Directional freezing is a technique for making clear ice, and the reason you'd want clear ice is for both aethstetics and slower melting. Particularily popular for bartending. The larger molds with the holes on top and bottom are insulated and freeze directionally.
but wouldn't you then just leave the ice in the bottom when refilling it? yes it would be less effective but that is how I would see most home users using it. also like he said put the mold in then fill with water would be faster and less splashy.
@@coreytaggart128 the idea is to pull it out of the freezer before the ice freezes all the way to the bottom. Then you can basically chip and melt the remaining ice off of the molds, leaving clear spheres inside the mold. And you have to put the water in first, that's the only way to ensure that the spheres get filled all the way to the top with water. Otherwise you will have partial spheres with flat tops.
if the mold was only the silicon part the ice would be opaque, but with the rub, the ice is clear. don't really know the science behind this but i think it has to do with air. same for the sphere one
@@AnItalianGuyOnYT it depends on the direction that it freezes. I think if it freezes bottom up, then air is able to get pushed out and the ice is clear. There are some youtube bartenders that have made videos explaining it well.
The clear ice is formed when there is an opening on top and the ice can freeze from the top down. That forces all of the particulates in the water to the bottom as it freezes further down because, science. So the water at the top is crystal clear while all the particulates in the water that would make it cloudy get stuck in the bottom of the container. Hope that helps! :)
The clear ice makers have reservoirs beneath the molds to collect impurities that make ice cloudy. As the water freezes from the top down, the impurities are pushed into the liquid water, leaving the ice pure (more or less) and the water at the bottom full of whatever particulates that are in your water source.
My Nan had one very similar when I was a kid. That would've been 55+ years ago, and it was probably old even then. I can remember how hard it was to get the ice out, which is why I haven't seen another one until now. Plastics technology wasn't great back then, so this was probably a solution to overcome the fact that we couldn't manufacture bendy trays that wouldn't shatter. I can't think of a good reason to make them this way in the 21st Century, unless they're going after the Hipster market.
Water expands when it freezing due to air pocket! For the metal trays to work properly you need to only fill it up about 80% so the cubes are not touching, then the handle works to break open the ice cubes and separate them very easily. Also, those trays are excellent for Jello molds!
i think the hole in the bottom is something to do with the ice being clear at the end. like the water has to freeze from the bottom to the top so that impurities get pushed upwards or something. or maybe the exact opposite and it pushes them into the hole in the bottom.
Directional freezing. Water freezes top down. Think a frozen lake, ice on top water below. The directional freezing does push the air and impurities down to the lower level leaving clear ice on top
First of all, love the video! You keep postin I"ll keep watchin! However, Im glad others have said why there were holes in the bottoms of the trays. I was scraeming at my tv when he couldn't get it lol its not a diss i love this channel and what tyler does. It can be really frusterating at times haha.
Dear Tyler, The reason that the trays have holes in the bottom and notice all of the ones that had holes on the bottom are both insulated, is because it allows the water to de gas and is slower to freeze to make the ice as clear as possible.
That last one is absolutely genius. It's also super retro looking with the color scheme. I could easily see it coming out in the 70s just as much as today.
science about the clear ice molds is basically something called directional freezing, ice with impurities has a harder time freezing so in a normal ice cube all of that stuff gets pushed to the center, with a mold like this all sides are isolated except the top so the ice will freeze from the bottom down pushing all the impurities down into the bottom water resovoir
That's exactly the reason. When I want clear ice in a round-ish shape, I use a Yeti mug and only let it freeze for about 12 hours (about halfway), which does exactly what Tyler sees. The Yeti mug is almost exactly the size of my round whiskey glasses, so I can have a chunk of ice that will chill, but not water-down (as much), my whiskey or scotch. It has to do with surface area exposed for melting -- a solid chunk has less surface area to melt back into liquid water. As for why it produces clear ice, you don't have normal impurities/solutes in the water that we have in our tap water. The impurities can't fit into the lattice of the water ice as it solidifies, so as the top layer of water molecules form a layer, the impurities get pushed out of the way, and as more and more water molecules join the ice-lattice, the impurities get shoved farther and farther down into the vessel, which is why you need space below the ice you want to make and use.
Everybody just seems to forget about the more important part of why ice is cloudy. It's a lot less to do with impurities and more to do with the crystalline structure of the ice. Ice that freezes normally/fast has a LOT of very SMALL ice crystals, which when visible light passes through it, refracts a lot more, leaving it looking cloudy to the eye. Directional freezing drastically slows down the freezing process, forming much LARGER and LESS crystals, meaning visible light refracts far less, leaving the ice looking more translucent to the eye. Sure, fast freezing ice ALSO causes impurities to be trapped in it because of how fast it freezes, and slow freezing allows the crystals to push those impurities out of the way, but they have a lot less to do with the cloudiness than the actual structure of the ice itself
I have the last one (orange) but in Blue and love it, it perfect size for my freezer and i can keep the ice stored there too. have the scoop but don't use it much. the directions say that if it too frozen to let the tray rest for a minute or so before pressing down.
Hay everyone, upvote if y’all agree. (Tyler should get an ice maker that actually makes ice, and put different liquids in it). He should make another video on it.
