I make ice cubes by pouring cold tap water into the rigid plastic trays that came with my fridge freezer. The last couple of times rather than getting nice solid cubes the ice has been ‘shattering’ as I twiste the tray to free it and I’ve ended up with a selection of large and small shards. Any ideas as to why this may be ?
Luck?
I like it when they shatter and if I knew how to do it consistently I would.
[hijack]Is eating ice a symptom of anything? Calcium deficiency? Lack of sex?[/hijack]
funny you should ask. We have 5 trays in our freezer. Occasionally, one of them does what yours did. There are numerous variables that I have suspected: type of tray, location in the freezer, amount of water, temperature of surrounding trays, number of trays being filled at any one time, etc. I continue to think that one of these months, I’m going to actually do a series of controlled experiments to get the answer. On the other hand, being the lazy slug that I am, maybe I’ll just watch this thread and get my knowledge second hand.
Wash your ice trays regularly and fill them with warm to hot tap water. I don’t have that problem anymore though I suspect it has more to do with me having an ice maker than anything else.
Oddly enough, yes. It’s called pica* , and can be a symptom of iron defiency, anemia or other mineral deficiencies. Most often found in pregnant women, but it can happen in children and others. Ask your doctor for more information or a blood test if you’re concerned.
*“Pica” can be eating or chewing other non-food items like paper, dirt clumps, chalk, laundry soap or paint chips as well as ice chips.
You might have air in the water. The water freezes with it still trapped in there. Are your ice cubes cloudy?
Try using really hot or even boiling water. All the air should be gone, and you’ll end up with exceptionally clear ice.
Or so I’ve heard.
The surface of the plastic trays gets rough after repeated use, either from mineral buildup, or ice actually scratching the surface. This can cause the cube to stick more tightly, so much so that they crack rather than release. Clean your trays with vinegar, and see if that helps. If not, it may be time to invest a buck or two in a new set.
I’m pretty sure you use of tap water has something to do with it. I’ve observed that there is a big difference in clarity, taste and the structural integrity of ice when I use tap water vs distilled drinking water. When I use distilled drinking water to make cubes they’re perfectly clear and never crack, not even when dropped into a drink.
Will do some experimenting, thanks.
Run warm water over the back side of the tray before you twist it. This melts the ice that is in contact with the tray a little, and the cubes will come out whole.
Interesting fact that may help with this: I’ve noticed that my two ice trays have consistently different results. My ice tray holder in my freezer holds two trays, stacked on top of each other; whichever tray is on the bottom refuses to release whole cubes, while the one on top generally has no problems. I’ve experimented by switching which tray is on the bottom; it’s not whether it’s tray A or tray B, but its position in the freezer that matters to this. My hypothesis is that the ice that freezes on the bottom before the top gets ‘stuck’ to the tray, while ice that freezes from the top down doesn’t, but I don’t know what the mechanism for that would be …
The answers given are all interesting but mostly incorrect. Sometimes my ice is hard to remove from the tray and sometimes not. This has been happening for over ten years and with different trays, refrigerators, water temperatures, sometimes changing from easy full release to shattered pieces overnight. I have finally determined that it is the water source. I am on (big) city water and understand that my water company changes the water source as needed. One source will provide cubes that release easily and whole while another source makes ice that is almost impossible to release without shattering or running water over the underside of the trays.
If you have a frost-free freezer, and most are these days, the freezer will cycle to try and remove ice build up. I suspect, but don’t know, that if you take out the ice when the freezer is in the “mild defrost” portion of the cycle, the cubes will stick less to teh trays. This is similar to running warm water on the bottoms of the trays as suggested earlier.
IIRC the old metal lever release trays almost always made slivers & crumbles.
Water quality.
Smoooooth trays.
We now have an ice maker that can always find a way to spit one onto the floor.
:rolleyes:
This is exactly what used to work for me when I used trays, although with an '05 thread I doubt if Cat Jones will still be waiting on guizot or myself.
I noticed a difference if I only filled one tray versus multiple trays (I had a total of 4):
Only fill one tray - ice comes out easily.
Fill multiple trays - ice shatters and is more difficult
In my opinion, it can be one of two things:
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The positioning of the tray in the freezer (when only one is filled it is put on top of the ice tray stack)
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The amount of water put in the freezer. If multiple trays are put in as liquid water, then this creates more of a temperature buffer. The water will freeze more slowly. For some reason this more slow freezing makes them harder to come out. Maybe this allows more gas bubbles to escape and the ice is “harder.” I am not quite sure.
Don’t you guys all have ‘American style’ fridges with an ice/water dispenser?
Huh. Is it really a thing that ice/water dispensers are considered “American style”? I guess we really do like our ice…
Dispensers are indeed very common here, but they aren’t universal. Someone looking for a cheap fridge is probably better off without one, since the rest of the fridge will be better quality, and it won’t have a cheap fiddly mechanism that’s prone to breaking.
Has anyone here tried those flexible silicone ice trays? I’ve wondered how easily they release the cubes.
I have noticed that the placement of the trays is significant. If they are in a spot near the freezer wall, they are likely to freeze more solid and shatter when I try to remove them, as opposed to trays that are placed a bit away from there. This seems to be true regardless of the type of tray I use. I’m thinking that temperature and speed of freezing are the important variables.