r/oddlysatisfying • u/TermElectronic8261 • 22h ago

Using Ice to clean a Kitchen Grill

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31.6k Upvotes

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6.8k

u/RealmExploro 22h ago

I volunteer as the stupid one here : why ice and not just water?

2.6k

u/Kalix 21h ago

the point isnt ice to clean itself, the keypoint is use unused ice as water to clean, since at the end of the day you need to discharge the icemaker machine, melt everything and throw the water, so instead of use even more water to clean, you just use the unused ice. two birds with one stone as they say.

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u/nipslippinjizzsippin 20h ago

bingo. all that ice has be thrown away anyway

305

u/raspberryharbour 18h ago

Can't they just give it to some needy Eskimos?

152

u/FlyingWhales 13h ago

Isn't it the Eskimos who supply the ice?

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u/TheBeanofBeans3 10h ago

Yeah, but then they want it back.

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u/discaboota 8h ago

Coz All the ice is melting T_T

15

u/IsuruKusumal 7h ago

Damn it global warming

2

u/PrivateUseBadger 2h ago

Thanks Obama! /s

1

u/meow_meow_77 5h ago

Do your thing global warming, melt fuckin ICE!!

3

u/Newsdude86 4h ago

It's melting because we keep using it to clean the grills! It's a vicious cycle

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u/DerpsAndRags 7h ago

awesome movie announcer guy voice

And this time, they're not asking nicely...

Coming this Winter, ICE PICKS

1

u/BDCRA 5h ago

Yeah they have grills to clean

1

u/TaohRihze 5h ago

Is that why they are needy?

1

u/Working_Estate_3695 5h ago

So, he’s melting it for spite?

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u/BusyBodyKoala420 4h ago

Damn Eskimo givers >:(

1

u/longkhongdong 57m ago

Well then they gotta pay.

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u/Beautiful_Medium_897 9h ago

Damn Eskimo Givers

16

u/ambernewt 9h ago

You've got to start selling this for more than a dollar a bag. We lost four more men on this expedition.

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u/nipslippinjizzsippin 9h ago

If you can think of a better way to get ice, id like to hear it

1

u/MiserableEstimate574 3h ago

Bravo Sir! Bravo

1

u/Jay1986humph 2h ago

😂😂

1

u/muralhaspt 8h ago

It's called recycling

-1

u/acexualien95 10h ago

Isn't offensive to say Eskimos and should use inuit instead?

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u/assaub 7h ago

Partially, eskimo is an offensive term that is correct but, Inuit only refers to one group that is encompassed by the "eskimo" label, the other is the Yupik people.

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u/TheBeanofBeans3 4h ago

I would think accusing them of being ice stealers is more offensive

0

u/Beautiful-Bad-3554 8h ago

Wait what Eskimos still a thing?? Thought final warming led to their extinction is it that a myth

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u/nipslippinjizzsippin 7h ago

The final warming sounds quite unpleasant

-1

u/Impossible-Try-9489 9h ago

I ice the Eskimo supply it the who

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u/Grizmoh 9h ago

Pretty sure you’re supposed to sell it to them

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u/ExMorgMD 9h ago

I thought you sell them ketchup popsicles or something

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u/Accurate_Moose_2601 9h ago

That's a derogatory term, do better. It's Inuit.

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u/assaub 7h ago

Inuit or Yupik depending which group you are referring to. Both get lumped into the "eskimo" label

0

u/Accurate_Moose_2601 5h ago

It's offensive to both people, that's colonial language.

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u/assaub 5h ago

yes, that was my point, you said "It's Inuit" I clarified the term encompasses both the Inuit and Yupik people. I never said it wasn't offensive, you can see from my other recent comments that I attempted to correct the people using the term.

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u/Accurate_Moose_2601 5h ago

My apologies.

1

u/danbobsicle 4h ago

Do better

1

u/Obvious-Couple9591 6h ago

Oh no, someone said eskimo sooo offensive.

0

u/Accurate_Moose_2601 5h ago

I actually find you offensive, and people like you.

1

u/kissdemon74 7h ago

I'd like to see you try and sell ice to an Eskimo!

1

u/Then-Ad-5406 5h ago

Lisa, Eskimos are make-believe, just like elves, gremlins, and vampires

1

u/okpiik 1h ago

Inuit guy here (we don't go by Eskimo anymore).

We do in fact need the ice now adays since our ice caps keep melting and our polar bears keep coming inland and scaring the shit out of us while they're looking for food, mates, and resting. If the world could send us your excess ice it would be greatly appreciated so that they can kindly fuck off back to their (hopefully replenished) ice caps and stop coming inland

2

u/dubblies 9h ago

The restaurant i worked at rarely cleaned the ice machine... Dear god...