@@BradTheSugarDad 😂 I can just imagine Tyler driving up to Goodwill with all this stuff and they are like wth this guy has so many duplicates of one thing 😂
Tyler, you actually have to run water over that steel tray to thaw it a little bit so the ice breaks off easily and since it’s steel you actually have to put it for 3-4 hours to freeze, and then it would work great.
Also if you didn’t over fill them the pieces were smaller and easy to break. I don’t know how many times I’ve bent a finger nail backwards because of these. Lots of Kool-Aid went in those in my house. Or the knock off brand Flav Or Aid.
I was born in 1956, so yeah. We would under-fill and set the tray out for 10 minutes before wrecking your wrist pulling the lever. Would still wind up with some munted cubes.
I was hoping you would demonstrate the table icemaker although I got a good laugh from this video. Suggestion .The steel ice tray is like the ones from the fifties and sixties. We always ran the tray under water a few seconds before pulling the release and dumping the ice. Same with the other trays. 😊
People don't use their brains today. Why someone would think a handle made of metal in contact with frozen water would work flawlessly is just a sign of the times, I guess. On those ice trays, they usually made 18 cubes, although some models could make 36 smaller cubes, and there was even a "double" version of the normal size tray that made 28 cubes. Thing is, a single cube from the normal size tray is all you would need to keep most drinks cold until you finished it. But, that's not good enough now. People want a handful of tiny cubes in their drinks now for whatever reason.
The holes allow for the clear ice. It's a freezing technique. Also, that big block of ice would work great in a Yeti cooler. I'm totally gonna order that big ice ball mold for my whiskey.
My brother got me this whiskey gift set for Christmas. It comes with 2 ice molds that make big ice cubes that are shaped like roses. It's hard to get the ice out of them, but when you do it looks awesome
Tyler, the next time you use the metal tray, if you ever use it again, after you take the tray out of the freeze, turn it upside down and run a little water over the bottom of the tray, and then turn it right side up, and then pull the handle. Or you could run a little water over the handle to loosen it up a bit. Either way works. (The way you were pulling on the frozen handle, I was surprised you didn't bend it, which can happen.) Better luck next time.
The Metal device is actually overfilled and he had it "tilted" in the freezer. You can see the water level on one side is higher than the other, also the reason why some of the ice is nearly 2 inches thick. The device isn't great, and come with a learning curve. But they last a LOT longer than the plastic ones. I bought 5 nearly a decade ago, and I still have 3 completely working ones. And I've grown to "not mind" the hassle they come with. Some tips for those interested. With the lever mechanism in the tray, only fill it about 75%. Try and make sure it's as flat as possible in the freezer, or water will build up on one side. Making the lever action impossible to move. If the cubes get stuck like the way it did for him. Try and run the cube block under warm/hot water, put it back in the tray, and use the lever again while holding the block in place. Usually works, if the tray wasn't too over flooded. Have fun putting the device back together when it "falls apart" (if you know, you know.) It's not that bad, just annoying till you figure it out. Important note: If you know the ice isn't budging, don't force it. The lever can bend, completely breaking the device.
I want to say {Air Up} the Sponsor for this video, it sounds like a great idea to get water in you but in a very smart and fun way. My reason for not getting them is they seem like a gimmick where yes you may try it for the life of the pods you get at the start but after idk, if I would take the time or money to order more and more when needed. I compare it right now to a Newton's cradle I say this because the Newton's cradle is a smart device and will sit on your desk near you; it is cool at first but after a while, it becomes junk in a drawer. Lastly, The reason I get drinks like juice or energy drinks is for what's in them and not for the taste( but good doesn't hurt) but to me that can be a weak argument I bring it up because you mentioned it is all. TBH I may get one to support the channel because I really like what you do and you are a genuinely amazing content creator and person well your channel is addictive and fun and show the average consumer experience in my opinion and that is rarer than the in-depth reviews we see on here and to me that makes what you do valuable!! Keep up the great work and ill think about what I said above!!
I think the answers to your questions Tyler are that the holes are in the molds for 2 reasons. 1) water expands when it freezes and it allows for an overflow in a way. And 2) the molds are the reason for clear freezing because it is due to directional freezing. In order for it to be clear, the water will typically have to freeze from bottom to top to push the bubbles out. (But I also could be wrong)
The point of having holes in the bottoms of the molds is because it allows it to create clear ice by using something called Directional Freezing. IIRC it is when water freezes slowly from bottom-top or top-bottom (I don't remember exactly), and because of this the Air that is in the water gets pushed out, preventing air bubbles from getting trapped in the ice, because what makes ice foggy is the air bubbles inside it
The holes are at the bottom for directional freezing to freeze the ice from the top down to push all of the air and impurities down and out of the holes making perfectly clear ice that stays colder for longer and takes longer to melt because it’s more dense. It’s for whiskey primarily.
The reason the silicon molds have holes and the extra water is so the ice can flow slightly. To get clear ice you either need to agitate it slightly, or have a slight flow so the particulates in the water can settle out.
I have one of the metal trays. It works fine when you don't absolutely over fill the crap out of the mechanism part. I'm subbed to this channel and support it all the way. Yet, there is always something in most videos that I look at and say "yeah, of course that didn't work".
