of the curve. 😊

Tempering Ice

Be sure and let your ice sit out for 10-30 minutes before shaving to temper or sweat.  The amount of time needed to temper depends on the actual temperature of the ice and the room it’s being tempered in.  Room temperature will usually take 20 minutes.  Outside in the sunlight will likely only take 10.

If you try shaving ice when it hasn’t tempered it can dull blades quicker, but even worse, it is extremely hard to pack the snow and get it to stick together.  Also, because ice that is too cold creates a very dry snow, the syrup does not absorb properly and you will find way to much syrup on top of the product and none reaching the bottom.

If you shave the ice when it has sat out too long and is now dripping wet your final product will become slushy and a little crunchy.  This ice is too wet and when you add syrup to an already very moist product a slush is the result.  Definitely not what you’re going for with genuine shave ice.

Again in reference to a glycol freezer, because they freeze so fast air is trapped inside.  This makes your window for perfect ice at least twice as long as a regular block.  In other words, if you have a regular block that is tempered and ready to go, instead of having 10-15 minutes to get soft, fluffy snow you’ll have more like 20-30 minutes.  It’s difficult to explain beyond that.  It just makes the ice less temperamental.