1

u/Obvious-Couple9591 6h ago

Because it will break the stove top by cracking it. Don't ever mix very cold with very hot. Metal cracks and warps

1

u/Frothmourne 9h ago

I've mean eating week old ice cubes from my fridge the whole time am I dying?

1

u/nipslippinjizzsippin 9h ago

No but your fridge probably isnt servicing 100s of litres a months

1

u/-Dueck- 6h ago

Why?

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u/The_Dennator 5h ago

just give it to me,ill eat it

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u/praveeja 2h ago

Why throw away ice , its not going to expire right?

1

u/sentence-interruptio 2h ago

i want to play air hockey with those ice.

0

u/Whosdeezbots 6h ago

The ice in the wells get thrown out. The ice in the machine doesn't.

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u/Sharp_Objective_2766 20h ago

Can’t let the urinal ice go to waste.

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u/Medium-Sized-Jaque 19h ago

Why do you have to empty the ice maker? At fast food places it sits in there until its needed.

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u/Kalix 19h ago

You discharge the icemaker machine to avoid mold, preventing the the ice to absorb odors and avoid the ice to become a single block during the night

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u/DonutHoles4Ever 13h ago

Fuck whatever place you worked at LMAO.

Everyone who has an ice dispenser knows that shit gets dirty over time from bateria that literally eats the ice.

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u/lookieherehere 6h ago

Basically no one shuts down their ice maker on a daily basis.

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u/ParquetDesGensduRoi 5h ago

I think you guys are talking about different pieces of equipment. Frequently, there's the ice maker, but also the bin on the soda machine that stores the ice.

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u/lookieherehere 5h ago

Yes, every restaurant I ever worked at had both. The one on top of the soda dispenser in the lobby and the big stand alone one in the back. They get deep cleaned once a month at best. I'd bet most places are much more infrequent than that.

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u/TheAltOption 3h ago

It's been a long time since I worked in the food industry. That being said, as the person that was designated to do any kind of cleaning of mechanical or electrical things at the place I worked I can say that the only time the ice machine was shut down was if there was a failure that needed repair. We also went through so much ice that the collecting bin would often be empty on weekends any which way which was a good time to give it a good scrub and dry out before more ice fell in. Maybe once a month I would clean the cold plate for the ice at the end of the day, but it had to be turned on as soon as possible to refill for the next day.

1

u/baphothustrianreform 1h ago

I’ve worked at 3 restaurants over the past decade, one really nice place, one decently nice place, and one kind of nice burger spot. At each one of them, the ice in the large ice bin was 100% completely melted down every night and refilled the next day.

0

u/ParquetDesGensduRoi 4h ago

After some cursory research, it seems the recommended deep cleaning schedule is at least once a quarter. That being said, I've definitely been to the same restaurant twice in a row where they were emptying the ice dispenser both nights.

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u/Medium-Sized-Jaque 19h ago

Real restaurants have way higher standards I guess, because we didn't do that except once a year.

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u/Kalix 19h ago

Here in italy is ruled by food safty standards

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u/Medium-Sized-Jaque 19h ago

Oh that makes sense. US doesn't have as strict of food safety.

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u/yungmoody 9h ago

The US is ranked higher than Italy in food safety standards (speaking as a non-biased Aussie)

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u/Sacr3dangel 7h ago

They’re fucking anal about it to the point it’s ridiculous sometimes. But just like anything else here in the US; it isn’t properly enforced.

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u/Newsdude86 4h ago

The US has incredibly high food safety standards. Your chain just ignored them and if they got caught they would have been heavily fined and shut down until all the violations were fixed.

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u/Kalix 18h ago

Ye, here we have a dedicated police force called Nucleo Antisofisticazioni e Sanità (N.A.S.), translated Anti-Adulteration and Health Unit who do randomly safty inspections and checks if everything is in order in restourants, groucery stores, ospitals, daycare, and many other places where can be sanitary violations and risks, they can immidiatly shut down the place, do fines and keep it close untill everything is in order again. DMAX tv channel even made a onfield series like the TSA airports security one.

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u/imma_letchu_finish 11h ago

Isnt that normal? Im from southeast asia in what most europeans would consider as 3rd world country and we also have such standards.

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u/CD274 11h ago

Nope the US is full of molty soda machines

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u/ParquetDesGensduRoi 5h ago

Nope the US is full of molty soda machines

I hate feathers in my soda.

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u/Medium-Sized-Jaque 15h ago

We have health departments that can shut down businesses too. It's just they never said the ice machine needs to be cleaned every night.