Clear ice has less to do with the water and more to do with directional freezing. The holes allow for a reservoir beneath the usable ice and that's why those are in insulated containers. If you honestly didn't know. Also yes it needs to be set flat and you only need to keep it in the freezer for like 18 - 20 hours depending on how much volume they have
Growing up we had one with the metal handle that you pulled up to make the cubes. The reason it didn't work for you is that you overfilled the tray with water. They make awesome cubes if you only add enough water to the very top edge of the metal.
My grandma had that kind of metal tray growing up in the 80's. It was all aluminum though. She had them up until the day she died well into the 2000's. Worked great, as long as you didn't overfill them.
Since nobody has mentioned it, the ice trays (the ones with holes on the bottom) are overfilled with water, so the ice cubes, balls etc. freeze slower, which is what causes the ice to be clear. You can get a similar effect if you just take an ice mold and isolate it from heat (styrofoam, ice itself is also a decent insulator) and then freeze it, but the process does take a while. The bonus of having holes in the bottom is, that instead of just insulating it helps get rid of a small amount of impurities from the ice besides allowing it to freeze slower, although I've never personally seen the impurities making the ice cloudy (we do have very clean water where I come from).
The way the clear molds work is that pure water freezes before water with impurities and at upper levels. So, the impurities sink to the bottom while the clean water freezes at the top, resulting in the clear ice.
It specifically needs those holes to make it clear. It allows the air and other impurities to be pushed out the bottom. The insulated design is also important as it freezes from the top down. This coupled with the holes gets you clear ice. If you use one regularly you can figure out how long it takes to freeze just the cubes and it will take a little less time and not have a giant ice block in the bottom
According to some reviewers by having insulation on all but one side it forces it to freeze from the top down. By freezing from the top down the heavier minerals are forced to the bottom as they are heavier then the water. Then eventually the minerals are forced out the little hole in the bottom of the mold. Thus the cubes and spheres should be crystal clear. I haven’t seen the end of the video yet just responding to his questions prior to finishing the video
The molds have holes in the bottom and are insulated from 5 sides out of 6, just leaving the top exposed to the cold temps. That way the water freezes top to down and pushes the air bubbles out through the holes in the bottom. You can plug the holes in the crystal clear ice makers and see them forming just regular ice.
There are videos on this platform of people making clear ice and they sell it for like 25 dollars a cube. They put it in really expensive high end liquor drinks. You are making this look easy. That explains why the process are odd looking. Great video.
The reason the clear ice trays have holes is because of how clear ice forms. Air is dissolved in the water so when the water freezes the air tries to escape but gets trapped in the ice in the process and those clear ice makers are insulated in a way that makes the water freeze from the top down pushing all of the dissolved air in the space under the molds so all of the ice above the space should be clear.
When I was a kid those metal ice trays were all we had. The trick with them is to only fill the tray about halfway up. Yeah, the cubes are smaller, but they're a lot easier to break out too.
Pushing water up allows all of the air to get out and it to be completely filled with water. It lets you get clearer ice. Which is what you want for the big ice balls and cubes.
If anyone is wondering why the ice mold makes clear ice, it is because it is built so that the ice slowly cools so that all of the air escapes( air makes ice white).
The ice cubes are insulated from the side and have an excess of water below because it wants to freeze them from top to bottom. The air bubbles and impurities will freeze last, so what will make cloudy ice freezes after the desired cubes or spheres have frozen without the impurities.
The point of the holes in the molds is so that as the water freezes, it freezes from the top down, pushing any trapped air in the bottom portion of the mold, and not in the cubes. the down side is that, yes, you need to dispose of whatever froze in the bottom portion of the mold prior to making a new batch of clear ice.
The holes in the bottom is why the balls and cubes are clear, the gasses sink before the water freezes, and because ice expands as it freezes it causes the gas in it to expand as well which is why you get bubbles in ice.
The reason the molds fill through a bottom hole from a resevoir underneath is because if they had a fill hole in the top, the air would make bubbles as you fill it and that stops it from being clear. When it fills from the bottom all the air in the mould leaves through the top
What do you think about testing different ice shaving machines. You could compare them to the Peanuts "Snoopy" ice shaver that many people may be familiar with from their childhood.
As said, the holes in the crystal clear ice mold are to allow the impurities in the water to drop to the bottom, allowing the clear pure water to form ice at the top
You gotta start putting links to this stuff in the description. While I don't often buy what you cover, it's nice to be able to read into the products.
The idea behind the two compartment thing for the clear ice is to separate the air bubbles that make the ice cloudy since water freezes from outside in it traps air in the middle
the big ones are more for whiskey glasses and such some people take it a next step and shave some of the sides to make it perfect and they take a little blow torch or something and melt a bit on each side to help it be more clear and the whole thing is when you put it in a whiskey glass and pour the whiskey or what ever you drink, the ice would basically be invisible and make it look more aesthetic
The reason why two ice cubes trays/mold have holes at bottom is to let impurities sink to the bottom allowing the ice to freeze clear. Impurities are lead, iron, magnesium, calcium, chlorine, and other stuff
I bought the last ball one because of all the reviews. It works great. I used it for whiskey or other drinks where I do not want the ice to melt to water it down.
