molds for ice

On 2013-01-23 04:09, AceExplorer wrote:
...And for certain drinks I have switched to using ball molds now. ... There are a lot of crappy ones being sold, and I had to invest about $100 until I settled on a brand of ball molds that work "mostly" well and didn't leak and had a good size.)

And what brand was that?

edited title to encompass more than just silicone molds.

[ Edited by: Hakalugi 2013-01-23 14:31 ]

Forget silicone.
The best molds money can buy that don't involve mass amounts of $$$ and aluminum are the Tovolo Molds:
http://www.amazon.com/Tovolo-80-9697-Sphere-Ice-Molds/dp/B007ACTN54

They can also be purchased locally at any Sur La Table.

Thanks - I'm on it :)

Side note, the nice thing about these, is that it's $9 for 2. If you have a bunch of people over for booze, it makes it feasible to have 8 ice balls ready to go. And if you want an exceptionally clear ball, use distilled water. And try not to push down hard on the lid. Very gentle. And don't overfill, you end up with an air bubble at the top.

I just have two of those molds and find that it is easy to make multiple ice balls in short order since they freeze quickly. I make them up a day ahead of time and store them in a Ziplock freezer bag so they don't sublime. That way I always have them on hand.

If you'd like to get the full aluminum ice ball experience, your best bet is from here:

http://www.japantrendshop.com/ice-ball-mold-for-perfect-ice-spheres-p-244.html

I've heard good things about that one, and you can't beat the price when compared to other more expensive aluminum ones. If you want it laser engraved, you can always send it my way.

(Edit: Okay, so that makes a TINNNY one.)

[ Edited by: Hale Tiki 2013-01-23 16:57 ]

I have this set that you can get from the MOMA store:

http://www.momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_Spherical-Ice-Tray-Set_10451_10001_57253_-1_26669_26670

I have some of the silicone ones, but when I go to dump them out, they always seem to have evaporated. Don't know what I'm doing wrong, since they look exactly like the MOMA ones, but in silicone.

My wife found some single ball molds that are a bit smaller at World Market or some such place. They are handy because you can distribute them in the nooks and crannies of your freezer and thus avoid having to set aside a section of your freezer for ice balls only.

And as much as I envy the good metal ones, there's just no way I can spend that kind of money on an ice maker without the words "conspicuous consumption" screaming in my brain. Would love to get one as a gift, though!

And the clarity aspect of ice comes from how it freezes, not with what kind of water you have.

I just found something that talked about the way it freezes.

I've read tons of articles on the purity of the water in relation to clarity.
I'll be damned.

My mind is full of useless trivia that may or may not be true. As I remember it is the dissolved air that causes cloudiness, not the impurities. That boiling the water frees that dissolved air and gives you clear ice. I'm not saying it's true - just that's how I remember it :D

The trick to making clear ice is to heat the water till it's boiling. Let the temperature drop off just a bit, then pour it in your ice cube trays, molds, whatever, and put in the freezer. Apparently, this releases much of the trapped air, which otherwise "whitens" the ice.

I guess it's sort of like how humidity in the air condenses out as dew, when the air becomes too cold and dense to hold that much water vapor (the "dew point"). Similarly, as the temperature of the water approaches freezing, it can no longer "hold" all the the dissolved air, and it is "squeezed out" in lots of tiny bubbles that give the ice a cloudy, white appearance. Drive out the air with boiling, then quickly freeze,and you get clear ice.

Edit: MDM and I were apparently responding at the same time... and making the same "Mr. Wizard"
point. But I took longer, because I had to go make a drink, in the middle of my post, and I always over re-write and edit myself, before hitting, "Submit".
(You remember right, Mike - it's true.)

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2013-01-24 21:55 ]

On 2013-01-23 11:30, Hakalugi wrote:

On 2013-01-23 04:09, AceExplorer wrote:
...And for certain drinks I have switched to using ball molds now. ... There are a lot of crappy ones being sold, and I had to invest about $100 until I settled on a brand of ball molds that work "mostly" well and didn't leak and had a good size.)

And what brand was that?

edited title to encompass more than just silicone molds.

[ Edited by: Hakalugi 2013-01-23 14:31 ]

Haka, thanks for creating the new thread for ice molds. Here is a write-up on what I've been using, and my thoughts on what I've tried. Round ice is definitely very impressive. It appears that very few people in the general public seem to know about it yet, and when you serve a drink with a large single ball, it makes a good and unique impression. I do recommend adding these to your repertoire if you're looking for a little extra flair.

First I bought "Final Touch" silicone molds, they make 2" balls, come in a pack of six, and the cost is about $20. The bases come in bright colors although this is something your guests are not likely to see. They work well, seal very nicely and don't leak, and the ice pops out easily from the molds.

