Plum Chef Ice Maker – ZB-12BZ
I was recently provided an Air Fryer to review from the good folks at Plum Chef. Subsequently, they reached out to me to review their Plum Chef Ice Maker.
This is a Countertop Ice Maker that makes up to 26 lbs. of ice per day. The model number on the unit they provided is ZB-12BZ. The model number on the Amazon link above is ZB-12AZ which makes me think that they probably updated their line.
Some years ago when we bought this house I had a wine refrigerator installed.
The wine fridge came with a free ice maker. And while that was pretty cool, that ice maker was fairly huge and pretty heavy and was no fun to dump the water out of when it came time to do that. And finally, it took up a lot of valuable real estate on our kitchen island.
The Plum Chef Ice Maker is considerably smaller, lighter, and easier to fill and empty and doesn’t take up much space at all. It cranks out 9 cubes every 6 minutes or so. It also fills up pretty quickly. We recently hosted family for Easter dinner and the ice maker was such a blessing. And it is convenient for visitors to get ice without feeling like they are rooting around in your freezer.
This Is A Tech Blog
Since I am a techie I’ll hit the technical aspects of the ice maker first.
For electrical testing I hooked up a Power Monitoring Smart Plug. The results after turning the ice maker on initially look like this:
Initial Power Up
1.6 Amps and 102 Watts are pretty respectable for an item that needs to freeze water quickly.
I’ll get to the Energy consumption in the next sensor readout.
After Compressor Goes To Idle
After the ice maker fills up and the Compressor goes idle it pulls almost 0 amperes and does pull zero watts.
They advertise a daily power usage of 4kWh, however I’m probably 4-5 hours away from a 24 hour run and I’m showing considerably less power consumption.
I probably didn’t use much ice so higher ice consumption would probably run that number up a bit.
Anyway, this device is not a power hog. It’s also fairly quiet. They advertise 45dB sound output however my dB tester showed about 60dB. I tested directly at the exhaust and I feel like backing up a couple of feet would account for my higher reading. You’re not going to put your ear next to the exhaust. So I agree with the 45dB claim. It’ll be in a video down below.
Plum Chef Ice Maker – Quick Video
Videos sometimes tell the tale better than text!
The Cubes
There are two settings for ice cube size. Small and large. They actually seem about the same size however, the small cubes seem to be thinner. We like the large cubes and probably will always have it set to that setting.
The machine also indicates when it is full and when it needs additional water.
Wrap Up
I’m not sure what else to say about it. It sips power. It is quiet. It makes ice quickly. The basket fills up quickly. And best of all it isn’t huge or bulky or heavy. It doesn’t take up a lot of space and it is easy to dump the water out in a controlled fashion when it is time to store the ice maker.
This would be ideal in your RV or camper. I’m gonna tell on myself here. My wife told me I should set it outside and move my drink station out of the kitchen. I have been known to have a margarita or three at times and it would appear I usually get salt all over the place. Now there is a solution to that problem.
I strongly recommend the Plum Chef line of appliances.
That’s a lot of ice! I’ve been looking for a way to make a big batch for summer drinks.