Ha ha, that metal one was the one they used to sell with fridges when I was a kid. The plastic ones didn’t come out until mid late 70’s. My grandmother had hers for the longest time. You can’t fill them up to the top, is the trick.
We had those metal ones when I was a kid and many years and several refrigerators later my Mom still has them. Never had a problem with them. Our pans were textured though so that may have helped grip the ice while pulling the lever back.
The reason for the bottom up is to allow for better air escape instead of having to bubble through it has a path to walk, run in and out, instead of fighting the bubbles going down
The holes in the bottom of the bigger molds is because as the water freezes it pushes impurities away from the freezing area and down into the unfrozen water. It lets the cubes/balls be crystal clear, and you can pour out the liquid section at the bottom with the impurities in it.
5:40 that's how they make the ice clear. The impurities are supposed to be in the ice/water that's in the bottom of it, leaving clear ice up in the actual molds
Some people on here are a little wrong about the whole "clear ice" thing. Cloudy/clear ice has a LOT to do with the crystalline structure of the ice, also. Cloudy ice is cloudy because it has a LOT of very SMALL crystals, causing light to refract much more while passing through it. It ALSO freezes fast, trapping any organic material and impurities in the middle, which make it even worse. Directional freezing causes the ice to freeze MUCH slower, creating much larger and far less ice crystals, meaning the light passing through doesn't refract as much, causing it to be more translucent. This slow freezing ALSO allows impurities and organic material to be pushed out of the way, instead of getting trapped by the crystals. Clear ice can also be made by freezing the ice in ANY direction, as long as it starts from one side and moves to the other. It doesn't have to be top down. Either way the science of directional freezing is super cool!
The crystal clear ice tray has so many layers and spot to help the water in the cube spots to not have as much impurities in it and be so clear. Air can escape and impurities form in lower trays
the holes in the clear ice makers are for the ice to be clear. when the water freezes it pushes the trapped air into the center of the ice. the holes make it so the center of the ice is lower than the actual used ice
Clear ice isn't about the water for the most part. It's about directional freezing. Meaning that rather than freezing outside-in like most do. You freeze top to bottom or bottom to top. This "shifts" the impurities and air in the water out of the way rather than trapping them.
Directional freezing is a technique for making clear ice, and the reason you'd want clear ice is for both aethstetics and slower melting. Particularily popular for bartending.
The larger molds with the holes on top and bottom are insulated and freeze directionally.
but wouldn't you then just leave the ice in the bottom when refilling it? yes it would be less effective but that is how I would see most home users using it.
also like he said put the mold in then fill with water would be faster and less splashy.
@@coreytaggart128 the idea is to pull it out of the freezer before the ice freezes all the way to the bottom. Then you can basically chip and melt the remaining ice off of the molds, leaving clear spheres inside the mold.
And you have to put the water in first, that's the only way to ensure that the spheres get filled all the way to the top with water. Otherwise you will have partial spheres with flat tops.
I need ice cream
Only Tyler could get me to watch a 23 minute video about ice cube trays on a Saturday night
Sunday night for me but I couldn't agree more 😂😂
Bro same
Facts😂
TylerTube is the only channel I watch honestly.
@@nemysantosyou need to get out more
The ice mold is definitely the reason why the ice is crystal clear
if the mold was only the silicon part the ice would be opaque, but with the rub, the ice is clear. don't really know the science behind this but i think it has to do with air. same for the sphere one
@@AnItalianGuyOnYT it depends on the direction that it freezes. I think if it freezes bottom up, then air is able to get pushed out and the ice is clear. There are some youtube bartenders that have made videos explaining it well.
The clear ice is formed when there is an opening on top and the ice can freeze from the top down. That forces all of the particulates in the water to the bottom as it freezes further down because, science. So the water at the top is crystal clear while all the particulates in the water that would make it cloudy get stuck in the bottom of the container. Hope that helps! :)
The freeze and oxygen in the water/purity depends on clarity.
@@j.a.r.family2576 nope,directional freezing
The clear ice makers have reservoirs beneath the molds to collect impurities that make ice cloudy. As the water freezes from the top down, the impurities are pushed into the liquid water, leaving the ice pure (more or less) and the water at the bottom full of whatever particulates that are in your water source.
It's an ice tray...
@@bryancampbell4604 Some folks want clear ice.
@@bryancampbell4604 Congratulations! You have eyes!
@cookiesandpudding8485 Oh, is that what the circular things are that produce upside down images are called.
@@scottmacs What does that have to do with you calling it an ice maker?
The metal one is an old school design but this one seems flimsier than the ones from 50 years ago.
My Nan had one very similar when I was a kid. That would've been 55+ years ago, and it was probably old even then. I can remember how hard it was to get the ice out, which is why I haven't seen another one until now. Plastics technology wasn't great back then, so this was probably a solution to overcome the fact that we couldn't manufacture bendy trays that wouldn't shatter. I can't think of a good reason to make them this way in the 21st Century, unless they're going after the Hipster market.
