Ice Ball Molds by Artic Chil (2" Spheres with Collapsible Funnel, Blue)

These are a lot of fun. The first time I filled them, I must have been too cautious, because I ended up with a half globe. But if you are slow and patient : seal the two halves and s l o w l y fill it through the hole. Then be careful setting it in the freezer! Fortunately, the bottom half is heavier and flat bottomed to avoid tipping. When they are nice and frozen, good luck getting them apart!! Again, fortunately, you should only have a bit of bother freeing your ice sphere the first or maybe second time you use the molds. Don't think you need to run it under water. All you need to do is gently work your way around slightly prying the two halves apart. Now that I've used them countless times, I can pop them apart easily. I think it's likely more improvement in technique on my part than increased flexibility in the mold. The mold is really thick, especially the bottom half.Now the ice...it really is very cool looking. One ball in a highball glass is plenty of ice to cool off a cocktail without watering it down. I have to admit I use large cube molds (Tavolo? 6 cube silicone mold) that might just last a tad longer.But nothing beats the visual of a single huge ice sphere in your glass!I look forward to experimenting with these: lemonade for a vodka ? coffee for chocolate milk? lemon for iced tea? I'd love to hear more ideas, and will report back as I come up with successes.These are cool ice molds. Lot's of wow!

Excellent; nice big fat balls of ice for drinks; don't melt into nothing when your pour something other them, and they last a long time.It's absolutely not an issue for me, but the producing company e-mailed me with the advice of leaving 1/3" a gap between the water and the top for optimum affect; while nice, the instructions that the trays came packaged with said 1/5". I'm not exactly sure how you're supposed to measure this at all, never mind through a tiny hole, but at any rate, leaving the smallest amount of water out never helps; I end up with a ball with a big crater in it.The other option is filling them to the top, which works but leaves a big round pokey nipple on the top. I've personally come to enjoy this nipple, and instead of ice balls, they're ice tits, and I have the humourous joking-anecdote of telling people these ice "cubes" were modeled on Marie Antoinette's breasts.I do occasionally get Jupiter's rings on these as well, but it's a non-issue as it sticks out about 1/4 of a millimetre.They're perfect for what they are meant to do which is keep drinks cold and stay in your glass long enough for refills.

There are both pros and cons to these ice ball makers. I purchased another set of ice ball makers on amazon previously (I would rate those 5 *), these are a step down (although I do like the blue color, it creates an issue). These do perform as expected and make ice balls which are great for mixed drinks.Pros:Very durable, guaranteed, do what they are supposed to (they do make ice balls)Cons:The blue is not see through at all so it is impossible to tell how much water is in the ice ball. This is important because water expands as it freezes. The other whitish ice ball makers I bought on amazon, you can see how full they are, not so with these. My first use of these, they literally burst in the freezer. However, the molds were fine and the ice ball looked ok, it was annoying more than anything.In summary, ice balls are great, these are ok, but I prefer the whitish ones also sold on amazon for a similar price.

I received these trays for free (except the unavoidable state sales tax) to review. Pro: ice spheres are a unique shape with enough mass to resist melting. Silicone trays are easier to empty than my current standard plastic trays, plus they are much easier to fit into my space-challenged freezer. I don't use a lot of ice, so often the cubes in my regular trays become smaller over time and tend to pick up odors. I haven't used the sphere trays long enough to be sure, but I suspect they will keep ice longer and in better condition over time.Con: the black silicone makes filling the trays to the correct level a skill that I expect to master with repetition. My first attempt left one tray under-filled and one tray over-filled. Not a big deal in either case. I mean, they're ice for drinks! Perhaps if the top halves of the trays were clear or even translucent, they would be easier to use. The holes for filling are small ( presumably to get a more spherical ice ball), but they make filling the trays more difficult and a lipped measuring cup is helpful here.Overall, I look forward to using these trays for when needed for drinks. They fit nicely atop my flat plastic trays, which I will keep for when needed for injuries. While I wouldn't have thought to purchase them without the promotion, I find they are well-manufactured and I am glad to have them.

I've used these twice now. Once with boiled water, once with just tap water. The first time they were easy to get out and perfectly clear (save for some inner cracks, but that made it look awesome!). They last for a good long time in water and make it wonderfully ice cold. Only one of the 4 made was hard to get out of the mold, I did experience some nippling on the first 2 because I overfilled them (they came right off before taking them out of the mold), and the "rings" were very thin and came right off before use.The only con I see is the fact that because they are so large and frozen, they shatter very easy. So I would suggest not using these to shake in glass as they are likely to shatter into many pieces.