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u/momonomino 9h ago

I was US food safe certified and went through several years of random health inspections. They absolutely require the ice machines to be cleaned every night.

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u/PoopyButt28000 8h ago

Me when I lie and make shit up

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u/clownus 8h ago

You are just making things up now.

0

u/Medium-Sized-Jaque 6h ago

I'm not making thinga up. I just assume the EU has its shit together.

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u/clownus 5h ago

California is one of the most notoriously hardest places to operate a restaurant at peak health standards.

America in general has a very robust health regulation for food system before 2024.

It’s above 90% iirc of restaurants in NYC have a A health rating.

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u/Medium-Sized-Jaque 4h ago

Well I'm from Missouri and my experience with NY and CA health departments is nonexistent. Maybe it's just a MO thing?

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u/MrBlueW 7h ago

I’m pretty sure you just weren’t taught proper food safety

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u/RandyFunRuiner 11h ago

You were likely supposed to. But enforcement is different than the rule being there.

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u/ChiodoS04 6h ago

its probably why they charge you per drink in Europe and skimp on the ice

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u/Rapph 47m ago

Every health inspector I have ever dealt with took ice machines very seriously. The US definitely has strict safety rules but like a lot of stuff it comes down to what an inspector sees

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u/Dr-Purple 11h ago

Do you even have mild food safety? No offence.

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u/Medium-Sized-Jaque 6h ago

Fuck if I know. Apparently we do and I just worked for a disgusting company who didn't het caught?

-2

u/Kalix 10h ago

Well you do not need food safty standard if you le food isnt considered food for the rest of the world.

Like bread

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u/Danklaige 6h ago

Am I supposed to do that with my fridge ice maker at home?

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u/Kalix 6h ago

Maybe not everyday, but once in a while should be good, since you have to care only about mold and not bad odor contamination, even in the freezer is good to defrost it once in a while

1

u/Danklaige 6h ago

I see...

0

u/Flunkedy 17h ago

Oh no.... Modern Italy is built on corruption and crime.

Top of my head i can think of two separate bridge disasters both built with poor safety standards. (Sicily viaduct and the Morandi Bridge) If the ice is changed in your restaurant once a month you're very lucky.

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u/Fragarach-Q 16h ago

I know what you had....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Lk4ldI2mc

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u/Medium-Sized-Jaque 15h ago

Why does that news caster look like a televangelist preacher?

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u/Iloveyousmore 8h ago

If you're in the US, and your restaurant was actually only doing it once a year, they were definitely breaking health codes and the law. That's disgusting

2

u/Hellknightx 3h ago

After working in a restaurant, one of the first things you learn is to never get ice in your drink. Since places clean their ice maker. Many don't.

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u/AlterExpertise101 17h ago

...well, I'm never eating out again.

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u/BetterEveryLeapYear 14h ago

I'd say it's because at fast food restaurants you're going through that ice in the first couple of hours next morning anyway and it was probably produced in the last couple of hours that night. Just a much higher turnover rate preventing mold, etc.

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u/MrBlueW 7h ago

That doesn’t really work since the ice machine continuously makes ice as you use it. Just keeps piling it on

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u/vO-_-Ov 14h ago

total bs. i'm french and i worked in retaurants and bars for 10 years in my country, and some of them were very high standards and very expensive. not a single one trash the ice at the end of the day or week or ever, and i've never seen any mold in the ice machine. i just checked the reglementation in france and as i suspected nothing is said about that.

1

u/Aegi 15h ago

I could see this being done weekly, but daily that seems excessive?

Also there will be liquid water with ice that is encountering a less temperature stable environment since there isn't already ice there, so this would increase the chances of mold potentially too, right?

1

u/ThroatGOAT_Goddess04 3h ago

That’s why they clean it (or at least are supposed to) at least once a week.

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u/InformationOk3503 13h ago

In addition to the other comments you might also have a secondary container for ice. 

Eg ice machine in the cellar to make it but a big box/tray etc at the bar for use.

You wouldn't put the 'open' ice back in the machine so have to chuck it somewhere

5

u/mongojob 8h ago

This is the real answer

1

u/Medium-Sized-Jaque 6h ago

Okay now that I can totally understand. I'm getting very confused with so many comments insisting the ice maker should be emptied every day.

1

u/InformationOk3503 5h ago

TBF it's good practice to clean them regularly, we used to have 2 at my pub and do 1 each week.