Hint: Run them under the faucet for a moment to separate it from the metal.
I grew up with these.
Water expands when it freezing due to air pocket! For the metal trays to work properly you need to only fill it up about 80% so the cubes are not touching, then the handle works to break open the ice cubes and separate them very easily. Also, those trays are excellent for Jello molds!
That's actually not why water expands when in a solid state. It has to do with hydrogen bonds forming.
i think the hole in the bottom is something to do with the ice being clear at the end. like the water has to freeze from the bottom to the top so that impurities get pushed upwards or something. or maybe the exact opposite and it pushes them into the hole in the bottom.
Water expands around 10 percent going from liquid to solid. It's the reason why you don't put a soda can in the freezer. In my opinion, that's why.
Directional freezing. Water freezes top down. Think a frozen lake, ice on top water below. The directional freezing does push the air and impurities down to the lower level leaving clear ice on top
First of all, love the video! You keep postin I"ll keep watchin! However, Im glad others have said why there were holes in the bottoms of the trays. I was scraeming at my tv when he couldn't get it lol its not a diss i love this channel and what tyler does. It can be really frusterating at times haha.
The reason for filling the reservoir and pushing the mold down is to get the air bubbles all out.
Then, directional freezing like everyone else said.
It's also about the quantity of water, as the more water there is the longer it takes to freeze, and thus forms less ice crystals.
Dear Tyler,
The reason that the trays have holes in the bottom and notice all of the ones that had holes on the bottom are both insulated, is because it allows the water to de gas and is slower to freeze to make the ice as clear as possible.
That last one is absolutely genius. It's also super retro looking with the color scheme. I could easily see it coming out in the 70s just as much as today.
science about the clear ice molds is basically something called directional freezing, ice with impurities has a harder time freezing so in a normal ice cube all of that stuff gets pushed to the center, with a mold like this all sides are isolated except the top so the ice will freeze from the bottom down pushing all the impurities down into the bottom water resovoir
That's exactly the reason. When I want clear ice in a round-ish shape, I use a Yeti mug and only let it freeze for about 12 hours (about halfway), which does exactly what Tyler sees. The Yeti mug is almost exactly the size of my round whiskey glasses, so I can have a chunk of ice that will chill, but not water-down (as much), my whiskey or scotch. It has to do with surface area exposed for melting -- a solid chunk has less surface area to melt back into liquid water.
As for why it produces clear ice, you don't have normal impurities/solutes in the water that we have in our tap water. The impurities can't fit into the lattice of the water ice as it solidifies, so as the top layer of water molecules form a layer, the impurities get pushed out of the way, and as more and more water molecules join the ice-lattice, the impurities get shoved farther and farther down into the vessel, which is why you need space below the ice you want to make and use.
This right here is what i was trying to say but said in a much more elegant way.😂😂
Everybody just seems to forget about the more important part of why ice is cloudy. It's a lot less to do with impurities and more to do with the crystalline structure of the ice. Ice that freezes normally/fast has a LOT of very SMALL ice crystals, which when visible light passes through it, refracts a lot more, leaving it looking cloudy to the eye. Directional freezing drastically slows down the freezing process, forming much LARGER and LESS crystals, meaning visible light refracts far less, leaving the ice looking more translucent to the eye. Sure, fast freezing ice ALSO causes impurities to be trapped in it because of how fast it freezes, and slow freezing allows the crystals to push those impurities out of the way, but they have a lot less to do with the cloudiness than the actual structure of the ice itself
I have the last one (orange) but in Blue and love it, it perfect size for my freezer and i can keep the ice stored there too. have the scoop but don't use it much. the directions say that if it too frozen to let the tray rest for a minute or so before pressing down.
Hay everyone, upvote if y’all agree. (Tyler should get an ice maker that actually makes ice, and put different liquids in it). He should make another video on it.
I’m so curious where Tyler puts all this stuff 😂😂😂 the amount of stuff he orders is insane
He bought a second house ~10 months ago to store most of it
Buries it with his self respect
id say he gives most of it away to family, and friends or some shit. i know i would. or take it to goodwill donations.
@@BradTheSugarDad 😂 I can just imagine Tyler driving up to Goodwill with all this stuff and they are like wth this guy has so many duplicates of one thing 😂
Lots and lots of yard sales.
Tyler, you actually have to run water over that steel tray to thaw it a little bit so the ice breaks off easily and since it’s steel you actually have to put it for 3-4 hours to freeze, and then it would work great.
Any1 else who group up in the 70s laughed their butts off watching Tyler with the metal ice cube trays? 🤣🤣🤣
I might not have grew up in the 70's, but I did have one and it was a pain to get the ice out of it ever time. 😅
If he wants to become a professional arm wrestler.
Also if you didn’t over fill them the pieces were smaller and easy to break. I don’t know how many times I’ve bent a finger nail backwards because of these. Lots of Kool-Aid went in those in my house. Or the knock off brand Flav Or Aid.
I was born in 1956, so yeah. We would under-fill and set the tray out for 10 minutes before wrecking your wrist pulling the lever. Would still wind up with some munted cubes.
That's funny, we use to run hot water on the bottom of the tray first and then crack the ice.
