Snow cone makers are designed to take large blocks of ice and slice them into coarse, snow-like chunks. Once these chunks are packed together into a ball, it is set into a cone-shaped container and covered with fruit-flavored syrup. This final snow cone can then be enjoyed just like a refreshing drink.

Today, snow cone makers produce large volumes of shaved ice as fast as possible. The operator fills the hopper with cracked or cubed ice and closes the lid. Once the magnetic safety switch is latched, the machine can be turned on to full capacity to fill the display case with snow cone ice.

Even compact, tabletop-size ice makers can churn out up to 500 pounds of ice per hour. These machines are great for personal parties, get-togethers, birthdays, school dances and other occasions with small to medium groups of people. However, for high-volume public gatherings, larger ice choppers are fitted with at least three large shaver head blades and can produce 1,000 to 2,000 servings of snow cones per hour.

Enhancing and Cleaning Snow Cone Makers

Most of these machines are easy to run and quite simple to maintain. Because they only deal with processing ice, snow cone makers are unlikely to get clogged. However, they should be carefully dried with a clean cloth, targeting the walls of the ice storage area, to keep parts from rusting or freezing in cold weather.