One of the houses on our short list when we bought had a pellet ice maker. Every day when I have to open up my freezer and bang on the ice bucket because it won’t dispense, I miss not buying that house.
@djslack mine does the same the solenoid always freezes and I only get huge chunks of ice cubes and when I want whole ice cubes it crushes it up so I always have to reach in and grab the ice cubes
@RiotDemon i use ice constantly, and when we have parties with friends ice is always in short supply because everyone is all about ice. …except two of my friends, who are married, who actually started talking in part because they realized they were both making/asking for drinks without ice. they recently bought a house, which of course has a fridge with a built in ice maker.
@phendrick
Me neither. I prefer the Antarctic, just north of the South Pole. You have to drill a few hundred feet, but you get the purest ice in the world.
@SSteve i have heard that there are people that don’t mind lukewarm cocktails. apparently ice is a very “american” thing, or so i’m told.
in this case i suppose it’s also possible that @lordbowen doesn’t drink alcohol, or drinks beer. or drinks things in general that are kept cold in the fridge already.
@SSteve My mother, may she rest in peace, was an alcoholic, just beer. She never kept any cold, she figured no one would want a warm beer, so more for her.
@lisaviolet I’m sorry about your mom. There is some alcoholism in my family. My grandmother was an alcoholic but was able to live into her late 70s. Her daughter (my aunt) is effectively an invalid due to drinking. Her son (my cousin) destroyed his liver and died. But I’m not related by blood (I’m adopted) and seem to have escaped the disease. I’m glad for that because I love to make a good cocktail, but I can easily choose to not overindulge. I know I’m lucky in that regard so I try to be thankful and also to be sensitive to others who are affected by alcoholism. This is an irreverent place, though, so I might make jokes that wouldn’t be appropriate in another setting. I apologize if my comment was hurtful.
My mom had lifelong issues and she self-medicated. She died at 76 in a residential care facility. The alcohol had pretty much melted her brain. She could recognize me, but not remember I’d been there the day before.
@ConAndLibrarian it is unclear from the photo how this seals. is it reusable? i’m not sure how this is handy. doesn’t look like you can stack it. how do you get the ice out? (or perhaps this is just a joke i’m not in on.)
@jerk_nugget The bag seals on its own once it is full (I have no idea how it does this) and then to get the ice out, you pull on the bag. The little lines between the compartments break when you pull the bag, and gives you a nice little bag of ice. It is not reusable.
I was cleaning out some chunks of ice from the back of my fridge’s ice maker once and I learned the heating element that loosens the ice is EXTREMELY HOT. Months later and still a big scar.
/giphy thought I’d share
I use a lot of ice, I go through 4-6 ice trays daily. I have 4 plastic trays in the freezer, plus a plastic container which will hold 4 trays worth, so I have 8 at my disposal. I have some special use silicone trays that make solid ice shot glasses, a sizable ball of ice, bottle cubes, pawprint cubes, and quite a few other silicone molds that are meant for fondant, could be used for ice, but I use them for jewelry and ceramics molds. I often freeze water in a plastic cup to make a big cube for my steel cup.
does this mean meh will be selling an ice maker shortly? the old trial balloon trick. get everyone thinking and talking about something so the pump is primed? yeah, ok, i thought so…
Normally I use the trays. I have a silicone mould for frozen shot glasses, too. My machine is broken, so automatic ice making is off the table. Actually, Hurricane Irma has knocked out the power so there is ice melting, not ice making.
Several of these answers would work for me. I have plastic ice trays and whiskey stones, each used occasionally. I buy ice for parties. My fridge has an ice maker, but I haven’t hooked up the water to it. And the real answer is that I generally don’t use any unless the drink is for someone else.
The ice maker in our refrigerator at home kinda sucks and it’s old, so, yaknow, the combination of rust and Texas water (even though there is a filter, which we’ve changed recently) is mostly unappealing.
The rich people my wife works for have a separate pellet ice maker in their also otherwise beautiful house (even though the fancy refrigerator seems to have a fancy built-in too). That ice is amazing, and copious. She is spoiled and I am envious.
I’m an ice water fiend. I mean, I can live without ice if I have to, but I’m fiendish for it.
So whenever we go to Starbucks (not always the best ice for form, but it’s redundantly filtered, so it at least tastes good; or, rather, doesn’t taste) I ask for a Trenta cup of ice to go in the meh-purchased Bubba(s) (or a different one I have that’s got a cooler spout) I usually have with me; sometimes I do this twice. When I eat fast food I also often use the cup to put ice in my water container before getting a drink.
I sometimes feel self-conscious about this, like I’m taking more ice than I’m entitled to. I think this is because of the fuckers who run hotels who are so emphatic about us not filling our coolers. They’ve convinced me that each of us is entitled to only a limited amount of ice, commensurate with the standard chilling of one or two medium-sized beverages. God damn those stingy fuckers. Some of us just want more ice.
