A Clinebell ice machine is used to create large blocks of crystal-clear ice. It was invented in 1983 by Virgil Clinebell after he observed how ice freezing atop rivers and streams is usually clear.
Clear ice from a non-moving body of water, like a lake or a pond, is usually an indicator of a slow freezing process. As ice crystals form, the lattice grows tighter, leaving little room for air or minerals to make their way inside. Oxygen bubbles and impurities are pushed away, and they eventually become trapped in the last sections of the ice to freeze. If the water is moving, as in the case of a river or stream, clear ice results because the water movement is similarly causing the ice to form slowly, as well as preventing impurities from being trapped inside.
Unlike clear ice found in nature, most home-frozen ice cubes develop a cloudy center because the water is freezing from the outside in. This relegates the air bubbles and impurities to the middle portion of the cube. When the last bit of water on the inside of the cube turns to ice, small fissures and striations develop and branch outward. Impurities and oxygen bubbles then attempt to forcibly defect from the core as this water expands during the freezing process, lending the eye of the cube an overall cloudy appearance.
Throughout his years in the ice business, Clinebell had been interested in the clear ice that came from fast-flowing rivers and streams. This inspired him to imagine a machine that could somehow replicate this behavior and yield similar results via an inversion of the natural top-down freezing process. His now-famous CB300X2D carving block ice maker (aka “Clinebell machine”) was initially conceptualized in 1983 and was brought forth to the general public in 1984. His company also underwent a name change to become Clinebell Equipment, Inc., and it is still in business today.
The Clinebell machine freezes water in the opposite manner from a lake or river—from the bottom up, via a cooling plate at the base of the machine. The machine is constructed of galvanized steel, and it features an insulated cover that is lifted to reveal two large cabinets, each lined with a disposable neoprene bag that is filled with forty gallons of water at the beginning of each cycle and replaced after each harvest. Circulating pumps are positioned at the ends or corners of the cabinets in order to constantly circulate and agitate the water. Proper placement of the circulating pumps is critical to achieving optimal clarity in the final product, and the position of the pumps should be adjusted every day of the cycle, as they serve to prevent oxygen bubbles and impurities from forming within the block. These unwanted elements are subsequently relegated to the final and top layer of water to reach a solid state, which is later sliced off and discarded prior to harvesting the blocks within. At the end of its two- to four-day cycle, the Clinebell machine produces two crystal-clear blocks, each weighing 136 kg (300 lbs.). The blocks are removed from the machine via a steel hoist that liberates the finished blocks from their chamber.
The manifest purpose of the Clinebell machine was to create a product that would benefit the ice sculptor. In recent times, a number of modern bartenders have become rather fond of its merits and adopted this machine into their cocktail programs as a means to produce a superior caliber of clear ice that may be cut to all needed sizes and shapes.
Boccato, Richard. “The Cold War (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ice).” In Gaz Regan’s Annual Manual for Bartenders 2013, ed. Gaz Regan et al. N.p.: Mixellany, 2013.
Clinebell Equipment Company website. http://clinebellequipment.com/ (accessed February 24, 2021).
Gosnell, Mariana. Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Marling, Karal Ann. Ice: Great Moments in the History of Hard, Cold Water. St. Paul, Minnesota: Borealis, 2008.
By: Richard Boccato