Nice ice device advice

June 20, 2009 6:30 PM

I demand to know what the #1 ice cube tray is.

I miss my old refrigerator's ice dispenser, but the past is the past, and now I have a refrigerator without such a luxury. So, I get my ice by filling the ice cube trays with water and busting them out when I need them.

The problem with the busting is that a lot of the cubes are stubborn, and grappling with the tray to get them out is annoying. I'd like an ice cube tray that makes it easy to access my ice.

I remember my parents having a tray with a lever that made it easy to get the ice out, but that kind of tray seems to have fallen out of favor, and silicone trays seem to be the modern standard for easy-to-use ice cube trays. I guess the silicon makes them more flexible, but without having checked them out, I'm not sure how much of the hassle it eliminates.

Maybe something else entirely is the best way to go?

posted by ignignokt to food & drink (34 comments total)

These look intriguing, but I've never tried them. I've given up on ice cube trays and just buy bagged ice. Even if I'm drinking a ton of mixed drinks, we still never seem to go through more than a bag a week. Just get in the habit of picking it up like you would milk.
posted by rossination at 6:38 PM on June 20 [1 favorite has favorites]

Mmm. Space-invadery.
posted by runningwithscissors at 6:40 PM on June 20

run water over the bottom. then twist. there was a question earlier in the week about how one cube always sticks.
posted by patnok at 6:48 PM on June 20 [2 favorites has favorites]

Yeah, run hot water over the back of the tray, if you don't mind them falling into your sink. Otherwise you can do water over the top and that will probably work.
posted by delmoi at 6:56 PM on June 20

I, too, have given up making ice in the freezer and just buy it instead. Between my cocktail hobby and enjoyment of big, icy glasses of lemony water, I could never keep up making it myself. We never go through more than a bag a week either.

I don't know what the best ice cube tray is, but I know what I hate. We've got a couple of silicone ones that I deeply loathe. They seem to freeze slower; presumably because the silicone insults the water. Worse, since the tray isn't rigid, we've never been able to just twist it and make the cubes fall out. Each one must be poked individually, which results in frostbit fingers. This doesn't seem to bother everyone, but it makes me insane.

I've also found that novelty shapes suck. They increase the surface area of the ice so it melts super fast. Rapidly watered down gin and tonic makes me hulk out.
posted by mostlymartha at 7:05 PM on June 20 [1 favorite has favorites]

I *love* the silicone trays. The cubes pop-pop-pop right out of the tray, given a nudge on the bottom of the tray. The only catch I've found is getting the (freshly refilled) tray safely back into the freezer without wibble-wobbling half the water onto the floor.
posted by pammeke at 7:05 PM on June 20

I remember my parents having a tray with a lever that made it easy to get the ice out

That's from before good plastics were invented. I imagine early plastics would have gotten too brittle after being frozen, and would have shattered if you flexed them. So they made them out of aluminum, but you can't flex aluminum enough. Plus it's cold if you take a firm grip.

(You may think that it wasn't that long ago, but remember that most people are just using the trays that came with their refrigerator, which could easily be 20 years old.)
posted by smackfu at 7:14 PM on June 20

I'm intrigued by the ice orb.
posted by TDIpod at 7:31 PM on June 20 [8 favorites has favorites]

We got a plastic one with silicone base from Tupperware. There's silicone nipples on the base that you use to push them out. Best tray we've ever had.
posted by arcticseal at 7:32 PM on June 20 [1 favorite has favorites]

The silicone trays I have had have worked great. The nice thing is that they are a bit flexible, so it is easy to push the bottom until the ice comes out.
posted by grouse at 7:33 PM on June 20

running water over the back won't cause the cubes to fall out if you hold the tray sideways instead of inverted, usually. do one side of the back facing up and then the other, then twist out perfect cubes. the silicone trays look pretty neat.
posted by caddis at 7:45 PM on June 20

pammeke writes "I *love* the silicone trays. The cubes pop-pop-pop right out of the tray, given a nudge on the bottom of the tray. The only catch I've found is getting the (freshly refilled) tray safely back into the freezer without wibble-wobbling half the water onto the floor."

I also like the silicone trays. To compensate for the wigglyness I set them on ~12" baking racks until they freeze. As a bonus you can get trays that make a long skinny cube that'll slip into screw top bottles.
posted by Mitheral at 7:51 PM on June 20

I don't have silicone trays, but I randomly picked up a couple of "blue" ice cube trays from the supermarket - they seemed expensive at the time and looked like any other ice cube tray but - they ended up being The Greatest Ice Cube Trays I have ever used. A slight twist and all the cubes pop up a little out of the tray and stay up and if I slightly overfill, each cube ends up having a lip/handle to pick them out of the tray by.

Sorry, I have no idea what kind of plastic they're made out of or if they have a particular name. They have no markings whatsoever on them, but I got them from an IGA and I don't think they had a particular brand (but I don't think it was a store brand).
posted by porpoise at 8:06 PM on June 20

get the COVERED Tupperware ones. You will have the freshest, best tasting ice you have ever gotten out of your freezer. No more broccoli flavored drinks.
posted by cosmicbandito at 8:38 PM on June 20

The Container Store makes these wonderful trays where the bottom of the cube is rounded, so if you press on one end of it, the other end pops up like magic. Sometimes I have to give it a slight twist, but usually they just slide right into my hand.
posted by hermitosis at 9:00 PM on June 20

Bagged ice. It's like $1.50 (max!) at the supermarket.

If it starts to clump just drop the bag from waist height once or twice onto something really solid and you'll be good to go again. (It's quiet and very effective.)

