It’s important for Chicago businesses to keep ice machines clean to maintain a safe ice supply for their customers or employees. Following proper procedures when cleaning a Hoshizaki ice maker means not only disinfecting the ice machine but sanitizing it as well. Disinfecting and sanitizing help to keep your ice supply safe and sanitary for customers or employees.

Cleaning a Hoshizaki ice maker requires not only washing away dirt and grime sufficiently but also sanitizing and disinfecting the unit. Disinfecting involves using chemicals to kill microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi.  Sanitizing uses lower concentrations of chemicals to reduce the number of bacteria to safe levels accepted by the federal government. Proper Hoshizaki ice machine cleaning is important to maintaining a sanitary ice supply and happy customers.

How to Clean Your Hoshizaki Ice Bin

Your Hoshizaki ice bin is essential in keeping your ice supply sanitary and safe until use.  Since no one wants unsanitary ice, it’s extremely important to clean your ice bin, along with disinfecting and sanitizing as well.

Ice bins are prone to mold and slime growth, so keeping them clean is crucial. Mold and slime thrive in dark, humid conditions where they can feed on the air from dust and yeast. Ice storage bins, unfortunately, provide the ideal environment for those to grow in. However, by following these simple cleaning instructions for Hoshizaki ice machines below you’ll be able to better maintain your ice supply.

Hoshizaki ice machines are some of the best commercial ice-making machines on the market. Their ice bins are made of an easy-to-clean vinyl or stainless-steel exterior and an interior of polyurethane. The interior liner is treated with antimicrobial agents that help reduce the growth of mold and slime. Cleaning a Hoshizaki ice machine is simple, but they do need regular cleaning, however, to keep your daily ice supply safe.

The FDA has a list of food-grade cleaner and sanitizers that you can use to clean your ice bin. These cleaners do a great job to remove mold and slime that may have grown.

Cleaning Your Hoshizaki Ice Bin

1. First, clean any visible dirt or grime from the surface or liner of the bin
2. Spray the contaminated surfaces with an EPA-registered disinfecting agent
3. Wipe out the areas to remove the debris and make sure the area is well rinsed

Sanitizing Hoshizaki Ice Bin

1. Once you have disinfected the bin, apply your food-grade sanitizing agent
2. Let the mixture air dry

Cleaning the Outside of A Hoshizaki Ice Maker

A Hoshizaki ice maker’s exterior is made of stainless steel helping it to maintain a clean-looking finish. Nonetheless, microorganisms you can’t see can still contaminate the outside of your bin.

Disinfecting, sanitizing, and cleaning your Hoshizaki ice machine equipment weekly will help reduce food-borne contaminants which can make customers or employees sick.

Again, there are many EPA or FDA-registered disinfectant and sanitizing agents that can do the job. Make sure to follow the directions on the label.

If you plan on using bleach, DON’T mix it with other cleaners. The combination can produce dangerous, toxic fumes that can lead to respiratory problems.

How to Disinfect the Exterior of Your Ice Maker

Here’s how you can disinfect your Hoshizaki commercial ice maker’s exterior:

1. Pre-wash with warm water in any soiled area
2. Wipe the unit with your EPA-approved disinfecting agent
3. Let the solution sit for at least 5 minutes
4. Rinse the unit well with warm water and let air dry

How to Sanitize the Exterior of Your Ice Maker

1. Wipe the area with a mixture of 2 teaspoons of bleach (or another EPA-approved sanitizer) to one gallon of water to further sanitize
2. Let the unit air dry

Cleaning a Hoshizaki Evaporator

Evaporators in your ice maker are susceptible to scale caused by hard water, whether they are air cooled or water cooled ice machines. While hard water is not a huge problem in the Chicago-metro area, more rural parts of Illinois can be affected.

Hoshizaki makes their stainless-steel evaporators out of easy-to-clean, high-quality materials. While other brands may need a nickel-safe cleaner for their evaporators, the stainless-steel evaporators from Hoshizaki are durable and able to hold up to harsh cleaners. Here at Automatic Ice makers, we suggest using Nu-Calgon Ice Machine Cleaner or Duda Food Grade 85% Phosphoric Acid.

Since Hoshizaki evaporators are made of high-grade stainless-steel, opening the plate and scrubbing the inside is not easy. Still, there’s a simple way to clean an evaporator on a Hoshizaki ice machine.

How to Disinfect the Evaporator for Your Hoshizaki Ice Maker

1. Remove ice from the bin completely
2. Open the ice machine’s front panel and set it to “off.”
3. Remove the tube to the right of the sump. This water pump tube will drain the water into the bin. Replace the tube after the sump drains.
4. Many KM units have a valve for cleaning. So, if you have this model, you’ll need to open the valve. (the valve will need to be closed or the machine will not make ice)
5. Switch your ice machine to the “wash” setting. KML units have a different toggle switch which you will need to change to “service.”
6. When the water starts running, add your sump cleaner.
7. Run the wash cycle for 30 minutes, set the system back to “off” and remove the pump tube to drain the sump again.
8. Set the unit to “ice” and wait for 3 minutes. Set to “off” and drain the sump by removing the tube. Do it 3 times.
9. Set the machine to “ice,” and remove the machine’s first batch of ice.

How to Sanitize the Evaporator for Your Hoshizaki Ice Maker

You should use the same method you used to disinfect your Hoshizaki evaporator to sanitize it. The only difference is that you are not going to use the same phosphoric cleaners you did to disinfect everything. Instead, a diluted mixture of bleach such as Clorox Regular Bleach and water will work.

The bleach-to-water concentration is around 2 teaspoons per gallon of water that your sump holds. So, a 3-gallon sump ice machine would need a mixture of 3 gallons of water and 6 teaspoons of bleach (about 1 oz).

During the disinfecting process, make sure you don’t miss steps 8 and 9. You don’t want the cleaners that you used to combine with the bleach you’re using to sanitize the unit.

Professional Hoshizaki Ice Machine Cleaning

Along with following a daily ice machine cleaning schedule, ice machines often need professional cleaning, ice machine maintenance, and ice machine repair. While cleaning your Hoshizaki commercial ice machine routinely helps prevent ice contamination, a professional ice machine technician will disassemble the machine, disinfecting and sanitizing each component. Professional Hoshizaki ice machine cleaning is the perfect way to get rid of the scale build-up that can’t be removed with regular cleanings. If you don’t keep up with it, you could be looking at a ice machine repair that could leave you without ice.

You should aim at scheduling at least two professional cleanings per year. If your ice machine is in an environment like a Chicago bakery or brewery with lots of airborne yeast, you may need more routine cleanings. Professional cleanings not only help to give you a clean, consistent ice supply but they help your machine run in the best condition possible. We’ve been servicing and cleaning Hoshizaki ice machines in Chicago since 1960. We keep your Hoshizaki ice machine running, so you always have ice available and never need to worry about a broken ice maker.

We also provide commercial ice machines for sale to businesses throughout the Chicago area. Our commercial ice machine lease program includes a quality ice machine, along with maintenance and cleaning. Contact us today if you are ready to simplify your ice machine needs!