BERLINZO Premium Clear Ice Ball Maker - Whiskey Ice Ball Maker Mold Large 2 Inch - Crystal Clear Ice Maker Sphere - Clear Ice Cube Maker with Storage Bag - Clear Ice Mold for Ball Ice Maker

I was really intrigued by the concept of "clear" ice. I was accustomed to standard ice cube trays - put the water in and tomorrow you've got ice. But the ice was filled at the bottom of the cube with air bubbles, and it melted fast. I started hearing about clear ice makers - no air bubbles at all, and the ice lasted much longer. I was curious if that claim was really true, and if so, how do they work? So I did some research and learned of the basic principles. Large bodies of fresh water like lakes and slower moving river in northern regions will freeze over each winter. They freeze from the surface downward, and that's the key - water freezing top - down like that forces air and impurities down as it freezes, leaving a layer of clear ice over the unfrozen water below. These home clear ice makers operate on the same principle; water is placed into an insulated container - a cooler, if you will. Silicone molds are inserted at the top of the cooler. These molds have holes placed at the top and bottom to allow for both complete filling and the free movement of water between the tank below and the molds. The molds must also be filled with water to the top. Put the device in your freezer. The freezing process begins at the top of the molds and moves downward, forcing air and impurities through the holes at the bottom into the insulated tank below. Leave the device in your freezer at least 24 hours (my 5 cubic foot freezer operates at -3° F, and it takes 28 hours for this device to freeze thoroughly). Taking the ice out of the molds reveals crystal clear ice spheres, exactly as promised. Removing the molds is a bit of a chore, but the design of this device - thick, strong handles at each end of the individual molds makes removal surprisingly easy, as long as you're patient and don't try to use too much force. The included storage bag easily holds about a dozen spheres, but with careful packing I've gotten 16 spheres in there. Some notes on what else I learned during my research: - The embedded air bubbles are the chief reason ice sitting in a liquid melt down so quickly - as the outer layer melts the warmer liquid will infiltrate into those bubbles, hastening the process. Clear ice has no embedded air, so the warmer liquid can't get to the interior sections. - It's the surface area of ice that melts. Square cubes have more surface area than spheres, so spheres will melt more slowly than square cubes. - Harvested spheres (or cubes) will crack if you take them directly from the freezer and immerse them in liquid. The ice should be 'tempered' (left to sit at room temperature) for 10 to 15 minutes before immersion. - Water quality makes a difference, particularly in the tank below the molds. Dispersed minerals and other impurities will wind up at the bottom of this ice, possibly giving it an unpleasant taste or smell. Not an issue if you plan to use this ice for chilling bottles or cans, but it could give unpleasant results if used in consumables. Water from reverse osmosis filtration or distilled water would work fine if you want to use the tank ice in consumables, as well as making for excellent molded clear ice. Of course you can simply discard the tank water, or use it (after it warms to room temperature) to water plants. I try not to waste the tank water, and my plants appreciate it. - This device produces 2.5-inch spheres; ensure your glasses will accommodate spheres this large. - The 8-sphere device is large and will take up significant space in a refrigerator freezer. The smaller units for 2 or four spheres/cubes would work better there.

I hate to drag a company with a bad review, but at this point I don't have any further recourse. This was purchased back in December 2025 as a gift for me. Started using it a month later. At first this ice maker did make amazing ice balls as advertised. However within a half dozen uses one of the outer chambers developed a leak. Because of this, the water in that chamber will leak into the ice maker housing, therefore that ice mold will completely empty and you won't get ice balls from that chamber. Unfortunately, I was past the return window, so the best I could do was to send an email (via the manufacture's website) requesting assistance. No response. So I kept using it because at least I can still make 6 ice balls. I just won't fill the leaky chamber, right? Not so fast! As of yesterday, the other outer chamber has now developed a leak. So, I have an 8-ball ice maker that can now only make 4 ice balls. Completely unsatisfactory! I've probably only used it ten times at this point. Based on this experience I can only assume the remaining two chambers will develop leaks as well so I will no longer use it. As far as how I treat the device, when I pull the ice balls I set it aside to thaw and melt naturally for 1-2 days (if there is remaining ice in the wells, it drops easily), refill, and it goes back into the freezer. Nothing I would consider out of the ordinary. This is clearly an issue with the quality or grade of plastic they are using, where the expansion and contraction is a problem. And it doesn't appear I am the only one having this problem. Here's hoping the manufacturer sees this and makes necessary design adjustments.

A device that does exactly what it is supposed to do and does it extremely well!!! I am obsessed with making the correct ice for cocktails in my home bar. Berlinzo makes the only products that work as advertised that I have been able to find. This makes perfect ice balls, crystal clear and does it quickly. The spear ice maker takes about 15 more hours of freezer time and the spears are not perfect but good, the ice balls from this device are spectacular!!!

I've been wanting to buy one of these for a while, but I'm thinking I should have started out with a 2 or 4 ball unit. The 8 ball unit is huge and will take up a lot of space in your freezer. The main issue so far has been the instructions, and two in particular. One is it says to fill each chamber to the top, which just causes a mess when you're inserting the sleeves. Better to fill to about an half an inch to an inch from the top, insert the sleeves, then slowly top up through the holes in each sleeve. The second issue is that is says that it takes 24 hours, which this unit does not. I use a chest freezer that doesn't currently have much in it and freezes well. After 24 hrs, I took out the first sleeve and only the top was just starting to freeze. After anothe 4 hours, another sleeve, and about half the ball was froze, and after another 4hrs, about 3 quarters. At 36 hours, they were what I considered acceptable, but was not perfectly spherical at the bottom, so you're looking at 36 hours minimum, 48 hours ideal, which may also completely freeze the water in the resevoir giving some imperfect, but large cubish ice cubes. Overall, happy with the product and it does produce very clear ice, even with just regular tap water.

Very bulky. Could be problem for small freezers. Works pretty well. Instructions are a bit skimpy, but hey, making ice cubes isn't rocket science. The one thing we really like is making eight ice cubes at one time. Ive used distilled water and cubes came out good. Gonna try tap water next. Will let ya know.