Too. Easy. :)
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 9:04 PM on June 20

Yah. I am an ice cruncher and much prefer the bagged ice. I know it's ridiculous to "waste" the money, but it's a simple joy that makes me happy. And I never have to wrestle with trays.
posted by FlamingBore at 9:27 PM on June 20

Buying bagged ice is one of those little luxuries that make life feel special, like having really plush towels, lighting candles at dinner, or drinking name brand soda. For not a lot of money, you can kind of feel like a Rockefeller every time you reach into the freezer. Totally worth it. For extra decadence, keep a couple of big glass mugs in the freezer at all times and let them get nice and frosty. Fill with ice someone else made for you and an ICA root beer to feel like a million bucks.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:40 PM on June 20 [1 favorite has favorites]

I've got two ice cube trays with a stackable lids. It keeps freezer smell out when you're not using ice often, and lets you double up on your ice cubes in advance of a party by letting you load the lid with one batch of ice cubes and then rest a full tray on top of it. I swear I paid a dollar for each of them but the ones I see online only have a snug fitting lid that doesn't let you use it as a tray.
posted by furtive at 10:32 PM on June 20

Oh, and buying bagged is is what's wrong with this world. You have water, you have a freezer, what more do you need?
posted by furtive at 10:34 PM on June 20 [4 favorites has favorites]

Searching around, I've found blue ice cube trays, and aluminum lever ice cube trays.

Scroll down on that last one and you can find frozen Hans Solo ice trays. Reminds me of the time I bought these Jello Nascar molds at a garage sale and told the woman they'd make good ice trays. She gave me a funny look, but they work great when I cook something hot for the kids. I hand them each a frozen car, and they reproduce old Speed Racer episodes. "Watch out for that lava, Speed!" "What?, Oh, Ah, AAAAHH!"
posted by eye of newt at 10:56 PM on June 20

i picked up the perfect cube silicon ice cube trays from sur la table late last summer and since then congratulate myself at least once every single day for having made such a wise decision—the ice cubes really are perfect cubes, they pop right out of the tray, and make drinking cold things even more pleasurable than before. i will never ever buy any other kind of ice cube tray again and recommend them highly.
posted by lia at 11:15 PM on June 20 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ice-alternative: rocks.

They don't melt, and therefore don't dilute your drink.
posted by floam at 11:42 PM on June 20

I'm a big fan of self-sealing do-it-yourself ice cube bags, given that purchased ice isn't much of a business here.

Though I'm thinking floam's ice rocks are a definite option for my next party.
posted by ArkhanJG at 1:25 AM on June 21

Nthing the silicone trays - I got a real nice one from Butlers. It is large enough that it does not have to be refilled after every glass you drink, it has a nice flexible silicone tray that you can push the cubes out of with no effort and it comes with a black plastic "carrier" thingy that holds up the silicone and makes the whole rig very stable for transport and positioning in the freezer.

I don't know about their availability in the US, though.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 4:50 AM on June 21

By the way those aluminum trays with the lever are awful, especially if you don't warm them. The ice sticks to the tray and the dividers more strongly than to the polymer based trays and when you crank that lever you often get chipped ice, not cubes.
posted by caddis at 5:23 AM on June 21

After you find your preferred ice trays, try this: bring your water to a boil and then let it cool to room temperature. Do this twice before filling the trays. By boiling the water twice you eliminate almost all of the soluble gasses and chemicals which may be present. The result is a remarkably clear, transparent ice cube, with none of the cloudiness and crazing so common in refrigerator ice.

Nothing says "it's five o'clock somewhere" like a Manhattan in a faceted rocks glass, floating perfect, crystal clear ice.

As a matter of fact, it's Fathers Day, and it's five o'clock somewhere…
posted by dinger at 6:16 AM on June 21

I can assure you, the metal lever trays of yore were nothing short of horrible. I grew up using them. You ended-up with shattered, fragged cubes as often as not, and the cold metal held tight to the cubes with a death-grip.

Silicone, definitely. That GoodGrips tray looks cool, too.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:59 AM on June 21

Many ice cube trays today are designed to stack into each other to save space during the shipping and selling process. However, it means that if you don't orient them properly when you stack them in the freezer they will fall into each other and your water runs out.

I have several trays that are this ubiquitous inferior design. I hate them.

I have two trays though that are awesome (unknown provenance however). They are made from a thick opaque plastic, they sit on top of each other squarely and without fuss. The cubes are much superior, they rarely crack.

Target, Walmart, IKEA, World Market, local grocery stores, etc., have all failed me in my quest to find more of the awesome ones. I shall keep on searching, and when I find the good ones again I will buy 6 or 8 of them.

Good luck to you ignignokt in your search, it is good to have things of quality in your daily life.

p.s. I think the silicone ones are terrible. They flop around and they feel slimy. There is a contingent of the ice cube tray subculture that believes that silicone trays cause white floaters in your drink.
posted by SantosLHalper at 7:02 AM on June 21

thanks for the link to the ice orb, TDIpod. i just might order one of those today!
posted by msconduct at 7:16 AM on June 21

How about something like this? I think these are hilarious.
posted by moonroof at 8:12 AM on June 21

I like the OXO ones. The "cubes" are semicircular, so you just press on one side and the ice swivels out of its niche. The covers are not necessary or useful and are the source of most complaints about the trays; just ignore them.
posted by kindall at 11:03 AM on June 21

Semicircular ice blocks are the way to go, for quick (possibly drunken) deencubetrayenelation. Beats silicon, certainly beats commercial cubes.
posted by pompomtom at 9:06 PM on June 21

I have these - love them. these My ice usage is uneven, and this way I never have half-evaporated ice cubes or ice cubes that have absorbed weird and unspecified odors from the freezer.
posted by lemniskate at 10:05 PM on June 22