How do you make good ice?

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.

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

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.

I freeze water. That usually does the trick.

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

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

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.

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.

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?

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).

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/

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.

In my case: how do you get the ice maker to work once more ...

The ice cube maker stopped a day ago. I used the last of the ice today. The last time I had a problem, I ended up defrosting slightly the freezer. Something froze somewhere to cause some disruption.

Before I went through the messy routine of defrosting, I decided to consult with my repair buddies via youtube.

Most important piece of information for my situation: if your freezer goes above zero degrees at some point the ice cube maker is designed to shut off. Coincidentally, the freezer drawer was slightly ajar for a period of time yesterday.

I don't know how long the freezer needs to recover, though about an hour ago (9:30ish pm), I heard the ice cube machine dump ice and refill.

A happy person who has just skipped defrosting and yet has a glass of ice.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:In my case: how do you get the ice maker to work once more ...

The ice cube maker stopped a day ago. I used the last of the ice today. The last time I had a problem, I ended up defrosting slightly the freezer. Something froze somewhere to cause some disruption.

Before I went through the messy routine of defrosting, I decided to consult with my repair buddies via youtube.

Most important piece of information for my situation: if your freezer goes above zero degrees at some point the ice cube maker is designed to shut off. Coincidentally, the freezer drawer was slightly ajar for a period of time yesterday.

I don't know how long the freezer needs to recover, though about an hour ago (9:30ish pm), I heard the ice cube machine dump ice and refill.

A happy person who has just skipped defrosting and yet has a glass of ice.

Regards,
Cathy2

We have a Sub-Zero that came with the house and it has been relatively trouble-free for the last decade-ish that we've lived there. I do have a level of anxiety about the day it needs to be replaced (for more money than my first new car cost). The ice maker conked out recently and I was able to Youtube a fix -- a $20 valve from Amazon.

spinynorman99 wrote:We have a Sub-Zero that came with the house and it has been relatively trouble-free for the last decade-ish that we've lived there. I do have a level of anxiety about the day it needs to be replaced (for more money than my first new car cost). The ice maker conked out recently and I was able to Youtube a fix -- a $20 valve from Amazon.

I found a used cabinet depth all-fridge by following Craigslist. I bought from a culinary school who had a new appliance sponsor: Sub-Zero-Wolf. I paid around $1000, though they asked for $2000. I had checked to learn the warranty followed the address. Effectively there was no warranty. A year or so later, there was an issue. I called to learn the refrigerator was never registered and the fix was made on their warranty.

I got it from persistence and knowing my family would flip out when they learned how much new cost.

Regards,
Cathy2