There’s nothing better than freshly made shaved ice on a hot day. The light and fluffy texture settles on your tongue like a snowflake made with your favorite flavor.

There are a lot of shaved ice machines out there, and to call one unequivocally the best shaved ice machine doesn’t make sense unless you really define what best means, especially when one shaved ice machine may be better in one respect and worse in another than a competitor.

Instead, here’s how to find the best shaved ice machine for you, based on how you intend to use it.

 

The Shaved Ice Fanatic

Unfortunately, getting shaved ice isn’t as easy as picking out a pint of ice cream at the grocery store. Instead you have to find a local business that sells shaved ice and deal with the inconvenience of having to go out every time you have a shaved ice craving.
The best shaved ice machine for the fanatic is a small capacity automatic machine. Large shaved ice machines take up space, and if you mainly make shaved ice for yourself or a few friends you don’t need to invest in a machine that holds more ice. Additionally, automatic models produce more consistent shaved ice with having to do any manual labor. This means you can do something else while you wait for the ice to be ready.

Features like speed and ice type are less important. Serving smaller groups means you don’t have to produce shaved ice as quickly as possible, so speed is only a factor if you really need the shaved ice as soon as possible. Likewise, machines that use block ice create finer shaved ice than ice cubes, so consider if that’s a priority before choosing the best machine for you.

We recommend the HC-8EDC Hatsuyuki Cube Ice Shaver for fanatics.

 

The Party Host

You pride yourself on being the event planner of the group. Any time a festivity is on the agenda, it’s almost guaranteed that you planned it.

The best shaved ice machine for a party planner is a mid capacity automatic machine. Because you have more people to serve, investing in a machine that can hold and produce more shaved ice at once is a good idea. Automatic machines are also good for party hosts because it allows you to mingle and perform other host duties without constantly babysitting the machine.

Like the fanatic, speed and ice type are less important. Speed can be useful if you anticipate shaved ice being popular or if you just want to enhance your guests’ experience. Ice type is only important if you want to produce the highest quality shaved ice.

We recommend the HC-S32A Hatsuyuki Cube Shaver for party hosts.

 

The Parent

It’s the middle of summer and your kids aren’t spending half the day at school anymore. You need a way to keep the rugrats entertained while helping them to beat the heat.

The best shaved ice machine for a parent is a small capacity manual machine. Kids have smaller stomachs, so your machine doesn’t need to prioritize capacity and can be up to the task with base capacity. The reason parents should try manual machines is because it limits the risk of children activating or hurting themselves with the machine, and it allows them to make the shaved ice themselves. With supervision of course.

Your best shaved ice machine has the simplest requirements. If it can make shaved ice, then everything else is bells and whistles. Parents with older children or who intend to keep their kids far away from the machine can choose an automatic machine instead.

We recommend the Hatsuyuki HA-110 Manual Block Ice Shaver for kids and parents.

 

The Business Owner

Shaved ice is your livelihood. You want to make and sell high quality shaved ice to build a strong and recurring customer base.

The best shaved ice machine for a business owner is a high capacity, high speed, automatic machine that uses ice blocks, not ice cubes. It’s a lot to keep in mind, but all of these factors ensure you’re efficiently producing high quality shaved ice to satisfy customers.

If budget is a concern and you need to pick and choose what features to have the absolute best of, consider the size of your business. For newer vendors, compromising on machine capacity or ice type is your best bet at saving some money. At this point, your customer base is smaller, so capacity is less important and unless you want to come out of the gate with the highest possible quality of shaved ice, you can compromise with a machine that uses ice cubes. Do not compromise on speed. With fewer customers, quickly serving them is important to cement your reputation and have them come back.

We recommend the HF-50DC Hatsuyuki Block Shaved Ice Shaver for business owners.

Whichever group you fall into, Real Hawaiian Ice has the machines and supplies to get you started.