Dang.. I really thought this was about ice MAKERS, not ice cube trays
Ice cube trays also make ice from water technically.
@@Floofie_boi they dont make ice they form it into a shape
Same here. Ive been wanting a countertop Nugget ice maker for a while lol
Me too!
Same. I was hoping for Sonic ice 🤣
I was hoping you would demonstrate the table icemaker although I got a good laugh from this video. Suggestion
.The steel ice tray is like the ones from the fifties and sixties. We always ran the tray under water a few seconds before pulling the release and dumping the ice. Same with the other trays. 😊
People don't use their brains today. Why someone would think a handle made of metal in contact with frozen water would work flawlessly is just a sign of the times, I guess. On those ice trays, they usually made 18 cubes, although some models could make 36 smaller cubes, and there was even a "double" version of the normal size tray that made 28 cubes. Thing is, a single cube from the normal size tray is all you would need to keep most drinks cold until you finished it. But, that's not good enough now. People want a handful of tiny cubes in their drinks now for whatever reason.
We need an every flavor taste test for Air Up like you did for the Cirkul ones!
Tyler man, I love your reviews. You're every man's man, not an ounce of subtext in ya.
The holes allow for the clear ice. It's a freezing technique. Also, that big block of ice would work great in a Yeti cooler. I'm totally gonna order that big ice ball mold for my whiskey.
We always had the metal ice trays with the handle all through the 60s and 70's. They are great
Watching Tyler with the metal trays was like watching a 12 year old with a rotary phone. Entertaining!
Look into clear ice, that will explain the holes on the bottom in the round ball ice and the huge cube ice molds.
My brother got me this whiskey gift set for Christmas. It comes with 2 ice molds that make big ice cubes that are shaped like roses. It's hard to get the ice out of them, but when you do it looks awesome
Tyler, the next time you use the metal tray, if you ever use it again, after you take the tray out of the freeze, turn it upside down and run a little water over the bottom of the tray, and then turn it right side up, and then pull the handle. Or you could run a little water over the handle to loosen it up a bit. Either way works. (The way you were pulling on the frozen handle, I was surprised you didn't bend it, which can happen.) Better luck next time.
The Metal device is actually overfilled and he had it "tilted" in the freezer. You can see the water level on one side is higher than the other, also the reason why some of the ice is nearly 2 inches thick. The device isn't great, and come with a learning curve. But they last a LOT longer than the plastic ones. I bought 5 nearly a decade ago, and I still have 3 completely working ones. And I've grown to "not mind" the hassle they come with.
Some tips for those interested.
With the lever mechanism in the tray, only fill it about 75%. Try and make sure it's as flat as possible in the freezer, or water will build up on one side. Making the lever action impossible to move. If the cubes get stuck like the way it did for him. Try and run the cube block under warm/hot water, put it back in the tray, and use the lever again while holding the block in place. Usually works, if the tray wasn't too over flooded.
Have fun putting the device back together when it "falls apart" (if you know, you know.) It's not that bad, just annoying till you figure it out.
Important note: If you know the ice isn't budging, don't force it. The lever can bend, completely breaking the device.
Silicone ice cube trays with lids 🙌
I was getting bored rewatching the old videos 😂
I want to say {Air Up} the Sponsor for this video, it sounds like a great idea to get water in you but in a very smart and fun way. My reason for not getting them is they seem like a gimmick where yes you may try it for the life of the pods you get at the start but after idk, if I would take the time or money to order more and more when needed. I compare it right now to a Newton's cradle I say this because the Newton's cradle is a smart device and will sit on your desk near you; it is cool at first but after a while, it becomes junk in a drawer. Lastly, The reason I get drinks like juice or energy drinks is for what's in them and not for the taste( but good doesn't hurt) but to me that can be a weak argument I bring it up because you mentioned it is all. TBH I may get one to support the channel because I really like what you do and you are a genuinely amazing content creator and person well your channel is addictive and fun and show the average consumer experience in my opinion and that is rarer than the in-depth reviews we see on here and to me that makes what you do valuable!! Keep up the great work and ill think about what I said above!!
These ice trays are to fancy for me I just put ice in an average tray love your vids tyler😂
I think the answers to your questions Tyler are that the holes are in the molds for 2 reasons. 1) water expands when it freezes and it allows for an overflow in a way. And 2) the molds are the reason for clear freezing because it is due to directional freezing. In order for it to be clear, the water will typically have to freeze from bottom to top to push the bubbles out. (But I also could be wrong)
The point of having holes in the bottoms of the molds is because it allows it to create clear ice by using something called Directional Freezing.
IIRC it is when water freezes slowly from bottom-top or top-bottom (I don't remember exactly), and because of this the Air that is in the water gets pushed out, preventing air bubbles from getting trapped in the ice, because what makes ice foggy is the air bubbles inside it
The steel ice maker might work better if you start the handle up so you can use your body weight to break the ice.
Tyler is the only UA-camr who can make a video about ice entertaining
The holes are at the bottom for directional freezing to freeze the ice from the top down to push all of the air and impurities down and out of the holes making perfectly clear ice that stays colder for longer and takes longer to melt because it’s more dense. It’s for whiskey primarily.
