I fully expect to receive some negative comments after posting this, but let me explain myself. I was visiting and elderly lady recently, and she wasn’t feeling well. Wanting to make her feel better, I asked if there was anything I could get for her. She said that she would love to have some ice, but they didn’t have any. I was certain that her illness had caused some confusion, so I walked into the other room and asked her adult grand daughter who shared the apartment if they had any ice.

Her negative response was so definitive that I asked what she meant. She told me that they didn’t have any ice because there was no room in the freezer for the ice. I must have looked confused because she beckoned me into the kitchen to show me their small freezer over the refrigerator. As she opened the door, I was expecting to see every nook and cranny packed with food, but there were open spaces where a stack of ice cube trays could easily fit.

“What do you mean when you say ‘There’s no room for ice’? I asked.

Sighing loudly, evidently annoyed with my stupidity, she replied. “You have to buy ice in those big bags. The smallest size they have is 7 pounds. There’s not enough room for it to fit in the fridge.”

I stared at her incredulous for some time before I asked if she had any ice cube trays. She stared back with a blank expression.

I called her mother. There were, in fact, ice cube trays in one of the cabinets. The young woman had never seen them. She didn’t know what they were for. I gave her a lesson. I taught her how to make ice. She honestly didn’t know how to make ice at home.  She thought you had to buy it in bags from the store. 

Here are the instructions just in case there’s anyone else out there who’s never made ice before.

You will need ice cube trays. They come with most refrigerators/freezer combinations. If you don’t have them, you can buy some at your local grocery store or discount store or even the dollar store. They can look like this, but in the store, they won’t have any ice in them.  They will be empty.

Sometimes they look like this.

There are even some that have different shapes.  It doesn’t really matter what shape they are. Pick one that you can afford and that you like.

Usually, they come in sets of two, but I have seen them sold in sets of 4.

When you get them home, you will need to wash them with soap and hot water to remove any residue that might be on them from the manufacturing process.

After you have washed and rinsed the ice cube trays, fill them ¾ of the way full of water.  The water expands as it freezes, so you don’t want to over fill the trays.

Arrange the filled ice cube trays on the shelf of the freezer making sure that they are level.

Leave them in the freezer for 2-3 hours.  At this point, you should have a tray of ice. 

After they have frozen, you will need to twist the trays over a large bowl to get the ice to loosen enough to be removed from the trays.

Some people, myself included, have buckets, or bins,  in their freezer that they dump the frozen ice cubes into in order to have enough on hand for multiple cold beverages. It all depends on your needs. 

I hope that helps. To those who would criticize me for posting instructions for making ice, consider that not everyone has the same upbringing or background. The young woman who I taught to make ice was very impressed by my knowledge.

If this blog post helps one person learn that they can make ice at home, I will not have blogged in vain.   As always, thanks for visiting Patty Cake’s Pantry.