Second, when I learned there were 2.5" molds available, I decided that would look and probably work better in certain glassware like in a double old-fashioned glass. I found 2.5" molds by Mastrad who is based in Paris, France. They come in packs of four at a cost of about $20 along with a stacking tray to save space in your freezer if you have more than one set. I figured that the French take their cooking and kitchen stuff seriously, so this must be an awesome product. I was wrong. I bought four sets of these big boys (about $80 plus shipping) and discovered that they were less than what I expected. The failure rate was high -- about half the ice balls would not hold water well. I literally had to take all of them at the same time, fill them with water in my kitchen sinks, then let them sit overnight to determine which ones were "leakers." Then I switched tops back and forth to determine if it was just a funky combination of certain tops with certain bases. I had mixed success and ended up calling the seller to return two of the four as defective. The seller was very understanding and let me keep the defective product and shipped two more brand-new sets. (I bought the Mastrad molds based on "best price" from a small kitchen store with a web site, somewhere in or around New York. I got lucky - they had awesome customer service and their name escapes me because they eventually stopped emailing me their ads. A web search indicates they don't sell these anymore or may have gone out of business.)

My conclusion? The Final Touch 2" molds work very well. The 2.5" molds are bigger and seem to be the ideal size for most things, but the Mastrad brand quality is very disappointing. But if you buy enough of 'em you'll end up with a good set of non-leakers.

I saw the other very pricey aluminum molds for sale, but I don't think those are worthwhile. While they make very nice ice, I think they are way too labor intensive. It's nice to use silicone, put them in your freezer overnight, and then you have all your work done for you by the next morning.

I experimented with ice clarity and I tried different kinds of water -- tap, softened, distilled, boiled and cooled, water at various heated temperatures, and water which I let "rest" overnight in an open container covered with a thin cloth. In all cases I did not produce perfectly clear ice, so I eventually gave up trying and was completely satisfied with the round semi-clear ice. Clear ice is impressive, but I haven't found a way to make it in my molds yet. I found that my guests don't care about ice clarity in mixed cocktails, but if you're serving a single spirit on the rocks in a short and clear glass it would make a visual and impressive difference.

Fortunately both my successes and my failures drove me to drink and I definitely came out ahead in the end. Lower-end ice mold performance likely varies greatly from one brand to the next, and I consider them "experimental" because they can be temperamental. I recommend buying one set and testing before you commit entirely to a particular brand.

"Big balls" jokes were intentionally omitted from the above. Size does matter. All rights reserved. All wrongs avenged. Your mileage may vary.

Self promoting as it is my new business but we have these Brain shaped moulds, perfect for a Zombie.

http://www.bespokebarware.com/shop/horror/brains-ice-cube-mold/

What cocktails do you folks recommend the spherical ice for? I'd imagine a rum Old Fashioned, Manhattan benefiting the most from slowing down the melt. Others???

Besides the standards you mention I use them in any spirit forward cocktail served in a standard old fashion glass. I think it's best for clear drinks (those w/o juice, cream or eggs). If the ice will be obscured by the ingredients I use my Tovolo 2"x2" ice cubes since they're easier to make in quantity. I've never had any problems with the Tovolo ice ball molds and they are cheap and readily available. Tovolo has a great reputation for their ice trays in cocktailian circles.

[ Edited by: TropicDrinkBoy 2013-01-25 14:46 ]

AceExplorer, thanks for sharing the results of your ice mold experiments. Glad to learn that I'm not missing anything by not boiling my water, etc!

On 2013-01-25 08:05, TropicDrinkBoy wrote:
AceExplorer, thanks for sharing the results of your ice mold experiments. Glad to learn that I'm not missing anything by not boiling my water, etc!

Yer welcome! Someday I'll take the time to research online what it takes to make clear ice. And then I won't care because I'll quickly shift my focus to immediately making myself a cocktail.

I will eventually buy a Tovolo mold as recommended here by TropicDrinkBoy.

Cheekytiki, the brain molds sound like a lot of fun, especially if used in a set of large clear glass skull mugs I have.

I bought this one -
http://www.amazon.com/Japan-Large-Spherical-Ball-Cover/dp/B005WLM3I4/ref=pd_sim_k_28
Its good but I cracked it (or it cracked - but still works.

I learned after I broke it that after you fill and push the water through the drain hole. you should cover the drain holes and flip it over to dump the excess spillage/water.

wondered if they would work for jello shots w/ vodka???
hmmm?

A good blog post with links to the various methods for making clear ice:

http://sciencefare.org/2012/07/12/weird-science-ice-premium-ice-home/

Bravo! Drinking is driving us to science...

