Sphere Clear Ice Cube Tray - Silicone Ice Ball Maker Mold,Crystal Clear Round Ice for Whiskey and Cocktail

Ok, so this budget friendly mold was the only one with cubes which would fit in my glencairn glasses so I gave it a chance (I have a larger more expensive mold for my regular whiskey glasses) and am glad I did. Yes, the outer carton is a bit flimsy, but expected for the price versus other clear ice molds. The trick is to use hot tap water, not warm, not cold, not boiling - HOT tap water. Fill the bottom 1/2 way, insert bottom tray, fill with water to the top of the cube mold, then put the top tray on - next you can fill each ball a little until the water overflows from the top hole (use a food funnel) Put in the freezer with some weight on top (to keep top mold from drifting a bit as the water freezes and expands (I used an ice pack)). freeze 16 hours, take the tray out, leave on the counter for 3 mins, then they pop right out. Made 2 trays since getting with no issues. It works - just be realistic with quality of materials (you need to exercise care in your cleaning and handling) for the price. I do recommend

This does make small, clear ice spheres that look great in drinks. However, the outer closed cell foam body appears unfinished and is comprised of layers of foam that are glued together unevenly. It needs an outer plastic body to give it more rigidity and to give it a finished look. Looks cheap. The excessive flexibility of the unit over its length makes it more challenging to transfer this into the freezer without spilling water once it is filled. The individual molds are of silicone rubber but the space between molds is open air rather than solid silicone, like some other molds. This space tends to get filled with overflow water and creates a layer of ice that makes extraction of the top half of the mold more difficult.

Tried several different variations making the ice balls such as time, water temperature and even additional insulation. The out of the box performance was good and produced 5 or 6 clear balls out of 10. From my experience, the addition of a half inch of foam insulation on the bottom and sides of the unit had the most effect and produced the best, most consistently clear ice balls - got 9 or 10 clear balls each time.

I bought these because they make quite a few at once and the price was right. They do a terrific job as far as the balls being crystal clear, but it is a pain to use, even if you follow the instructions precisely. Here's what works best for me. 1) Put some strong rubber bands around the foam insulation to snug it up to the tub. 2) Fill the tub with warm tap water about halfway up. Insert the lower tray and you should see just a little of the warm water coming through the holes. 3) Fill the lower tray with cool tap or the water of your choice. 4) Insert the upper tray and make sure it seats well. You can attempt to fill the individual holes which takes a while, or just fill the upper tray until the water is above the level of the holes and let it run into each hole until full. You can siphon off the excess with a turkey baster, or just let it freeze on top then break it out later. When they say it needs 24 hours to freeze, they are not kidding! I usually wait double that. I then remove the entire block of ice from the tub, and let it sit in the sink for 30-60 minutes. It is very difficult to separate the trays if you try to do it quicker, and it still is not easy to separate them from the block of ice even after thawing a bit. A plastic spatula can help separate them when you're ready. It's a lot of work, but at least you get 10 crystal clear balls at a time for all of that trouble! I figure if I do it 2-3 times a week and zip lock them, it's worth it.

It does take several trials to ascertain how long to leave the device in your freezer, of course, but on the third trial, we had a tray-full of crystal-clear ice balls for our cocktails. They really are lovely and very entertaining. Don't forget to show admirers that they're tiny ice lenses and project a real image (a kind of image) of a light source. Cool cocktails and entrainment for cheap: what's not to like?

made clear ice spheres for a few trys, but plastic container has straight sides and the ice cracked it

I see a lot of the reviews discussing the complexity of the product but it is the same if you pay $30 or $100. Look up the "directional freezing method" You have to have a reservoir below where you want the ice to be clear so the water at the top freezes first (making it clear).This product works great for that! I have had it about a month now and get clear ice every time and it was one of the most economical I saw. One tip I would recommend is not leaving the tray in too long. In my experience leaving the tray in more than 24 hours just makes it more difficult to release (I am sure there are a lot of contributing variables). I would also recommend the shape of the ice match the glass. Round ice for round glasses, square ice for square glasses. It seems to have the most desired effect of almost not seeing the ice at all.

The few ice balls I was able to make were great shape and pretty clear, however out of 4 batches I got 4 good ice balls. I followed the instruction to the T however it's just to problematic and leaked all over the floor and freezer.