Manual Ice Crushers

I own a great manual ice crusher (you know the hand crank kind) that I actually bought at the Forbidden Island Parking Lot Sale and I love the big thing. Thing is I need one to leave at my vacation place on Kauai so I am wondering if any of the new ones are any good. I don't really want an electric one and I am fully aware that the ones on Amazon look flimsy.

Does anyone have experience with any of the new ones?

[ Edited by: SuperEight 2009-04-08 23:42 ]

Hi Super,

This one has given me several years of solid service:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001IWY78?tag=mixshaandpou-21&camp=1406&creative=6394&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B0001IWY78&adid=0V16GM8HPPP10ACRRPF3&

Can't find it on Amazon.com, so I don't know how much of a hit you'll take getting it shipped to the states....

Yep! That's the same one we use at Hinky Drinks in Lund Manor. We bought it as a housewarming gift to ourselves over four years ago and it's been a good work horse since. Definite recommend!

We bought it at Target for between $15 - $20.

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2009-04-09 08:05 ]

Yep! That's the same one we use at Hinky Drinks in Lund Manor. We bought it as a housewarming gift to ourselves over four years ago and it's been a good work horse since. Definite recommend!

We bought it at Target for between $15 - $20.

...but can you mount it on the wall?! :wink: :D

My friends rigged one of these old ice-o-matics with a giant hopper and a bowl underneath for the efficient manufacturing of crushed ice. These are the bees knees for sure.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT buy this one.
Every time I try to use it, it starts playing this cornball music and these god damn monkeys show up with fezzes and drink up all my booze.

On 2009-04-09 11:24, Unga Bunga wrote:
....and these god damn monkeys show up with fezzes and drink up all my booze.

Jeez...I heard of pink elephants, but monkeys with fezzes???

On 2009-04-09 08:03, Haole'akamai wrote:

Yep! That's the same one we use at Hinky Drinks in Lund Manor. We bought it as a housewarming gift to ourselves over four years ago and it's been a good work horse since. Definite recommend!

We bought it at Target for between $15 - $20.

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2009-04-09 08:05 ]

I can't find these listed anywhere in America. Shoot.

I need more suggestions guys.

Your best bet will be to buy a vintage one. You can pick them up at an antique mall or Ebay for $15-$30. They are indestructible and work like a dream. For countertop ones I would go with an "Ice-o-Mat","Swing Away" or the Sears version called "Maid of Honor". If you want a wall mount the "Dazey" is my favorite.Those crappy ones from China won't last long.

My low-tech solution to creating perfect cracked ice every time.

I use this one by Metrokane - found at some snooty high end cooking store at the mall that I never go to except to buy overpriced, retro-looking manual ice crushers. Works great, though.

On 2009-04-09 16:08, sputnikmoss wrote:

Those crappy ones from China won't last long.

Before I bought ours, I would have agreed with you. The seemingly P.O.S diecast one we were lucky enough to purchase has been amazing.

I'm all for vintage, though. And the Hammer/cloth process is never fail and time-honored, for sure.

We have one of those reproduction ones and it does work very well. I need to get a Lewis Ice Bag and a large mallet however, that's the real deal.

On 2009-04-09 08:03, Haole'akamai wrote:

Yep! That's the same one we use at Hinky Drinks in Lund Manor. We bought it as a housewarming gift to ourselves over four years ago and it's been a good work horse since. Definite recommend!

We bought it at Target for between $15 - $20.

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2009-04-09 08:05 ]

I got the same one, works good, only mine is rusting and leaves some brown dirt in my crushed ice every once in a while.

Another one I have is much better. A stainless steel Dazey:

There are always lots of them floating around on eBay for under $10.

[ Edited by: snackbar 2009-04-13 02:19 ]

On 2009-04-12 11:41, rev_thumper wrote:
...I need to get a Lewis Ice Bag and a large mallet however, that's the real deal.

...unless you need to make a cocktail while the children are sleeping. :)

Is there a difference between an ice crusher and an ice shaver?