On 2013-01-25 05:02, cheekytiki wrote:
Self promoting as it is my new business but we have these Brain shaped moulds, perfect for a Zombie.

http://www.bespokebarware.com/shop/horror/brains-ice-cube-mold/

I love your mugs. Love. And the stuff at Bespoke. I went to order mugs before Christmas and the shipping was almost as much as the mugs. =(
(It was a LOT of mugs. I have to have 2 of each.)

Between that, and the exchange rate kicking our ass...I'm going to have to wait. But man LOVE.

Also, the brain molds are great. I have an abundance of head shaped mugs, and started concocting a frothy pink drink to put in them to look a little like brains. They'd be even better with brain ice!

There is a pink frothy cocktail called "Brain Hemorrhage" which features a splash of grenadine onto the top of the pink froth so that it looks like - a brain hemorrhage!

I expected, in Google, a ton of decent pics for this cocktail the way I remember having seen it served a number of years ago, but this is the best pic I found. Most of the other pics are just too realistic looking... I appreciate a good subtle gag, but many of the pics in Google truly made me gag, ha...

An informative video on how to make ice. At only 1m 19s long, definitely worth watching.

http://www.dailycandy.com/everywhere/video/145610/How-to-Make-Ice-Daniel-Holzman-The-Meatball-Shop?vwink=DC:web:Taboola:aprilfool2&utm_source=taboola

Yup,that's how it is done
Thanks Ace for letting our secrets out just for anybody to know! sheesh!

Here's a somewhat labor-intensive but interesting take on the art of making clear ice from Dave Stolte, author of the spiffy little cocktail compendium, "Home Bar Basics (and Not-So-Basics)," which I notice is currently sold out (it's really worth tracking down - hope it's back in print again soon).

http://www.homebarbasics.com/ice/

Really enjoying this thread. Ever since I saw a couple of those cool Japanese Ice Ball Molds in action at the Carthay Circle Lounge in California Adventure, I've wanted one. That's not gonna happen, but at least I can pick up that Tovolo mold for $10! Thanks to everyone for all the interesting information!

On 2013-04-14 01:44, Dolewhip wrote:
Here's a somewhat labor-intensive but interesting take on the art of making clear ice from Dave Stolte, author of the spiffy little cocktail compendium, "Home Bar Basics (and Not-So-Basics)," which I notice is currently sold out (it's really worth tracking down - hope it's back in print again soon).

http://www.homebarbasics.com/ice/

...

Good one! I copied this info into a Clear Ice thread:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=200&forum=10&start=last&14

On 2013-04-14 12:57, Hakalugi wrote:

Good one! I copied this info into a Clear Ice thread:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=200&forum=10&start=last&14

Ah, great! Thanks! Wow, this is a long-running topic.

On 2013-04-14 01:44, Dolewhip wrote:
Here's a somewhat labor-intensive but interesting take on the art of making clear ice from Dave Stolte, author of the spiffy little cocktail compendium, "Home Bar Basics (and Not-So-Basics)," which I notice is currently sold out (it's really worth tracking down - hope it's back in print again soon).
http://www.homebarbasics.com/ice/

I can't get the homebarbasics web site to open at the moment, will try it again later. I did try and find a copy of the book -- definitely out of print and nobody is parting with their copy at the moment... I sent an email to the author asking to be put on an "interest list" if possible. Spiral-bound, waterproof paper, with good content - sounds well designed and well thought-out.

Hey look "Martha Stewart" shows you how!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok5_EqxgLaI

I had a very tasty "Old Fashion" this weekend with an Ice Ball
served to me and not only liked how it looked, but also how well it worked in the cocktail.

I can't get the homebarbasics web site to open at the moment, will try it again later. I did try and find a copy of the book -- definitely out of print and nobody is parting with their copy at the moment... I sent an email to the author asking to be put on an "interest list" if possible. Spiral-bound, waterproof paper, with good content - sounds well designed and well thought-out.

The last time I spoke to Dave, he said a slightly revised reprint was in the works, so definitely keep an eye out for it.

Not to veer too far off topic, but another decent mixology book is "The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks" by Dale DeGroff. Good read; 600+ pages of not just recipes, but technique tips and the history of some of the drinks. It's new to me, but came out in 2010.

Ordered that Tovolo mold. Looking forward to a freezer full of ice spheres!

I couldn't get homebarbasics.com to load with Internet Explorer 10. I was able to access the site with Google Chrome.

If anyone's still interested, I just got word that Dave Stolte's Home Bar Basics (and Not-So-Basics) 2nd edition is taking pre-orders now (shipping in late July, 2013).

