As a bartender in the Caribbean I used all manner of ice machine products from crescents to minicubes to holed barrels to shaved to mega cubes to crushed to balls, etc. While each form has its appropriate use I discovered a new form by accident. Spillage of ice cube water into the pan at the bottom of the freezer went unnoticed until I carefully removed a 14 x 18" sheet that was only a couple of millimeters thick. I broke it up and poured a Margarita over it and really liked the look, the mouth feel, the cooling effect, and the unrestricted flow, not like cubes or crescents. Not finding this option anywhere among the commercial ice makers could be easily remedied. I thought if a standard ice maker could freeze thin 6 x 12" sheets on S/S, release them to run them over a shape meant to break them into random sizes it would be a good alternative to what we have now. And tasty!-- minoradjustments, May 09 2022 //bartender in the Caribbean//
Must have been tough.
So you could have the ice maker feed a continuous sheet that got fed through a couple of out of line rollers that would break it into random shapes. Interesting idea. [+]-- doctorremulac3, May 09 2022 Yes, doctor, if it froze at the top of the slope and was released at the bottom by heating the S/S sheet it could be continuous (or almost)! Great idea. No waiting for the whole damn tray to freeze, either.-- minoradjustments, May 09 2022 + I like it because I use ice every day and also it sounds very dangerous! Ha ha-- xandram, May 09 2022 Sounds like a dangerous choking hazard.-- 21 Quest, May 09 2022 Is it possible to knap ice?-- pocmloc, May 09 2022 //knap// Don't see why not. It's crystalline & reasonably strong. Experiments must be done!-- neutrinos_shadow, May 09 2022 //Sounds like a dangerous choking hazard.//
8th: "Exactly! [+]"-- doctorremulac3, May 09 2022 There's a knap for that.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, May 10 2022 random, halfbakery