An iceberg in the glass.
Jun. 19th, 2022 12:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI mentioned a few weeks ago that I wanted bigger ice cubes and that I was a-gonna buy me some trays for bigger ice cubes. I have done that and been going happily about my life with Bigger Ice here for a month or so. And now I am going to tell you all how that's going.
I also, happily, got free Bushmill's ice-ball-molds (from B-t-Y, who is now a judge and apparently has people who gifted him some Bushmill's and the ice-ball-molds as part of his judge-ly celebrations). He did not want the ice molds so he re-gifted them to me. The molds make big round ice balls that I feel somewhat uncomfortable referring to as "cubes".
REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS!
Product 1 was silicon ice cube trays from Amazon. They're blue, six cubes per tray, sold in a set of two trays. (I kept one tray and offered the other one to Trys who wanted a tray for bigger ice cubes too. As a household of one, I can get by with a six-cube tray.) The tray (fully filled which is slightly LESS than "full" because water expands when it freezes) is a little wiggly when you put it in to freeze, but it's not super-wiggly. Be careful and it'll be fine. To remove the cubes when they are frozen, you kinda flexi-wiggle the tray to get the cubes out. NICE. There's a knack to popping out the cubies but once you get it, it's all good. Big cube-shaped ice cubes are produced using the tray and they're awesome. Internet reviews of this product sometimes bitch about the time it takes the "bigger cubes" to freeze but this does not mean the trays are bad, it means the reviewer does not understand the mechanics of heat transfer. The trays are not "bad" because a 2" square cube of water freezes solid rather more slowly than typical-sized cubes... and big-cube trays that could do an end run around the laws of thermodynamics would be a lot more interesting for HOW THEY WORKED than for making 2" square ice cubes.
Product 2 was the Bushmill's 8-ball ice molds. They are black and resemble an 8-ball if said was hollow, made of a rubbery substance, kinda flat on the bottom, and came apart in two pieces. So not really that much like an 8-ball, I guess. The mold also has a small hole in the top so that you can fill it all the way up. Now, for dumb people, water EXPANDS when it freezes. So if you fill the mold up with liquid water, some of that water is going to dribble out the top as it freezes. This will make a mess in your freezer. Fill the mold mostly up, not all the way up. So the "leaks all over" problem from the reviews is not a real problem, it's a dumb person problem.
That said, removing the ice ball from the mold is... not easy. Even if you remove the mold from the freezer and run it under hot water from the tap, it is not easy. The top half (with the hole) comes off pretty well, but getting the ice ball (which is pretty darned round and also now wet and slippery) out of the bottom half of the mold... you're gonna need a drink by the time you are done. But! But! When you get the ice ball out, it is really fun in a glass. Go ahead and enjoy your drink with its spherical iceberg, you have earned it. :) (I do not drink whiskey like you are supposed to be doing with the ice balls. But they are also fun in mint tea and water.)
I also, happily, got free Bushmill's ice-ball-molds (from B-t-Y, who is now a judge and apparently has people who gifted him some Bushmill's and the ice-ball-molds as part of his judge-ly celebrations). He did not want the ice molds so he re-gifted them to me. The molds make big round ice balls that I feel somewhat uncomfortable referring to as "cubes".
REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS!
Product 1 was silicon ice cube trays from Amazon. They're blue, six cubes per tray, sold in a set of two trays. (I kept one tray and offered the other one to Trys who wanted a tray for bigger ice cubes too. As a household of one, I can get by with a six-cube tray.) The tray (fully filled which is slightly LESS than "full" because water expands when it freezes) is a little wiggly when you put it in to freeze, but it's not super-wiggly. Be careful and it'll be fine. To remove the cubes when they are frozen, you kinda flexi-wiggle the tray to get the cubes out. NICE. There's a knack to popping out the cubies but once you get it, it's all good. Big cube-shaped ice cubes are produced using the tray and they're awesome. Internet reviews of this product sometimes bitch about the time it takes the "bigger cubes" to freeze but this does not mean the trays are bad, it means the reviewer does not understand the mechanics of heat transfer. The trays are not "bad" because a 2" square cube of water freezes solid rather more slowly than typical-sized cubes... and big-cube trays that could do an end run around the laws of thermodynamics would be a lot more interesting for HOW THEY WORKED than for making 2" square ice cubes.
Product 2 was the Bushmill's 8-ball ice molds. They are black and resemble an 8-ball if said was hollow, made of a rubbery substance, kinda flat on the bottom, and came apart in two pieces. So not really that much like an 8-ball, I guess. The mold also has a small hole in the top so that you can fill it all the way up. Now, for dumb people, water EXPANDS when it freezes. So if you fill the mold up with liquid water, some of that water is going to dribble out the top as it freezes. This will make a mess in your freezer. Fill the mold mostly up, not all the way up. So the "leaks all over" problem from the reviews is not a real problem, it's a dumb person problem.
That said, removing the ice ball from the mold is... not easy. Even if you remove the mold from the freezer and run it under hot water from the tap, it is not easy. The top half (with the hole) comes off pretty well, but getting the ice ball (which is pretty darned round and also now wet and slippery) out of the bottom half of the mold... you're gonna need a drink by the time you are done. But! But! When you get the ice ball out, it is really fun in a glass. Go ahead and enjoy your drink with its spherical iceberg, you have earned it. :) (I do not drink whiskey like you are supposed to be doing with the ice balls. But they are also fun in mint tea and water.)
