If it actually tastes like a lake then it’s probably the ice. Ice machine bins are notorious for growing algae in the bottom and no business likes sanitizing the bin because that requires emptying the bin and therefore not having ice for a while. I’m also willing to bet that dunkin “does their own ice machine cleanings.” Which usually means that once it gets so crudded up that it stops working then they put it through a clean cycle so they can tell the repair tech that that they now have to call that they clean it. Ice machine manufacturers also don’t like to advertize that the built in cleaning cycles don’t actually remove the need to have them professionally cleaned; you only find that out if you read the service manual. Every 3-6 months you still need to take the whole thing apart to manually scrub the biological snot and limescale out of them.
Eh, I’m the guy who has to scrub the snot out of them and I still get ice unless I actually know it’s a place that doesn’t clean the machine. Most of the stuff that grows in them is disgusting to look at but benign. Even the concerning ones are often only an issue if inhaled. That’s not to say that a filthy ice machine can’t transmit foodbourne illness. They definitely can. But I’ve seen far more concerning things in various commercial kitchens than dirty ice machines. Also, this will vary by area, but usually the things get plugged full of lime scale to the point that they stop working long before the biofilm gets truely horifying. The only places I ever see where the biofilm gets really bad are bars and places that do in-house baking because yeast loves ice machines for some reason.
If it actually tastes like a lake then it’s probably the ice. Ice machine bins are notorious for growing algae in the bottom and no business likes sanitizing the bin because that requires emptying the bin and therefore not having ice for a while. I’m also willing to bet that dunkin “does their own ice machine cleanings.” Which usually means that once it gets so crudded up that it stops working then they put it through a clean cycle so they can tell the repair tech that that they now have to call that they clean it. Ice machine manufacturers also don’t like to advertize that the built in cleaning cycles don’t actually remove the need to have them professionally cleaned; you only find that out if you read the service manual. Every 3-6 months you still need to take the whole thing apart to manually scrub the biological snot and limescale out of them.
…oh. ok i’m never ordering ice in anything again
Eh, I’m the guy who has to scrub the snot out of them and I still get ice unless I actually know it’s a place that doesn’t clean the machine. Most of the stuff that grows in them is disgusting to look at but benign. Even the concerning ones are often only an issue if inhaled. That’s not to say that a filthy ice machine can’t transmit foodbourne illness. They definitely can. But I’ve seen far more concerning things in various commercial kitchens than dirty ice machines. Also, this will vary by area, but usually the things get plugged full of lime scale to the point that they stop working long before the biofilm gets truely horifying. The only places I ever see where the biofilm gets really bad are bars and places that do in-house baking because yeast loves ice machines for some reason.
was this meant to be reassuring ;-;
You shouldn’t, I’ve never cleaned an ice machine in my life
Including the ones I own
Especially the ones I own