While the categorization of icemaking as cuisine, art, or craft seems to be stretching a point, I can’t think of where else to post this.
The need for chilled water is almost constant in our house, between the two of us and our three cats. The cats seem to enjoy chilled water and it improves their breath as well. Because our local water supply tastes horrible, we started using a Pur faucet filter a few months ago, and it was at this time I began using that to keep a tall glass pitcher filled with ice cold filtered water. From this I pour glasses for myself, and bowls of water for the cats; my wife prefers to re-use store-bought plastic water bottles. Because of the climate here it often happens that the “cold” water comes out of the tap warm.
So it would be really good if I could find a reusable ice mold of the approximate size and shape of a 28-ounce can of tomato sauce. An actual such can will work a few times, but then it inevitably bursts since the seal around the bottom isn’t meant to withstand the force of expanding, freezing water. I have found that a few extra stainless steel pet dishes make excellent ice molds which never burst, but for the water pitcher I would like to find a mold in more of a tall cylindrical shape. Ordinary ice cubes simply melt too fast, especially at times when we need to keep the icewater out on the kitchen counter.
Do larger ice molds exist, specifically for this purpose?
One of the more exquisite bars downtown concocts artisanal cocktails & goes to great lengths. They chill cocktail glasses with liquid nitrogen & use “hand chiseled, crystal clear cubes, made in house daily.”
I haven’t gone that far but have considered these ice cube trays at Amazon…
Would a silicone muffin pan work? They’d be bigger than regular ice cubes by a significant margin and so not melt as quickly, but they should be easy to remove from the flexible tray as long as the cold doesn’t adversely affect the silicone.
I love fresh, chilled water. My solution was a water dispenser that uses five gallon containers. I go through three jugs a month, and the cooler has a small footprint.
You want to quickly chill the water, but you also want it to stay cold for a long period of time outside of refrigeration.
You need both very large and very small ice. A lot of small ice will cool your water quickly, due to the greater surface area, and the large ice will maintain a cooler temperature for longer.
I’ll second the water cooler. Frigerated water on tap. Cats love it.
I suppose you could keep refilling the big bottle from your Pur filter if you wanted to.
A big plastic cup should be cheap, easy to find and make a nice enough mold. Plus, being wider at the top might solve a few problems.
If they keep bursting I wonder if it would work to first make some regular ice cubes from a tray. Next fill the cup with ice then add water to fill in all the gaps and freeze it. Maybe they will last longer since it’s mostly ice at the start. I haven’t done it so I’m not sure if it will break apart into individual cubes once it starts melting. Consider it an experiment.
How about Water Bottle Ice Molds? You could keep a bottle or two with ice in them and refill at regular intervals, the shape would mean a fairly large surface area and fast(ish) chilling.
When I was in Dallas a few weeks ago, my hosts served cold water in the following manner: they froze water in large, 12-oz plastic cups, then (mostly) filled a pitcher with water, then put the cup inside. In a matter of minutes, the ice slipped out of the cup and the cup could be removed (before the pitcher is brought to the table) and re-used, and the large chunk of ice kept the water (and subsequent refillings) cold for a good long while.
The freezer space isn’t nearly talk enough for the pitcher I have, nor most likely for any container that would be practical for use as a pitcher.
Besides, wouldn’t the pitcher burst? I may have forgotten to mention that it is glass, and shaped like a frustrated cone whose sides are nearly straight, like a cylinder.
As long as it’s not sealed on top and air can escape it shouldn’t break. But if it’s glass I wouldn’t risk it. I guess if it froze from the top down fast enough it could break, probably not worth finding out.
When we go camping, I like large ice blocks to put in the cooler. I use the plastic, quart size Chinese soup containers. Once frozen, run hot water on the bottom, and the ice slips right out. I use them over and over, and they don’t break.
Not at all; in my experience, you’ll get several uses out of a cut-down soda bottle before it finally splits, if it splits at all. 2 liter plastic bottles are remarkably tough.