The main reason to use large cubes or spheres is to chill alcoholic beverages without diluting them. For example, spheres have a lower surface area to volume ratio than regular ice cubes. "Ice spheres are the worst at making a drink cold, but dilute it the least," said Gitter. This is why large cubes are most ideal for a straight spirit.

MummyB100 Excellent I have a number of OXO Good Grips kitchen items and they are all excellent. This ice cube tray is cleverly designed with a good stable outer case, 2 silicone trays and a well fitting lid to stop the ice taking on other flavours from the freezer. Easy to fill and easy to remove the ice cubes. My only criticism is that the ice cubes are a bit small but putting more ice in the glass gets round that. It is lovely to find more and more other brands being sold by M&S. Most ice cube trays are not insulated, so water freezes from the outside in and from all directions. Safe tap water contains impurities that aren't dangerous to drink, but can impact the flavor of the water and the appearance of the ice. As water freezes, it also absorbs some of the surrounding air. The absorbed air bubbles and the impurities are pushed towards the center of the ice as the outer layer freezes first. The air bubbles and impurities interfere with forming an organized crystal lattice and so the ice appears cloudy, said Gitter.Water absorbs air as it freezes, which can impact the flavor. Additionally, silicone is a porous material that can absorb scent. After freezing, the instructions recommend running the plastic section under hot water, and I found the spheres popped out easily after doing so. All of the spheres had slight ridges where the top and bottom of the mold meet, but this line was less noticeable than on spheres made using other molds. Both professional chefs looking to upgrade their culinary arsenal and lazy cooks who just want to scoop their ice cream a little easier can use some of these Oxo kitchen utensils. For our editors, the common thread that’s drawn us to Oxo products isn’t some brand indoctrination or moment of collective consciousness—it’s that these products have small features that make them just that much nicer to use than similar options. Performance: We evaluated the appearance and taste of the finished ice. We looked for sharp-edged cubes and smooth spheres.

The design of your ice cube tray will determine how easy it is to use, what it can be used for, how much space it takes up in your freezer, and if it can hold more than just water. "They need to be sturdy, release easily, and preferably have a lid or something to close them with!" Allstar Ashley Berger says. That said, not all of Oxo’s products are the best option out there, so we’ve rounded up the most reliable, easy-to-use Oxo utensils that just might turn you into a chef. Odor retention: Silicone is a porous material and therefore can absorb scent that then imparts a taste or smell to the ice. We froze coffee in the ice cube trays, emptied and washed them, smelled them, and then froze water in the trays to see if the coffee taste or smell remained. (It's worth noting that all but one of the trays passed this test.) When making clear ice, you eliminate or limit those bubbles and impurities and focus the direction of freezing. "Essentially the process involves freezing the ice from a single direction versus all directions like a standard freezer," said Melton. To make clear ice at home, first purify your water by boiling it. Then, you can follow Gitter's technique of insulating an ice tray by surrounding it with dish towels and leaving the top exposed so it only freezes from the top down. We detail some other methods of making clear ice here.The construction of the Everyday Tray is unique among the ice cube trays I tested, and is one of the big reasons why this is the best ice cube tray I tested. The Everyday Tray is made of silicone and none of the cubes share a wall, so you can release them one at a time by applying pressure to the bottom. I also found that this helps the cubes release easily because there is no friction between neighboring ice cubes and the whole tray doesn't empty out at once. Most ice cube trays are made of plastic or silicone, but you'll also find metal ice cube trays on the market. Plastic trays tend to be cheaper than their rubber counterparts, but they can be harder to clean and may stain over time with use. Silicone is more expensive than plastic, but it's easier to clean and usually better for cube removal.