Making ice using a tray is one of the most common methods of making cubed ice. This ice making method is quite simple. Fill a plastic ice cube tray with water. Stick it in the freezer. Wait for several hours and voila, you get perfect ice cubes ready to chill your favorite drink. Releasing the ice is not a difficult process either. Simply take the tray that contains the ice from the freezer. Twist it one or two times to loosen the cubes. In no time, the ice cubes will pop from the tray. Ready for you to place them in your glass.
My family uses the ice maker to make a lot of ice at home for our drinks and juices. An ice maker is a machine that automatically makes ice on demand for the family. Making ice with this machine is quite simple: pour water in the water reservoir, wait six to fifteen minutes and you have perfect ice cubes ready for your drink or beverage in the ice storage compartment.
Not everyone has an ice machine or enough ice cube trays to make a large quantity of ice sufficient for their family’s needs. In order for you to save time and effort, I did a bit of research and experiment to discover the easiest methods used to make ice cubes at home without an ice cube tray. If you have ever wondered how to make ice cubes without a tray at home, a number of simple hacks are neatly packaged in this article.
How do you make ice cubes without using an ice tray?
Having a bit of ice to cool down your drink on a hot summer’s day is definitely a blessing. As you might be aware, having a big family coincides with a shortage of ice. It seems like the kids eating ice is the only way for them to cool down and to get their daily allowance of water – the recommended eight glasses of water per day.
Is your family is anything like mine? Love ice with a passion? I will share with you a number of key ideas developed over time regarding ice making.
You will be safe in the knowledge of knowing exactly how do I make ice without using an ice tray.
In this article, I will share with you a number of different ideas on how to make ice cubes without using a tray. There are a few simple hacks that can be used to make ice without a try. These include using a Ziploc bag, freezer bag, silicone mold, egg carton or a portable ice maker.
#1 Ziploc bag
Ziploc bags are bags made of thick plastic with a zip lock at one end. Using these bags is quite simple. You can get Ziploc bags in a variety of sizes. If you get the really small ones, typically three inches by five inches, they can be filled up with water. Placed in the freezer for freezing. It usually requires a number of hours for solid freezing.
If you do not have access to the small bags the larger ones work just as well. The first method produces individual ice from each small bag. Alternatively, you can use much bigger Ziploc bags. Fill the Ziploc bag quarter way up. Ziplock the bag with the water. Place in the freezer flat on the side. Wait until the bag with the water is frozen solid. It normally takes a few hours. As the ice in this bag is much bigger, it may require breaking into smaller pieces that would bet your glass.
#2 Freezer bag
The first method may not give you a perfectly shaped ice. The aesthetics of the ice produced using the Ziploc bag may not be perfect. If perfection is the dream then you could try this alternative. A more practical method would use freezer bags. These can be purchased on Amazon for a relatively cheap price.
The Ice Cube Tray Easy Release 100 Pcs Ice Molds is a highly rated freezer bag. Learning how to use freezer bags is super easy. Pour water into the freezer bag. When it is filled, close it and place it flat into the freezer. After a number of hours, these freezer bags will be frozen. The beauty of these bags is that it prevents the transfer of food smells to the ice. Leaving you with great tasting ice. Therefore, gone are the days when ice tastes like garlic, or like rotten eggs or like mildew.
#3 Silicone mold
Everything in the modern kitchen seems to be made of silicon these days. Now we have the silicon trays which are used as a replacement to the long-standing plastic trays. Using mold is sort of a cheat to the questions of how to make ice cubes without using an ice tray because silicon mold is an ice tray made of a silicon material instead of plastic.
You use the silicon mold the same way as you do with the regular plastic ice tray. Fill it with water. Place it flat in the freezer. After several hours, pops the cubes from the mold and place in your drinks. Letting the mold remain in the freezer overnight is perfect because it gives the ice a chance to be rock solid.
#4 Egg Cartons
This is the emergency way of making ice cubes without the use of a tray. This method is definitely not recommended. However, if you require ice on very short notice where you cannot get to the shops this method may be perfect. As part of the hack a few materials would be needed, egg carton – whether the plastic ones of the polyethylene and aluminum file paper.
How would this method work you ask? If you have the plastic egg tray. Wash and rinse it thoroughly. Fill it with water and place it in the freezer. After a number of hours, you will have lovely ice to put in your drinks or iced tea. If you have the polyethylene egg tray you can follow the above steps. However, sometimes it may have a hole in the bottom. In these cases, place aluminum foil in the tray and then fill with water. Place in the freezer until the water is frozen. When ice is formed, add it to your drink.
#5 Portable ice maker
Using a portable ice maker is a perfect way of making ice without a tray. Portable ice makers are sometimes called countertop ice makers. Countertop ice makers are perfect for use in boats, RVs, or tiny homes.
Portable ice makers are great accompaniment in the kitchen. Especially, for families with significant demand for ice. And where a small fridge freezer is not enough to supply the family’s need for ice.
Ice makers, typically, make more ice than the other methods and do so at a much faster rate than using a Ziploc bag, freezer bag, or egg carton. The ice machine is like making ice on autopilot. It creates ice on demand, normally, within seven minutes you have a batch of ice ready to go. The size of the ice cubes can be preselected. The choices are – small, medium or large.
This machine is easy to use. Plug it in. Fill the reservoir with water up to the fill line. Switch on and select the size of ice required – small, medium or large. Wait a few minutes and the first batch of ice is ready. Most portable ice machine takes between seven and fifteen minutes to make a batch of ice. When the ice bin is full the machine will auto shut off.
These machines are heavily insulated so the ice will keep frozen for a while. After some time, the ice will start melting. The melted ice will drain back into the reservoir and pumped back up to the internal ice tray will new ice will be made. You can check out my review of the best portable ice makers where I will share the pros and cons of the best ice machines.
Conclusion
There are a number of ways of making ice without using a tray. Have you found the information within this article on how to make ice cubes without a tray useful? If you have any ingenious ideas of your own on how to make ice cubes without an ice cube tray please share with us.