LTH Home

How do you make good ice?

How do you make good ice?
  • Forum HomePost Reply BackTop
  • How do you make good ice?

    Post #1 - July 26th, 2008, 9:27 am
    Post #1 - July 26th, 2008, 9:27 am Post #1 - July 26th, 2008, 9:27 am
    I really hate the ice that comes out of my icemaker which is part of my refrigerator. Its convenient but that's it. I like the ice that you buy sometimes that is better but I hate shlepping to the store for it and I don't use it fast enough. Is there a simple way to make good ice? I only like square ice cubes I hate the curved ones my icemaker makes, supposedly to fit in a glass. I like clear square ice cubes that don't taste like the freezer. Not too big or small. Please don't advise buying an expensive ice making machine, I am looking for something simple.
    Toria

    "I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - As You Like It,
    W. Shakespeare
  • Post #2 - July 26th, 2008, 12:23 pm
    Post #2 - July 26th, 2008, 12:23 pm Post #2 - July 26th, 2008, 12:23 pm
    The only trick to making clear ice cubes is to boil the water first. If you have a tea kettle or an electric kettle it's pretty easy. Just buy some ice cube trays that you like the shape of and fill them with boiled water that you have let cool. You'll even get more clarity if you boil twice.

    Having an electric kettle with an auto-shut-off makes this process really easy.

    Best,
    Michael
  • Post #3 - July 26th, 2008, 9:11 pm
    Post #3 - July 26th, 2008, 9:11 pm Post #3 - July 26th, 2008, 9:11 pm
    You can skip boiling the water by using distilled water, trading off money for time.

    I am not fussy about ice cubes but we have well water, which makes stinky ice cubes (literally). Most of the time, I just buy ice, since otherwise I would have to buy the water to make it with.

    For those of you buying ice, who don't care whether it's perfectly clear or how it's shaped, I recommend asking for bags of ice at your local fast-food emporium. Most of them will sell it, even if they don't advertise the fact.

    Recently, I was caught out without a cooler after buying some perishables, so we stopped at a Walgreens to pick up a foam one. Walgreens wanted $1.79 for 7 pounds of ice. Just across the street, White Castle sold us 10 pounds for $1.09. I'm sure it came out of their ice machine, starting with Chicago tap water, but it kept my cheese and smoked fish cold just as well as more expensive ice and is now reposing in my freezer, ready to add to drinks.
  • Post #4 - July 27th, 2008, 12:07 am
    Post #4 - July 27th, 2008, 12:07 am Post #4 - July 27th, 2008, 12:07 am
    I freeze water. That usually does the trick.

    ETA - I'm sorry...I just couldn't resist a little snark on this one 8)
    -Josh

    I've started blogging about the Stuff I Eat
  • Post #5 - July 27th, 2008, 9:09 am
    Post #5 - July 27th, 2008, 9:09 am Post #5 - July 27th, 2008, 9:09 am
    Filtered water is key. Then size does matter. Any way you can make big chunks is good. Try a muffin pan for nice "Rock", or make ice in a big bowl and then chip it into a manageable size. Your freezer should be nice and cold, creating good, cold, dry ice.

    Toby
    WRECHED EXCESS IS BARELY ENOUGH

    HEAT
  • Post #6 - July 28th, 2008, 3:04 pm
    Post #6 - July 28th, 2008, 3:04 pm Post #6 - July 28th, 2008, 3:04 pm
    I've tried filtered, distilled, and boiled water and haven't had much success with any of them for making clear ice cubes.

    Those ice makers that make clear ice cubes run water over the forming ice as it freezes from the center out and air bubbles don't get trapped. They require a water supply and a drain and they are expensive.

    I buy the 22 lb bags of ice at Sam's for under $3 and keep it in the soda, beer and wine fridge. I throw out all the icemaker ice in our food fridge every month or so to keep it fresh. I just hate it when I go to someone's house and they use that crappy ice for the drinks and my martini tastes like a smelly vegetable bin. It's especially annoying when the same people bought ice and used that good ice for the beer cooler.
    "Good stuff, Maynard." Dobie Gillis
  • Post #7 - July 28th, 2008, 8:27 pm
    Post #7 - July 28th, 2008, 8:27 pm Post #7 - July 28th, 2008, 8:27 pm
    I can see where it would seem a snarkworthy question, but really, if you don't much like the taste of the tap water at your house, you're not going to like that taste in your ice cubes either.

    We have a refrigerator now that filters the water that goes to the ice cube maker. Never had that luxury in the previous 40+ years, though.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #8 - June 27th, 2022, 1:29 pm
    Post #8 - June 27th, 2022, 1:29 pm Post #8 - June 27th, 2022, 1:29 pm
    We are in the market for a counter-top ice maker to supplement summer beverages for entertaining. There seems to be quite a range on the market; anyone have any experience / recs?
  • Post #9 - June 27th, 2022, 2:34 pm
    Post #9 - June 27th, 2022, 2:34 pm Post #9 - June 27th, 2022, 2:34 pm
    annak wrote:We are in the market for a counter-top ice maker to supplement summer beverages for entertaining. There seems to be quite a range on the market; anyone have any experience / recs?


    The Opal has been the gold standard for a few years in that it produces "nugget ice," the chewable ice that you get at Sonic and hospitals. Those ice makers are usually priced in the thousands and Opal (GE) does it for $500. Pretty expensive for a countertop unit that does 1lb/hr (and not continuously, you have to fill its tank and it doesn't have a built-in freezer for storage, it just melts/refreezes unused ice. People swear by it but it's pricey. The less expensive units produce more standard ice but the reviews are all over the place. This model, for example, has a lot of positive reviews:

    https://www.amazon.com/Machine-Countert ... ss_tl&th=1

    But it only holds about a half gallon of water, not a lot of capacity.

    After running out every Saturday/Sunday morning to buy several big bags of ice for the cooler we ended up with a commercial-ish ice maker - connected to the water line, makes 150lbs/day, with a 50-lb refrigerated bin. Expensive, but a workhorse. You can usually find a used model at a restaurant equipment reseller (restaurants go out of business even in non-COVID times).
  • Post #10 - May 14th, 2023, 3:47 pm
    Post #10 - May 14th, 2023, 3:47 pm Post #10 - May 14th, 2023, 3:47 pm
    In The Ice Book, internationally renowned cocktail icepert Camper English details how to use directional freezing to make perfectly pure ice in a home freezer, carve it up into giant diamonds and other shapes, and embed it with garnishes, including edible orchids and olives. You'll learn how to create a frozen bowl for Negroni punch, serve a Manhattan inside an ice sphere, and infuse cubes with colors and flavors to create cranberry cobblers, a color-changing Gin and Tonic, and other awesome drinks.

    https://iupress.org/9781684352050/the-ice-book/
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #11 - May 15th, 2023, 6:36 am
    Post #11 - May 15th, 2023, 6:36 am Post #11 - May 15th, 2023, 6:36 am
    Amazon has many mold options for directional freezing (essentially just insulated on the bottom and sides so freezing occurs top-down. Haven't tried any but people in the know say that's the secret to clarity.

Contact

About

Team

Advertize

Close

Chat

Articles

Guide

Events

more