Just because (no, I would not want this ice in a drink):
@joelmw As you can see by my earlier response I also love ice, although I’m not so picky about the flavor. I have a tiny 9cf refrigerator with a commensurately tiny freezer. Most of the time I had to make do with only one ice tray which was far too little ice for me. Like you I was always scavenging around for ice, taking my oversized cup into fast food joints and filling it with ice whenever I bought food, taking it into Costco and filling it with ice whenever I shopped for groceries, etc. I never felt constrained on how much ice I took, as long as I was making a purchase at that business. I do always ask though, as it’s polite. But in the Texas heat I’ve never had anyone who seemed to think it was an unreasonable request. The usual answer is “of course!” This summer I bought a small upright freezer which allowed me unimaginable freedom to purchase crazy stuff like ice cream, bulk frozen chicken, etc. It freed my entire kitchen freezer for ice, and for a little while I had 12 ice trays in there. I was giddy with my wealth of ice. After about a month I realized that I was actually using between 4 and 8 trays per day, and it was more convenient to dump 4 trays into a bulk container twice a day and free my other shelf for Klondike bars and pupsicles (frozen dog treats).
I just got this in the mail, completely forgot about it. It’s about 8" long. I’m going to put orange and lemon slices in it and fill it with water or maybe lemonade to make a large ice cube for my clear acrylic pitcher. It’s actually a Jello mold but it will work great for ice.
One of the houses on our short list when we bought had a pellet ice maker. Every day when I have to open up my freezer and bang on the ice bucket because it won’t dispense, I miss not buying that house.
@djslack mine does the same the solenoid always freezes and I only get huge chunks of ice cubes and when I want whole ice cubes it crushes it up so I always have to reach in and grab the ice cubes
@djslack you know, you probably could get a pellet ice maker without having to trade in the house you ended up buying… just saying.
@baqui63 I’d keep this house even if it meant a lifetime ban on ever getting pellet ice again.
I have a built in ice machine… But I hardly ever use the ice.
@RiotDemon Me too. My wife, OTOH, uses more ice every day than i do most months, so I’m glad I have the ice maker.
@RiotDemon i use ice constantly, and when we have parties with friends ice is always in short supply because everyone is all about ice. …except two of my friends, who are married, who actually started talking in part because they realized they were both making/asking for drinks without ice. they recently bought a house, which of course has a fridge with a built in ice maker.
“I travel to the arctic once a year and stock up”
Not really, but too cool an answer not to vote for it.
@phendrick
Me neither. I prefer the Antarctic, just north of the South Pole. You have to drill a few hundred feet, but you get the purest ice in the world.
Built-in for day to day glasses of water, silicone large-cube tray for whiskey.
Don’t use ice. At all.
@lordbowen Then how on earth do you chill your cocktails?
@SSteve i have heard that there are people that don’t mind lukewarm cocktails. apparently ice is a very “american” thing, or so i’m told.
in this case i suppose it’s also possible that @lordbowen doesn’t drink alcohol, or drinks beer. or drinks things in general that are kept cold in the fridge already.
@SSteve My mother, may she rest in peace, was an alcoholic, just beer. She never kept any cold, she figured no one would want a warm beer, so more for her.
@lisaviolet I’m sorry about your mom. There is some alcoholism in my family. My grandmother was an alcoholic but was able to live into her late 70s. Her daughter (my aunt) is effectively an invalid due to drinking. Her son (my cousin) destroyed his liver and died. But I’m not related by blood (I’m adopted) and seem to have escaped the disease. I’m glad for that because I love to make a good cocktail, but I can easily choose to not overindulge. I know I’m lucky in that regard so I try to be thankful and also to be sensitive to others who are affected by alcoholism. This is an irreverent place, though, so I might make jokes that wouldn’t be appropriate in another setting. I apologize if my comment was hurtful.
@jerk_nugget I had a couple gin & tonics without ice when I lived in Norway. They are horrible.
@SSteve Oh, it wasn’t hurtful at all.
My mom had lifelong issues and she self-medicated. She died at 76 in a residential care facility. The alcohol had pretty much melted her brain. She could recognize me, but not remember I’d been there the day before.
She’s at peace now.
I have a Wintersmiths Ice Chest. Sometimes I make a big block of clear ice and chop it up into cubes.
I do not like the ice that the ice maker makes, so I purchase these handy-dandy bags to make my ice.
@ConAndLibrarian it is unclear from the photo how this seals. is it reusable? i’m not sure how this is handy. doesn’t look like you can stack it. how do you get the ice out? (or perhaps this is just a joke i’m not in on.)
@jerk_nugget The bag seals on its own once it is full (I have no idea how it does this) and then to get the ice out, you pull on the bag. The little lines between the compartments break when you pull the bag, and gives you a nice little bag of ice. It is not reusable.
Different bag, but same concept.
@ConAndLibrarian neat! never seen something like this before.
I was cleaning out some chunks of ice from the back of my fridge’s ice maker once and I learned the heating element that loosens the ice is EXTREMELY HOT. Months later and still a big scar.
/giphy thought I’d share
never change, giphy
I like dry ice. It’s pretty cool.