On 2009-04-13 11:40, Carpathia wrote:
Is there a difference between an ice crusher and an ice shaver?

Shave ice is a lot finer (think sno-cones). The old ice shavers worked like a hand plane on a big block of ice. I hope that helps.

I know it's not manual or very pretty BUT, man does it crush ice.
I usually crush up a batch and store it in an ice bucket at the bar and I'm set for crushed ice.
If I want slightly finer crushed ice I send it through twice.

Plus, I got it for a bargain at Bevmo since someone had thrown away the box and it was the last one. (60% off)
Not flimsy in the least, and almost 1 year of service so far.
I can't say that for ANY of my citrus juicers yet, but my vintage Proctor Silex "Juice-It" is getting close.

Best
Mark

I love the idea of the above electric crusher.

When my fridge crusher isn't hooked up(like right now while we're doing renos) I use this fabulous vintage looking Ice-O-Mat by Metrokane. It was a wedding gift, and I'm very happy with it.

I went with a vintage wall mount SWING-A-WAY crusher. Three bucks at the thrift store and couldn't be happier. Flip the chrome lid fill with ice and turn the crank one way for course crush or the other for finer crush. Crushed ice falls into the removable plastic cup on the bottom and just dump into your glass or shaker. If you are having a ton of people over you may want something bigger but for everyday use this is perfect. I have used this one for four years and have crushed tons of ice and have never had a problem. Super easy to use and clean and looks great as well.

"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2009-04-14 05:22 ]

Uncle Trav I have the same on in my kitchen..but it's the Sears version "Maid-of-Honor" I love it!

[ Edited by: sputnikmoss 2009-04-14 10:11 ]

Hey Sparkle Mart,

Who makes that electric crusher? I am looking for an electric one too and may be going with this Deni Automatic one.

Has any one used a Deni crusher? If so, how small were the ice parts? I do not want them too small.

thought I should share mine

On 2009-09-09 18:35, Finleyville wrote:

Has any one used a Deni crusher? If so, how small were the ice parts? I do not want them too small.

I've been using one for the last couple of months and haven't had any problems. I would say the ice is somewhere between crushed and shaved.

Has any one used a Deni crusher? If so, how small were the ice parts? I do not want them too small.

I have a Deni and give it a "meh" rating. It does a fine job crushing ice, but it takes a while to crush a cup's worth (and that's using cocktail ice, not solid ice cubes). The ice comes out about pea gravel-sized...much closer to shaved ice than to the crushed ice you get at a bar.

For me, using the old hand-cranked Swing-O-Matic is quicker and gives me better crushed ice. I do use the Deni to make ice for ice molds.

I'll second that Waring Pro crusher. It's awesome! I actually have an Oster Snowflake, myself, which I like a lot. It's smaller, but noisier, but it's vintage. If you can find one of them, go for it!

What sized crushed ice does the Waring Pro make? I am looking for crushed ice the size of 1/2 to 1/3 of a normal cube. Sort of the size if you would use a hammer on each cube. (That is what I am using right now. lol) Which manual would give that size?

I tend to crush ice the truly "manual" way: Place the ice in a zip-lock bag and smash the ice with the back of a large metal spoon on a concrete ground. That technique can give you a cup of crushed ice in less than a minute.

I use one called Groggy from IKEA. Inexpensive, looks pretty cool and does a good job. Quite noisy though.

On 2009-09-10 07:13, The Mayor Of Exotica wrote:
I'll second that Waring Pro crusher. It's awesome! I actually have an Oster Snowflake, myself, which I like a lot. It's smaller, but noisier, but it's vintage. If you can find one of them, go for it!

Tim,

I have both the Waring and the vintage Oster. The Waring unfortunately just died after just over a year of use. It seems fixable to me, but it would probably cost as much to fix it as buy a new one. I was very happy with it until it just refused to crush ice anymore. Beware of internal plastic parts!

The Oster continues to do its thing, but it does get clogged often and needs some encouragement (by way of a knife to the stuck ice) to get the job done.

