What Can I Use Instead of Ice Cube Trays?

Author : Efrain Silva

If you want to get some ice cubes made, but don’t have a tray, and you need them now, there are several options that exist in this case, my friend. Let us look at a few of them. Shall we?

First of all, you may not have known — as I didn’t, in my case — that your refrigerator, in many models, can actually make ice, even if it’s an older one. What’s best is — get this — it drops this ice into a small container underneath, which you can often use to house the ice cubes and even pull out from the fridge and use anywhere. The ice maker is located inside the freezer, and there’s a small white switch you need to crank down to get the automatic ice machine rolling…it’s really that simple.

Once you want to stop making ice, just turn the switch back up, and it’ll stop on its own. In newer and more fancy fridges, there’s also a small “ice option button” which cranks out your choice of either cubes or chunks, individually, and you can then put a container underneath to catch them in, one by one (I like using small plastic chicken buckets, medium - sized soup bowls or whatever I can find of decent size).

It’s really up to your urgent need, and your imagination, in a sense. You can use any type of container, preferably even one that’s got its own lid. Just try to avoid sensitive material containers, such as used large Chobani yogurt containers, which are made of very soft plastic and can not only get damaged when all the ice cubes drop in (but it can also damage the cubes, as the plastic will wear off and get into them, affecting their toxicity for consumption).

In another sense entirely, many have opted for using — you guessed it — those glorious Ziploc bags! How do these work? Well, it’s more than likely you’ve got a ton of them sitting around at home, in the kitchen area. ALL you need to do is put cool water in them and send them to the freezer for many good hours, preferably an entire day. The more water you put in each bag will determine the more cubes, or larger the cubes, you might have.

As another option altogether, silicone molds work quite well, many have stated. They can be easily shaped or molded into whatever you want to make, including an ice cube tray. They’re highly flexible, and the silicone they are made with is a good, durable, protective material for the cubes.

Did you know you could also even go with egg cartons? It’s true. Save your used egg cartons and put aluminum foil right on its bottom half. The rounded dimples of the egg should fit right in. This is a last - case alternative, though, not the first option you should consider.

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