@mehcuda67 I saw what you did there!
I picked Plastic Ice Trays in the poll since I use those the most.
I also have some silicone trays for 1" and 2" cubes, plus eight of the Orbie Silicone Ice Molds that meh sold on Tuesday, August 9, 2016, though I’ve never used them so don’t know what size they make or even if they work.
I also have a set of nine whiskey stones from woot that I got eons ago and used a few times.
I use a lot of ice, I go through 4-6 ice trays daily. I have 4 plastic trays in the freezer, plus a plastic container which will hold 4 trays worth, so I have 8 at my disposal. I have some special use silicone trays that make solid ice shot glasses, a sizable ball of ice, bottle cubes, pawprint cubes, and quite a few other silicone molds that are meant for fondant, could be used for ice, but I use them for jewelry and ceramics molds. I often freeze water in a plastic cup to make a big cube for my steel cup.
The house I’m in has no form of freezer. Except in winter, when it actually freezes outside.
does this mean meh will be selling an ice maker shortly? the old trial balloon trick. get everyone thinking and talking about something so the pump is primed? yeah, ok, i thought so…
@bayportbob
Selling bags of ice would be even funnier.
I think the tray I bought was recommended on the sweethome. It’s got a silicon top, which is handy. The ice doesn’t taste/smell like the freezer.
Mainly use it in coffee when I’m in a hurry, so I can drink it faster.
Normally I use the trays. I have a silicone mould for frozen shot glasses, too. My machine is broken, so automatic ice making is off the table. Actually, Hurricane Irma has knocked out the power so there is ice melting, not ice making.
@PocketBrain
Bummer, be safe. Waiting for Irma to show up around here… or not…still not 100% sure
Several of these answers would work for me. I have plastic ice trays and whiskey stones, each used occasionally. I buy ice for parties. My fridge has an ice maker, but I haven’t hooked up the water to it. And the real answer is that I generally don’t use any unless the drink is for someone else.
TL:DR: I scavenge ice wherever I can.
The ice maker in our refrigerator at home kinda sucks and it’s old, so, yaknow, the combination of rust and Texas water (even though there is a filter, which we’ve changed recently) is mostly unappealing.
The rich people my wife works for have a separate pellet ice maker in their also otherwise beautiful house (even though the fancy refrigerator seems to have a fancy built-in too). That ice is amazing, and copious. She is spoiled and I am envious.
I’m an ice water fiend. I mean, I can live without ice if I have to, but I’m fiendish for it.
So whenever we go to Starbucks (not always the best ice for form, but it’s redundantly filtered, so it at least tastes good; or, rather, doesn’t taste) I ask for a Trenta cup of ice to go in the meh-purchased Bubba(s) (or a different one I have that’s got a cooler spout) I usually have with me; sometimes I do this twice. When I eat fast food I also often use the cup to put ice in my water container before getting a drink.
I sometimes feel self-conscious about this, like I’m taking more ice than I’m entitled to. I think this is because of the fuckers who run hotels who are so emphatic about us not filling our coolers. They’ve convinced me that each of us is entitled to only a limited amount of ice, commensurate with the standard chilling of one or two medium-sized beverages. God damn those stingy fuckers. Some of us just want more ice.
Just because (no, I would not want this ice in a drink):
@joelmw As you can see by my earlier response I also love ice, although I’m not so picky about the flavor. I have a tiny 9cf refrigerator with a commensurately tiny freezer. Most of the time I had to make do with only one ice tray which was far too little ice for me. Like you I was always scavenging around for ice, taking my oversized cup into fast food joints and filling it with ice whenever I bought food, taking it into Costco and filling it with ice whenever I shopped for groceries, etc. I never felt constrained on how much ice I took, as long as I was making a purchase at that business. I do always ask though, as it’s polite. But in the Texas heat I’ve never had anyone who seemed to think it was an unreasonable request. The usual answer is “of course!” This summer I bought a small upright freezer which allowed me unimaginable freedom to purchase crazy stuff like ice cream, bulk frozen chicken, etc. It freed my entire kitchen freezer for ice, and for a little while I had 12 ice trays in there. I was giddy with my wealth of ice. After about a month I realized that I was actually using between 4 and 8 trays per day, and it was more convenient to dump 4 trays into a bulk container twice a day and free my other shelf for Klondike bars and pupsicles (frozen dog treats).
@moondrake Somehow I missed your previous response.
Yes, yes, yes, to all of that.
Ice is miraculous (and as I recall, it does have some interesting properties).
Oh, and ice trays seem primitive and ridiculous to me.
/giphy ice tray
I have no way of making ice. Nothing is safe in a dorm refrigerator
I got about halfway through these comments before I realized I was reading a comment thread about making ice. Thanks, meh.
I just got this in the mail, completely forgot about it. It’s about 8" long. I’m going to put orange and lemon slices in it and fill it with water or maybe lemonade to make a large ice cube for my clear acrylic pitcher. It’s actually a Jello mold but it will work great for ice.