I just picked up the Waring Pro mentioned earlier (matches the WP blender) - this thing is great - easisly shaves 4 minutes off drink prepatation. I still have my manual one (mentioned earlier in the thread), but this is will be the go-to crusher till further notice. Plus, the snooty cooking store in the mall (mentioned in my earlier post) had it @ 20% off for clearance, so I got it for under $60. For multiple drinks (and/or drinkers), this will be a dependable time-saver.

On 2009-09-10 07:13, The Mayor Of Exotica wrote:
I'll second that Waring Pro crusher. It's awesome! I actually have an Oster Snowflake, myself, which I like a lot. It's smaller, but noisier, but it's vintage. If you can find one of them, go for it!

The Snoflake is my crusher of choice. At a party, manual crushing is appreciated, but you reallyneed to be considerate to your guests. If you can only crank out a few drinks, your hosting suffers. Using a retro electric crusher still has the wow effect (the Snowflake makes great crushed ice) and you are able to take care of your guests where it counts more...quality of the mix, and you being less rushed.

Say hello to my little friend.

I have an old manual crusher that has a damn scary set of blades inside. Every time I use it I think of what happened to William Devane's hand in "Rolling Thunder". I love it but I'm worried about it rusting. Any advice in regards on how to keep it in shape?

I just got one off eBay myself and thought about that too (the rusting). I let the two parts each air dry, and leave the lid open. It seems to be fine.

Don't think about the fingers!

I love the crusher, I just think it looks EVIL.

When I was a kid, this was the kind of thing I would have used to torture my GI JOES. It's probably a good thing I wasn't allowed in the kitchen.

"I've been ionized, but I'm okay now." - B. Banzai

[ Edited by: ErkNoLikeFire 2010-08-28 13:50 ]

I was given an avocado green Oster Imperial a year or so ago. Haven't used it yet, but may drag it out for the big New Year's party. We tend to just buy ice at Sonic, since their ice just plain rocks for tiki drinks.

I just picked up this vintage Swing-A-Way ice crusher.

It has a little bit of rust and I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion or two on how to deal with that. I was also wondering if anyone that has a similar model could post a picture or two of the wall mounting bracket so that I could get a good look at it and make one.

On 2010-08-28 13:48, ErkNoLikeFire wrote:
I love the crusher, I just think it looks EVIL.

This is what I have and it's brilliant.

When I was a kid, this was the kind of thing I would have used to torture my GI JOES. It's probably a good thing I wasn't allowed in the kitchen.

---

"I've been ionized, but I'm okay now." - B. Banzai

[ Edited by: ErkNoLikeFire 2010-08-28 13:50 ]

Ice shavers make snow. Which is very, very fine. Think of a snow cone. Too fine for drinks.

And yes, the way to really wow guests is a canvas Lewis bag and a big wooden mallet. The former are sold online, and for the latter, go to a woodworking store and buy a joiner's mallet, they're big and hefty things. Imagine a wooden meat tenderizer on steroids.

Check YouTube for a video of New Orleans' Best Cocktails: Mint Julep. Wonderful video, with some amazing old prose about the drink, but the tender shows how to crush ice with a bag and mallet. Guests will be wowed.

3 years of heavy service and still crushing ice by simply dropping it in...

Best
Mark

That is what I use. It continues to work great, although I do have a hand crank backup in case of a hurricane.

Is that the Waring?

Yes, that is the Waring

I want one!

I think I got mine at Williams Sonoma

This is how to get it done:

http://gizmodo.com/5836827/a-boat-motor-that-blends-a-fine-cocktail

Manual ice crushers were good enough for your grandmother, but who wants to marry your grandmother? Nobody, not even your grandfather.

On 2011-09-06 06:51, Tonga Tiki wrote:
Yes, that is the Waring

Just bought one. Will try it out tonight.

I bought an Oster Sno-flake off ebay and it crushes ice like a beast, but the ice smells funny and I can't see to get it to go away no matter what I do. Anyone have any tips?