Ice is a commonly used ingredient in a variety of different types of drinks and recipes. The quality of the ice produced by your ice maker could therefore have a significant impact on the quality of the recipes you produce. 

Properly maintaining your ice maker will ensure ice that is pure and available when you need it. The following are five maintenance factors you should be aware of regarding your ice maker. 

You'll have to periodically completely empty out ice for cleaning.

It's not a good idea to try to engage in cleaning efforts if there is still ice present in your ice maker. You'll have to empty it completely to clean it. 

This means it's probably a good idea to be aware of how full your ice maker is and work cleanings into the times when it is running low. Attempting to do even small cleanings when there is still ice left could result in funny-tasting ice that causes complaints among your guests. 

Air filters are an important component when it comes to water quality.

You might not have initially been aware of it, but ice makers include air filters that need to be inspected regularly to ensure that they are not clogged by dust and debris. A clogged air filter will both produce inferior ice while consuming excessive energy and be more likely to malfunction. 

Water pressure restrictions could affect your ice maker's operation.

Your ice maker is hooked up to your property's water supply. Therefore, any changes in water pressure made by your utility provider could either completely prevent it from working properly or detract from efficiency. 

If there are changes made to your area's water supply, you might want to contact your manufacturer and discuss how these changes will affect your ice maker. 

Sanitizing your machine is a good idea.

Many people make the mistake of assuming that bacteria and other biological contaminants will not be able to proliferate in an ice maker due to the extremely low temperatures. However, this is not true.

An ice maker needs to be sanitized to ensure that the ice it produces doesn't become contaminated by bacterial growth or other biological cleanliness issues. 

You should throw out ice made immediately after a cleaning.

When you clean your ice maker, you should be using soap and sanitizer. Of course, you should also be carefully rinsing out your unit after cleaning to ensure that no residue remains.

Nevertheless, you should throw out the ice produced one load after a cleaning. If you run your ice maker through a load and throw out that load before using the ice, you'll avoid the possibility of using ice that tastes alarmingly soapy. 

For more information, contact Shealy-Hodges Corporation or a similar company.