Tovolo King Cube Ice Mold System, Crystal Clear Seamless 2 Inch Cubes for Whiskey Cocktails & More - Set of 4 Molds

I've had the cube version of this for a couple of weeks now, and it's absolutely great. It takes a little getting used to, but now I can unload 4 cubes, reload, and have it back in the freezer in 10 minutes. It's slow to freeze, but I've found out that you don't have to wait for the entire unit to freeze, only the top 4 cubes. I can do two cycles a day easily. The only drawback I've seen is that it's not practical to use the bottom section for usable ice, so energy is wasted if you allow the freezing process to go full cycle. There's nothing like dropping a garlic stuffed olive into a cocktail glass, adding a cube, filling with Bombay Sapphire, whispering "vermouth" over the top of it, and serving the best martini in the world to a guest. Even better if you keep the Bombay in the freezer as well.After using it for a couple of months, I love it. But it needs to have the fill tube reinforced. It's fragile, and if you bump it and cause even a small crack at it's base, you'll have the reverse of the China Syndrome. A quart of water will flow down to the bottom of your freezer and solidify. Also, much easier to harvest the frozen cubes BEFORE the bottom section freezes. Experiment to find out how long it takes just the 4 cubes on top to freeze. In addition, for loading, it's easier to put the thing together while it's wet, but better to fill and add the styrofoam when it's dry. Don't spill water between the plastic and the styrofoam or it will freeze and make harvesting the cubes more difficult. Another negative point is, that while 1 cube is absolutely perfect for a martini, you can't use a martini glass for it, lol..

I've made one batch of cubes so far and they turned out well! They have some bubbles but are otherwise pretty clear. I used regular tap water and had them in the freezer part of my refrigerator for about 13 hours (they probably should have stayed in another hour as 2 of the spheres weren't completely formed yet). The whole set up was easy to assemble and use. My only wish is that it came with a little funnel for filling the tube.Updated review:I have owned the sphere version of this clear ice system for probably 8 months. When I came back to purchase another, I was surprised by the negative reviews so I decided to address some of the criticisms noted in those comments...First, people have complained about the black insulating foam breaking or having chunks fall out. I have been using mine for months, as noted above, and mine is still in perfect condition. All I can assume is that people are trying to pull the two halves apart when they may be partially frozen together from spilled water. I would recommend leaving the whole unit sit on the counter for 10 minutes after removing from the freezer to eliminate this possibility.I have also seen comments about the two halves of the black foam not fitting snugly together. This is completely user error. As you are assembling the pieces, you need to push down on the lips of the green silicone spheres so that they slide into the insulating foam correctly. If you do this to every sphere on both sides, the foam will come together perfectly.As to the unit being difficult to fill, yes this can be a challenge. Here is my method: I fill the gray tray with water through one of the large holes that the sphere will fit on until it is almost full. You then want to jiggle the whole thing a bit to remove any air locks. Next, wet each half of the spheres with water as it will make putting them together much easier. Make sure that they are completely sealed all the way around. It will also make them easier to push onto the gray tray. Once you have all green silicone pieces in place, fill more water until the spheres are about 2/3 full. At this point, attach the black foam insulating piece, being sure to push on the lips of the green silicone so that they slide all the way into the fitted area. After everything is assembled, finish filling through the fill tube. It would be easier if a funnel was included, but I just use a measuring cup with a spout. Then you can carefully transfer it to the freezer. If you have a bit of spillage, just add more water from the measuring cup after its in the freezer. Yes, all of this takes a bit of work but to me the beautiful clear ice is worth the effort. I get lots of positive comments from friends and my ice is always a hit.Does the ice last longer than regular cubes? I definitely believe so. There are many factors that determine the overall longevity such as the beverages starting temperature, the outside temp, and the glass you use. I have noticed that in my insulated glass (not one of the famous name brands), I will still have ice in the morning, which isn't the case with regular cubes. These aren't magic and of course the ice will still melt, but they do have more lasting power than your normal ice.Since this only makes 4 cubes at a time, I make a batch every day, then store them in a freezer bag so that I have enough when we are entertaining.Lastly, I have read complaints that the ice doesn't come out clear. I would strongly contest this as my ice is nearly perfectly clear. I do end up with some bubbles in the ice but these virtually disappear when the sphere is placed in a beverage. My tip for best results is to remove the unit from the freezer before the ice is solid in the gray tray. This takes a bit of trial and error to figure out the right time frame but makes the best end product. As a further note, I use water straight from the tap and we have well water with lots of minerals in it.I hope this review helps others make an informed decision about purchasing these clear ice trays. I love mine and will order another one!Update: I have now made several batches of ice with this system so I thought I would share some additional tips. I started to suspect that I was having some air lock issues when filling the tray through the tube as I noticed that by the time I made it to the freezer, I often could see room at the top of the green silicone and then I actually had a batch that came out as only half spheres. So I now fill the bottom tray full of water, assemble and attach the silicone molds, and then fill it the rest of the way through the tube. This method seems to work better and I am now getting near perfect ice balls. I would also recommend that you remove the cubes before the ice in the gray bottom tray freezes all the way. It will take some trial and error to determine what time frame is required for your freezer, but it is an absolutely necessary step to make sure that your ice is perfectly clear.

Worked like a charm, first time. I filled it most of the way and topped it off in the freezer like some of the other reviews suggested. Ice cubes were crystal clear. I couldn't even see them in my scotch!Update: it's been about four months since I bought this. I could never manage to fill the cube mold in a way that there wasn't an air pocket in one corner, but that wasn't even close to The biggest problem. The Styrofoam broke, but I was able to glue it back together. The plastic, however, is very flimsy, and eventually cracked with normal use, rendering the whole thing useless. It went in the garbage, and has been replaced by the OnTheRocks ice cube maker, which is a far easier to use and infinitely more durable product. Do yourself a favor and skip straight to the OnTheRocks ice tray.

Its a bit finicky, but works as advertised. The green molds need to be fully seated on the reservoir in order for the foam to fit well and close completely, and there is always some splashing and leaking from the sink to the freezer, but once I figured it out, it makes perfectly clear ice balls. I use hot water and top off the molds after placing it in the freezer (and always put it on a towel to keep water from dripping into the freezer. I have only had it for a few weeks at this point and have been very careful when placing and removing the foam cover so I haven't run into any of the cracking or crumbling issues other reviews have mentioned. If you take the time and care to use it correctly, it works very well. My only complaint is that when filled with hot water it takes ~36 hours to freeze the spheres- which of course is what creates the clear ice. To get around that, I plan on ordering a second one