Great book to have in the collection!

http://www.storenvy.com/products/1813332-home-bar-basics-and-not-so-basics-2nd-edition

After using a few different brands for the round ice molds
most did not work very well, I did find these to work quite well
and can recommend them, Tovolo Ice Molds

You can find them in stores and here on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Tovolo-Sphere-Ice-Molds-Set/dp/B007ACTN54/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373490787&sr=8-1&keywords=round+ice+cube+mold

I can recommend Muji's ice ball moulds

http://www.muji.eu/pages/online.asp?Sec=11&Sub=46&PID=4254

They also do some smaller ball moulds.

Mine are still going strong 6 months on, mainly in Old Fashioneds :)

On 2013-07-10 14:17, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
After using a few different brands for the round ice molds most did not work very well...

That's the sad truth about round (ball) molds. Many of us have invested quite a bit of money to find out which ones work. Some of the silicone ball molds I've purchased have a 50% failure rate in that they leak despite a lack of visible defects. I'm not able to use roughly half of the silicone molds that I've bought to date.

I have not tried the Tovolo molds. Am a bit gun-shy to buy yet another brand of ball molds.

I have these and they work great:

http://www.momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_Spherical-Ice-Tray-Set_10451_10001_57253_-1_26669_26670

On 2013-07-11 09:40, TikiHardBop wrote:
I have these and they work great:

http://www.momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_Spherical-Ice-Tray-Set_10451_10001_57253_-1_26669_26670

I tried those to but it's very hard to get perfect Ice Balls from them consistently
the Tovolo Ice Molds do a better job.

If you are feeling fancy, you can also take your sphere forms and make cocktails in spheres.

http://www.molecularrecipes.com/molecular-mixology/cocktail-ice-sphere/

Because drinking is always improved when hammers are involved. :D

Following up to my earlier post -- I did buy and test the Tovolo ice ball molds. My results:

1. BEST molds I have tried to date - no leaks were possible due to the ice ball being formed within what I can only describe as a "full-height bottom mold" where the top half of the silicone mold is inserted into the lower half. Brilliant and functional.

2. Makes nice large round ice, 2.5", same as the largest competitive products.

Right out of the box, without any fussing, this is the most trouble-free, reliable and best design of any ice molds I've bought and used. I did experience a problem with the ice balls cracking during the freezing process which caused the ice balls to become a bit elongated in the middle. But once you drop these into a drink this did not appear to be much of a visual distraction to worry about. My guess is that my freezer is either a bit too warm or a bit too cold for the ice balls to form as nice spheres.

Thanks to those who suggested that I try the Tovolo molds. I'm very pleased with these. For anyone who is interested in buying, I found (after I bought) that the Nordstrom's web site sells these in sets of two for $12 with free shipping. I bought two sets for a total of four molds. Depending on the number of ice balls you expect you will need, you may only need two molds if you freeze and store ice balls in your freezer in a zip-lock bag ahead of any cocktail party. I've seen TikiHardBop do this at The Storm Shelter. Kudos to him for originally introducing me to round ice! I was intrigued and started experimenting shortly thereafter.

===============
Fact: Adding blue food coloring to the water when making spherical ice will yield - you guessed it - blue balls.

Mmmmm, what guest wouldn't want airplane toilet ice in their drink? :D

Wait, that gives me an idea for the Halloween Party!

wizzard419 - I had to re-read my post to figure out what prompted your "airplane toilet ice" response. Now I get it - hilarious! I know, I know... But it's late and I'm not thinking clearly...

I bought one of those Moai silicone ice cube form trays a couple years ago. They look awesome for about three minutes. You have to do a "HEY LOOK!! MOAI IN YOUR DRINKS!! LOOK NOW!!" to your guests or else they're just blobs very quickly. Best thing is to just take artistic photos right away and post them to Facebook.

Speaking of bobbing ice, even though it isn't tiki, you could always go for the Titanic ice molds. :D

I also bought the Moai molds and agree they don't work well for ice but one of the Amazon reviewers suggested a great use. They make great molds for chocolate Moai candy!

just a quick update on the Mastrad Ice Ball Mold. I found one on clearance at a TJ max. hadn't read the thread on it, so I bought it. out of the package, it leaked. which sucked, but it seemed like it should have worked, so i tried a number of things to see if I could get it to work. I ended up finding the best and easiest solution.

I simply run a little olive oil around the seam on both halves. works like a charm.

Eventually I'll get better molds, but for now, I can make ice balls that work just fine. I know there are a bunch of people out there who struggled with these, and I hadn't seen anyone who had suggested this yet (I'm sure someone has and I missed it) but still, if it helps someone, I'm glade I posted it.

Captaintony - very cool, that's a great innovation! Cheers to you!

Don't mind me, apparently I don't know how to post because this was supposed to go in another conversation.

Carry on.

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2014-10-29 08:42 ]