Clear Ice Cube Maker,2.35in Silicone Ice Ball Maker Mold with Ice Shovel & Clip, Portable black 2-Cavity Ice Sphere Mold for Whisky, Cocktails, Brandy, and Drink

This works just as advertised! Nothing else to say...

This is not the first clear ice maker I own. I have one other that's significantly larger but works on the same concept---impurities are pushed to the bottom and collected there by the freezing process encouraged by these ice maker designs. I don't know all the science of it, but I know it works.This ice maker is more bare-bones than my other one, but I expected that for a list price of $14.99 (at the time of this review). The materials and construction are good and should last for the most part, though I’m concerned about the outer shell, which is dense foam. My other ice maker has this foam layer too, but it has a hard plastic shell to protect it. If I store this ice maker in its box, it should be okay, but I'll need to be extra careful as even dense foam is prone to dings and cracks that could render it useless.Making the ice is a simple process and much easier than with my other ice maker. Fill the plastic basin with water, close the silicone mold tightly, ensuring the straps are flat and accessible, and slowly insert the mold into the water seated tightly. The basin has a max fill line, so overflow shouldn't happen if the mold is inserted slowly and carefully. The basin/mold combo is then placed inside the styrofoam outer shell. To my relief, the design makes it easy to carry down a flight of stairs to the deep freezer in my garage without worrying about spills. This isn’t the case with my other unit.Removing the ice is also easy. After freezing for at least 20 hours, per the instructions (I froze mine for 26 hours for schedule reasons), let the unit rest at room temperature for 15 minutes, then pull the silicone mold free using the straps. It popped out without much effort, though it shed ice shards across my counter and appliances. I’ll need to remember to open it in an easier-to-clean area going forward.To make my ice, I filled a pitcher with filtered water from my fridge, then used that water to fill the clear ice mold and my standard sphere mold for comparison. The ice from this mold is truly and impressively clear, and more impressive looking at it beside the other sphere. I do have two complaints about the clear ice though:1. Unlike my other ice mold, the ice isn’t smooth but has a bump at the top and protruding ice along the sides where the water from the basin entered the mold. This isn’t a big deal for personal use; I’m fine ignoring the imperfections, but for drinks at dinners or parties, it’s not ideal.Included in the box with the ice maker is a tool to shave the ice smooth, which is helpful, but it takes time, and I have to handle every sphere. I can wear gloves to keep from touching everyone’s ice, but the ice does melt faster outside liquid, and putting on the gloves increases the potential melting time. I could also use the included tongs, but I find them cumbersome.2. Despite adding water exactly to the fill line of the basin, one of my ice spheres had a flat top where water didn’t fill the mold fully as it should. Since I can only make two spheres at a time, it’s frustrating to have one come out this way. I followed the directions exactly, so I’m unsure why this happened. I’m guessing it won’t be the only time, though, which means I’ll need to plan extra time for freezing the mold during party prep to account for defective spheres.Overall, this isn’t a bad ice mold. It does produce clear ice spheres impressively well, even if that ice comes in imperfect forms.

This thing is great. Nice overall size for fridge. Strap is nice feature to pull up cubes. Buy it!

I like it. It's nice, but I wish there were more spaces for ice.

Having large ice cubes in your drink they will melt less quickly, and be less inclined to dilute your beverage. This particular ice maker works on the principle that water will freeze from the top down when in a insulated container like this. The contaminants in the water will typically settle to the bottom and you'll be left with nice clear ice in the molds at the top. My ice cubes came out not quite perfectly clear but pretty close. They are a pleasure to look at and use in my beverages.There is a "fill line" on the inside of the inner container. You fill the container with water to that line. Then you slowly drop the silicone molds into that container, and then place that container inside the outer styrofoam container. Then place it all in the freezer for 20+ hours. When you take them out of the freezer, leave it sit on the counter at room temperature for 15 minutes then slowly lift on the nylon webbed handles to pull the silicone molds out of the inner container. You'll be left with two near-perfect ice balls. If you jump the gun and take the ice mold out of the freezer too soon, you will be left with flat spots at the bottom of either ice ball (the water freezes from the top down). I've not had any problem separating the molds from the inner container.The product comes both with a pair of ice tongs and a little spatula. I've not used either of these yet and I'm not certain what the little spatula is used for - perhaps if the inner container gets stuck in the outer container and needs a little help coming loose?The only downfall with this particular model is that it does only 2 ice balls at once and it takes 20+ hours in the freezer. This means you will have to do a bit of planning if you plan on throwing a social gathering and need a few dozen ice balls.Overall I'm quite happy to have this product in my kitchen. It brings a new level of enjoyment to drinking my favorite beverages.

The instructions ask you to see if there are any nicks or cuts before washing for the first time. One of the circles did have a scratch on the inside. There was also some black stuff that washed off easily.One of the steps in the directions tell you to 'dry the surface of the water storage layer first' in the picture it looks like you're supposed to take the silicone and dry it off? Well, you cannot take the silicone out after adding the water without losing water.I used straight filtered water. I did not boil the water. I did not use distilled water. (These are some of the methods I tried in the past with my other ice ball molds)After about 24 hours I had beautiful ice balls! They are not as crystal clear like the ones you can get at high end bars, but a whole lot better than my other molds. You can see in one of the pictures the other cloudy ice balls from my other molds. There's small bubbles at the bottom and some striations in the ice. Since there is no where else for the water to go, there are no cracks.The kit comes with a little blue scraper you can use to scrape the 'nipple' off the top and bottom of the ball should you choose. It also came with a tongs so you can feel fancy (let's be real, I used my fingers).I was a little grossed out about the belt getting waterlogged, but the instructions say it's nylon, so it shouldn't retain any weird odors.Only downsides are that it is 5x 4.5x7" so it does take up a bit of space in your freezer. It is also a bit pricey but at $1 a piece at the liquor store, as long as you use it 40x times you'll have your money's worth!I am donating all my other round ice molds!