Nugget ice makers in Australia

Nugget ice is the soft chewable ice from a hospitality machine, and it is what most people are actually looking for when they search for it. The problem in Australia is that a lot of what is sold under the name is not it. Of the 58 countertop machines we sourced, 4 can be verified as genuine nugget machines.

Prices and specifications checked 9 September 2026

The machines we could verify

4 distinct machines across 5 listings, from $281.07 to $699.99. Each one either describes the auger mechanism explicitly, or shows opaque irregular pellets in a close product photograph, or both. Where the same model appears twice it is the same machine at two retailers, and the prices differ.

Which of these to buy

• If you want the cheapest verified nugget machine. The Kenmore at $299.99 is the lowest verified price we found, and it is sold through the JB Hi-Fi Marketplace by Koolatron rather than by JB Hi-Fi directly, which matters for delivery and for who you deal with if something goes wrong.
• If you want the clearest evidence it is really nugget. The Morphy Richards is the most convincing case in the dataset: the manufacturer describes a precision motor and a pillar-shaped evaporator producing up to 15 pieces a minute, which is continuous auger production and not something a batch machine can do. Check availability before you plan around it, because Morphy Richards' own site lists this model as run out even though Harvey Norman was still selling it when we checked.
• If you want it to look like an appliance rather than a gadget. The Baccarat at $699.99 is the most expensive here and the photographic evidence is unambiguous, but you are paying roughly double the Kenmore for the same category of output.
• The Heller is the one we are least sure about. Its close photograph shows opaque pellets, but its chassis, power draw, tank and basket are identical to Heller's own bullet machine and the cycle time is four to five minutes. We have left it in the verified table because the photograph supports it, and we are telling you the reservation rather than hiding it.

Sold as nugget, claim unproven

These 5 listings are, as far as we can establish, one machine. The same chassis carries a 1.1 litre tank, a 15kg per 24 hour rating and a five minute first cycle whether it is badged Devanti or Maxkon, and the model codes sit in one factory series. It is sold at 4 retailers, and it is the cheapest thing in Australia carrying the word nugget, at $224.95, so it is the one most people will find first. We are not able to tell you what ice it makes.

Why we cannot call it. Two separate sourcing passes examined the product imagery for this model and came to opposite conclusions, one reading hollow cylinders and the other reading compressed pellets. Rather than pick the answer we preferred, here is what is checkable and published.

• No listing anywhere, including Devanti's own product page, mentions an auger, a rotating drum or compressed ice flakes. Every verified nugget machine above leads with that mechanism, because it is the reason to pay for one.
• The brands are not independent evidence for each other. Devanti and Maxkon are selling the same factory chassis under two labels at different prices, so a second brand making the same claim is the same claim, not a corroboration of it.
• Devanti's own wording is "nugget-shaped ice". That is a claim about the shape of the ice, not about how it is made.
• The published cycle is five to ten minutes. Genuine auger machines produce continuously and take substantially longer to a first harvest. A short batch cycle is characteristic of prong-harvest bullet machines.

That is suggestive rather than conclusive, which is exactly why the ice type field for this machine is recorded as not established rather than filled in. If you want nugget ice specifically, buy from the verified table. If the price difference is the deciding factor, buy it understanding that you may receive bullet ice, and check the returns policy before you order.

What this category looks like honestly

Two things are worth saying plainly, because neither is obvious from a search results page.

The American machines are not sold here. The GE Profile Opal dominates English-language nugget ice coverage and no Australian retailer we checked stocks it. It turns up only as a grey import at 110 to 120 volts, needing a step-down transformer, with no Australian warranty. NewAir and ChillMate are the same. A great deal of the nugget advice you will find online is describing a product you cannot practically buy here.

The verified machines are mostly sold by retailers we earn nothing from. Three of the four sit at Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, House and JB Hi-Fi, none of which have an affiliate program with us. That is worth stating because it explains why this page does not push you toward a particular shop: on this category there is nothing to push you toward.

If it turns out you do not need nugget specifically, a bullet machine is a great deal cheaper and perfectly good for chilling drinks. The difference is explained in what each machine actually makes, and the broader comparison is in the main ice maker comparison.

Common questions

Can you buy a GE Profile Opal in Australia?

Not through any Australian retailer we could find. It appears only as a grey import through marketplace sellers, and it is a 110 to 120 volt appliance, so running one here means a step-down transformer, no Australian warranty and no local parts. The same applies to NewAir and ChillMate. If you have read American reviews of nugget machines, that is the gap you are running into.

Why is nugget ice so much more expensive?

Because it is made a completely different way. Bullet ice freezes around chilled metal prongs and drops off, which needs almost no moving parts. Nugget ice is frozen as a thin flake against a chilled drum, scraped off by a rotating auger and compressed through a die. That is a motor, a gearbox and an auger assembly that a bullet machine simply does not have, and it is why the cheapest verified nugget machine here costs several times a basic bullet machine.

How can I tell if a machine really makes nugget ice before buying?

Look at what the listing describes rather than what it is called. A genuine nugget machine sells the mechanism, because that is its whole point: expect words like auger, compressed flakes, or continuous production, and expect a first harvest measured in the tens of minutes. A stated cycle of five to ten minutes is batch behaviour and characteristic of a bullet machine. Then look closely at the product photograph: nugget ice is opaque, white and irregular, and bullet ice is translucent with a visible hole through it.

Is nugget ice worth it?

For soft drinks, iced coffee and anything you chew the ice from, it is the only ice that will satisfy you and nothing cheaper substitutes. For chilling drinks in an esky it is a waste of money, because it melts fast and you are paying several hundred dollars for a texture that does not matter in a tub. It is a genuinely good product for one specific purpose and a poor one for everything else.