9:01 - "Abadee abadee abadee. That's all folks"
The aluminum trays with the handle were the only kind we had in the 60s. I thought they had stopped making them.
That first ice tray with lid is amazing idea. Where was that growing up before every fridge had an ice maker.
9:02 i never laughed so hard in my life. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The reason the silicon molds have holes and the extra water is so the ice can flow slightly.
To get clear ice you either need to agitate it slightly, or have a slight flow so the particulates in the water can settle out.
I have one of the metal trays. It works fine when you don't absolutely over fill the crap out of the mechanism part. I'm subbed to this channel and support it all the way. Yet, there is always something in most videos that I look at and say "yeah, of course that didn't work".
Its an entertainment channel it's really not that deep
Oh, the memories!! The steel one is what we used 55-60 YEARS ago!! They were a pain then too, but I think it was the only option.
Clear ice has less to do with the water and more to do with directional freezing. The holes allow for a reservoir beneath the usable ice and that's why those are in insulated containers. If you honestly didn't know.
Also yes it needs to be set flat and you only need to keep it in the freezer for like 18 - 20 hours depending on how much volume they have
Growing up we had one with the metal handle that you pulled up to make the cubes. The reason it didn't work for you is that you overfilled the tray with water. They make awesome cubes if you only add enough water to the very top edge of the metal.
My grandma had that kind of metal tray growing up in the 80's. It was all aluminum though. She had them up until the day she died well into the 2000's. Worked great, as long as you didn't overfill them.
12:30 I remember muscling thru those at age five. The trick is to under fill those slightly. Some of the cheaper ones break right away.
Since nobody has mentioned it, the ice trays (the ones with holes on the bottom) are overfilled with water, so the ice cubes, balls etc. freeze slower, which is what causes the ice to be clear. You can get a similar effect if you just take an ice mold and isolate it from heat (styrofoam, ice itself is also a decent insulator) and then freeze it, but the process does take a while. The bonus of having holes in the bottom is, that instead of just insulating it helps get rid of a small amount of impurities from the ice besides allowing it to freeze slower, although I've never personally seen the impurities making the ice cloudy (we do have very clean water where I come from).
The metal ice cube tray with the handle is old school because I grew up using them. The tray's with the empty space beneath it is for ice storage.
Wow, love the steel tray. Haven't seen one in use for 50 years. They were the standard before plastic came around.
10:25 my guys gotta water pitcher right but decides the floor was the better option I love it
That metal one is a throwback before my time of course. My grandparents had those in their freezer.
this ranks up there as one of my favorite Tyler videos
The way the clear molds work is that pure water freezes before water with impurities and at upper levels. So, the impurities sink to the bottom while the clean water freezes at the top, resulting in the clear ice.
It specifically needs those holes to make it clear. It allows the air and other impurities to be pushed out the bottom.
The insulated design is also important as it freezes from the top down. This coupled with the holes gets you clear ice.
If you use one regularly you can figure out how long it takes to freeze just the cubes and it will take a little less time and not have a giant ice block in the bottom
The holes are what makes the ice clear!
According to some reviewers by having insulation on all but one side it forces it to freeze from the top down. By freezing from the top down the heavier minerals are forced to the bottom as they are heavier then the water. Then eventually the minerals are forced out the little hole in the bottom of the mold. Thus the cubes and spheres should be crystal clear. I haven’t seen the end of the video yet just responding to his questions prior to finishing the video
The molds have holes in the bottom and are insulated from 5 sides out of 6, just leaving the top exposed to the cold temps. That way the water freezes top to down and pushes the air bubbles out through the holes in the bottom. You can plug the holes in the crystal clear ice makers and see them forming just regular ice.
There are videos on this platform of people making clear ice and they sell it for like 25 dollars a cube. They put it in really expensive high end liquor drinks. You are making this look easy. That explains why the process are odd looking. Great video.
The reason the clear ice trays have holes is because of how clear ice forms. Air is dissolved in the water so when the water freezes the air tries to escape but gets trapped in the ice in the process and those clear ice makers are insulated in a way that makes the water freeze from the top down pushing all of the dissolved air in the space under the molds so all of the ice above the space should be clear.
When I was a kid those metal ice trays were all we had. The trick with them is to only fill the tray about halfway up. Yeah, the cubes are smaller, but they're a lot easier to break out too.
Pushing water up allows all of the air to get out and it to be completely filled with water. It lets you get clearer ice. Which is what you want for the big ice balls and cubes.
The little circle ice maker that came with a tray (the one that shot water in the air , had a lid that helped push the ice out.
Also you need the insulating factor to make clear ice. Plus a very large ice cube melts much slower so it won't dilute the drink as much
It's easy ! if you have one of the old plastic type,put it level in the freezer first empty then fill it from a jug then shut the door !
If anyone is wondering why the ice mold makes clear ice, it is because it is built so that the ice slowly cools so that all of the air escapes( air makes ice white).
The ice cubes are insulated from the side and have an excess of water below because it wants to freeze them from top to bottom. The air bubbles and impurities will freeze last, so what will make cloudy ice freezes after the desired cubes or spheres have frozen without the impurities.