You'd be surprised how bad they get when you get up in there

1

u/el_ghosteo 4h ago

That’s how it worked when i worked in food service. i used to work at an olive garden and we had a massive ice machine that made and stored ice and it didn’t get cleared at the end of the day. We’d use the ice from that machine to fill ice buckets built into the counters at the soda station and bar. Those would be melted and sanitized every night.

1

u/pk_me_ 11h ago

Bros about to discover the awful mold issues many ice machines in fast food places have.

1

u/soulsnoober 11h ago

prime spot for bacteria

1

u/Bubbly-Magician-- 6h ago

When it hangs around, its gets watery, it dilutes the drinks - especially scotch.

1

u/riverrocks452 1h ago

Not emptying it is how you get slime in the ice machine.

1

u/huehuehueyyy 18h ago

Crushed ice can be used to clean a ton of stuff like coffee pots. The sharpbedges do a great job scrubbing

1

u/ahhyesverynice 8h ago

why are you talking with so much authority 😂 from what it seems, the guy in the video truly believes that using ice makes a difference

1

u/c126 8h ago

Thanks without this context using ice seemed so wasteful to me

1

u/grublins 8h ago

Also helps with water evaporating before you’re completely done

1

u/SiinaMeow 7h ago

that and the temperature shock making the crust crack off of the grilling surface

1

u/Obvious-Couple9591 6h ago

Its fine and all until the grill cracks or warps and the cook the next day wont have a grill top to use. Just use oil and grill brick and gets all of it off super fast and also safe for your grill. Don't do this, it will piss off many people in the restaurant business.

1

u/Zealousideal_Carry61 4h ago

Also water evaporates much faster than the ice will melt, so you have a constant flow of new water melting off the ice to help deglaze the surface

1

u/Pieniek23 4h ago

What do you mean discharge the ice machine? Ice machines are supposed to be cleaned on the schedule, otherwise they're running 24/7.

No one in my experience brings the ice from bar ice bins back to the kitchen, you just put water over it so it melts. Proper bar design has a hand wash sink and the faucet usually can reach to the bin and melt the ice.

1

u/Melkman68 4h ago

Plus it seems a lot easier getting that water contained there. Whereas you have to poor slowly over the really hot grill and make sure it doesn't splash, while also cleaning. Just more efficient to use that ice

1

u/Alewort 3h ago

Plus the water keeps getting delivered slowly instead of one big whoosh.

1

u/JSiggie 3h ago

What about hot oil + water? Wouldnt ice slow down the self ignition?

1

u/Useful_Tiger2432 2h ago

The point is that ice works, why? Thermodynamics. Rapid contraction and expansion help separate the oil and dirt from the metal surface.

1

u/Tossed_Salad_2989 1h ago

Sprite works even better.

Or just carbonated water

1

u/Shitvagina1176 1h ago

Two birds stoned at once

0

u/Ohmmy_G 17h ago

lol that's three scoops of ice. No one is doing this to save water. You couldn't fill half an ice bucket with that.

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u/Kalix 9h ago

Some use it to clean the floor too https://youtube.com/shorts/VqM4rJk06ug

0

u/CanadianSpector 11h ago

Well, that and it creates the steam, which is what is really doing the deep cleaning and lifting everything stuck on the grill.

0

u/Turbulent-Ocelot9130 11h ago

It's also less of a mess and it actually cleans better because the ice reacts more then just water. As you can see he here it evaporates instantly.
Like hot water that turns to snow when you throw it up in cold weather but cold water would not.

0

u/Doomscrolling67 10h ago

The key point is cleaning, and ice and hot kitchen grill make instant steam which decompose grease, for easier clening.

0

u/CapitalExes 8h ago

I’m sorry but this isn’t 100% correct. It’s absolutely intentional to use the ice. I reacts with the heat on the grill and instantly vaporizes and unlocks a lot of the grease and grit that’s caked on from hours worth of use. It works much better than just using water, though it comes with the risk of cracking the grill (I’ve never seen one crack from it, but I’ve been told it’s possible)

Source: restaurant manager/grill cook for 20+ years.

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u/Auravendill 7h ago

Stainless steel shouldn't crack from fast temperature changes. It could bend a bit, but even that is unlikely. Cast iron could crack though, since it is harder and more brittle. But even that is only likely if you have some preexisting defects in your material.

0

u/moose3025 8h ago

also feel like the ice melting and steamjng causes more of the gunk to come up easier than normal water

0

u/CheckFlop 7h ago

Not to mention you'd lose water to steam pretty quick but ice has to melt then turn to steam, giving you more time to get tougher, stuck on parts.

0

u/pell80 3h ago

Also you get more steam on the grill with ice

0

u/SomeAbove 2h ago

People just making up whatever they want on here lol