The point of the holes in the molds is so that as the water freezes, it freezes from the top down, pushing any trapped air in the bottom portion of the mold, and not in the cubes. the down side is that, yes, you need to dispose of whatever froze in the bottom portion of the mold prior to making a new batch of clear ice.
The holes in the bottom is why the balls and cubes are clear, the gasses sink before the water freezes, and because ice expands as it freezes it causes the gas in it to expand as well which is why you get bubbles in ice.
The reason the molds fill through a bottom hole from a resevoir underneath is because if they had a fill hole in the top, the air would make bubbles as you fill it and that stops it from being clear. When it fills from the bottom all the air in the mould leaves through the top
What do you think about testing different ice shaving machines. You could compare them to the Peanuts "Snoopy" ice shaver that many people may be familiar with from their childhood.
As said, the holes in the crystal clear ice mold are to allow the impurities in the water to drop to the bottom, allowing the clear pure water to form ice at the top
You gotta start putting links to this stuff in the description. While I don't often buy what you cover, it's nice to be able to read into the products.
The idea behind the two compartment thing for the clear ice is to separate the air bubbles that make the ice cloudy since water freezes from outside in it traps air in the middle
Didn’t notice this upload and I’m watching it now at 2:25 AM.
What a treat.
the big ones are more for whiskey glasses and such some people take it a next step and shave some of the sides to make it perfect and they take a little blow torch or something and melt a bit on each side to help it be more clear and the whole thing is when you put it in a whiskey glass and pour the whiskey or what ever you drink, the ice would basically be invisible and make it look more aesthetic
That large hollow ice block was pretty cool.
The reason why two ice cubes trays/mold have holes at bottom is to let impurities sink to the bottom allowing the ice to freeze clear. Impurities are lead, iron, magnesium, calcium, chlorine, and other stuff
I bought the last ball one because of all the reviews. It works great. I used it for whiskey or other drinks where I do not want the ice to melt to water it down.
The clear plastic egg trays at Costco can work in a pinch as well. Many uses before you need to toss.
Ha ha, that metal one was the one they used to sell with fridges when I was a kid. The plastic ones didn’t come out until mid late 70’s. My grandmother had hers for the longest time. You can’t fill them up to the top, is the trick.
Here's to 1M subscribers by the end of 2023! 🎉🎉🎉
I think the idea behind the fancy crystal clear on is that block of ice is supposed to stay there to create a faster turn around for making ice.
We had those metal ones when I was a kid and many years and several refrigerators later my Mom still has them. Never had a problem with them. Our pans were textured though so that may have helped grip the ice while pulling the lever back.
As a person who eats ice, the metal tray, the small round trays and the small cube trays are the best of the bunch.
The reason for the bottom up is to allow for better air escape instead of having to bubble through it has a path to walk, run in and out, instead of fighting the bubbles going down
Use the big cubes for drink glasses, and the big chunk for the punch bowl.
The reasoning for the holes is to help bring the 'white bubbles' you usually see to a different spot to let it be crystal clear.
The holes in the bottom of the bigger molds is because as the water freezes it pushes impurities away from the freezing area and down into the unfrozen water. It lets the cubes/balls be crystal clear, and you can pour out the liquid section at the bottom with the impurities in it.
5:40 that's how they make the ice clear. The impurities are supposed to be in the ice/water that's in the bottom of it, leaving clear ice up in the actual molds
Some people on here are a little wrong about the whole "clear ice" thing.
Cloudy/clear ice has a LOT to do with the crystalline structure of the ice, also. Cloudy ice is cloudy because it has a LOT of very SMALL crystals, causing light to refract much more while passing through it.
It ALSO freezes fast, trapping any organic material and impurities in the middle, which make it even worse.
Directional freezing causes the ice to freeze MUCH slower, creating much larger and far less ice crystals, meaning the light passing through doesn't refract as much, causing it to be more translucent.
This slow freezing ALSO allows impurities and organic material to be pushed out of the way, instead of getting trapped by the crystals.
Clear ice can also be made by freezing the ice in ANY direction, as long as it starts from one side and moves to the other. It doesn't have to be top down.
Either way the science of directional freezing is super cool!
The big block is probably for coolers
The crystal clear ice tray has so many layers and spot to help the water in the cube spots to not have as much impurities in it and be so clear. Air can escape and impurities form in lower trays
Yeah I was fixing to say. We used the metal trays when I was a kid. Loved them.
the hole in the bottom of the few ice treys is for the dissolved air to be pushed through which is what allows it to be perfectly clear
the holes in the clear ice makers are for the ice to be clear. when the water freezes it pushes the trapped air into the center of the ice. the holes make it so the center of the ice is lower than the actual used ice
Definitely his favorite with the scoop and stacking trays is my favorite.
Hmm.. now where do I get one?
Clear ice isn't about the water for the most part. It's about directional freezing. Meaning that rather than freezing outside-in like most do. You freeze top to bottom or bottom to top. This "shifts" the impurities and air in the water out of the way rather than trapping them.
18:18 the extra water is for the directional freezing
Seeing that you really like one of the ice makers is genuily awesome.
The ones in 19:40 are really cool. I always prepare some for a good snowball fight