Half Moon Ice Cubes

[a440]

John,

 

What vintage are these GE / Hotpoint / JC Penny Automatic ROUND Ice Cube makers in these pictures?  I guess they quit making this design because they weren't reliable.  I was wondering how large were the cubes?

 

From the pictures the tray actually looks cast iron! I am sure it is some type of plastic though? I had a "Magic Chef" branded fridge in the 1990's that had round ice cubes.  It never gave me any trouble at all.  I am wondering if it was this ice maker?

 

I have actually seen these as New Old Stock on Ebay from time to time. 

 

 

 

[combo52]

GE IMs

Hi Brent, GE built this style IM from approximately 1968-1986, they were dropped because of cost to build and reliably issues, the dark gray mold is cast aluminum.

 

I never saw a MC ref that made round ice especially in the 90s these GE IMs were long gone by then, Most MCs [ really Adrimal ] had a flex tray IM, these did have a rounded cube on the bottom and square on the top.

 

[ovrphil]

Twintubdexter - I've never seen Sparkletts Ice, so I'll look around. That's because, while I have made clear ice by boiling water, I'd like to buy a bag of clear ice and store in the now working Arctica GE SxS that went "on vacation" and stopped working. UPDATE - I called Sparkletts, on the phone waiting 15 minutes for customer service, to be told, "we only sell it in Arizona and ? some other place". So for anyone who might want to buy Sparkletts, you better live in Arizona or the other state. I can deal with it, but if they were available here….

Hi John L - I just wanted to add that our GE ice maker forms are OUTSTANDING. No effort is required. Often, just turning them upside down will release a few of them and then a slight, effortless twist on the container and they'll all release. Do you know which years of GE had these hard yellow-gold ice maker forms? I've tried the silicon ice cube makers, but the GE's work more easily.

I make ice manually since the new apartment refrigerator(build 5-14)(Kenmore 253.78899016 with an AD-18 factory installed ice maker) makes small, half moon finger-shaped ice that, well, I don't like. They're too small and often the cloudiest pieces of frozen H2O created, not to mention the Fulton county water is euuuuuwwww. (5th photo)

That's interesting about the aiplanes and water sources. Maybe a light beer is healthier afterall.

Square glasses - lol! Maybe Google glasses has an option? ;-)
[this post was last edited: 7/24/2015-10:52]

 

[cuffs054]

We went through 4 of the GE round cubers in our first SxS. As it wore the bar that pushed the cubes out of the mold would rise just a tiny bit too much and either jamb completely or hold the sweeper arm until it built a little force and then throw the cubes across the freezer. I loved it, Dad not so much.[this post was last edited: 7/24/2015-14:07]

 

[a440]

Thanks John.  I really did like the MC's Ice!

 

How large were the Ice Rounds that came out of the GE IM?

Would love to watch one of these in action.

 

 

 

[twintubdexter]

Phil,

I think a lot of bottled water companies tend to be regional. Sparkletts is fairly popular here in Southern California. I think the same company is known as Alhambra Water in Northern California. I assume they make ice too. Most markets here don't have Sparkletts ice but oddly enough Walgreen's has it. I'm sure most commercially available clear ice is equally as good. Sparkletts is just filtered water, not from some exotic spring at the top of Mt. Everest. 

 

[ovrphil]

Sparkletts

Hi Joe - geeze, not even spring water? You're right. I have found some water in my home state of Michigan that is distributed no further than Kentucky. I like the idea, buying the bag of clear ice for occasional uses. Thanks

 

[ovrphil]

Sparkletts

Hi Joe - geeze, not even spring water? You're right. I have found some water in my home state of Michigan that is distributed no further than Kentucky. I like the idea, buying the bag of clear ice for occasional uses. Thanks

 

[jamiel]

GE made those forms/trays while they had the little 'ice service' compartment in the 60s-early 80s. My grandmothers both had them..very easy to dump...there was a little slot for the tray handle and a small molding as a fulcrum.

 

[alr2903]

Brent Thank You, for posting about the Luma icemake. Walmart online has a couple of brands (old American names like Magic Chef) no doubt rebranded imports. I was considering one. We are have had the same experience as posted by others with stale ice from the refrigerator ice maker. We do not have one now, we had one in our previous house. People that use lots of ice definitely need one and it works well if it is consistently used.

 

[yogitunes]

was at a bar where our drinks were served with ball cubes.....really unique, and last a long time without watering down your beverage...

heres a quick, DIY for home use.....but this is manual labor, these may last longer, but I go through too much ice for it to be practical.....

would be neat for a party though....can be found at Walmart

Robot or human?

 

[sudsmaster]

My 70's era GE sxs made little barrel shaped cubes that were just fine. I recall having to replace the water valve at some point, but the ice maker didn't seem to have any issues. However, around 2000 I decided the GE was using way too much electricity (about 1700 kWH/yr) than its replacement (KA sxs at 650 kWH/yr) and out went the GE.

 

The KA makes the ice crescents, and yes, I preferred the barrel shaped cubes.

 

The best ice cube trays I ever encountered were in a hotel room in Japan in the 1990's. They were little bottles with one side having dimples for making ice. Once the water was frozen, there was enough room in the bottle to shake the cubes loose. The cap on the bottle kept the ice from absorbing off-odors or doing the partial remelt/refreeze frost thingie. I have been unable to locate anything like it in the USA, which is too bad. It's a great design.

 

 

[iceguy]

old GE round icecube makers

I remember the round ice from our GE fridge in the 70's.

I worked at GE Appliances, those GE round barrel shaped ice cube makers were not used in production since about 1985 but replacement icemakers were sold until about 2000 as service parts.
I was told they were very popular.

I currently work at FirstBuild innovating appliances. We just put one of the old round cube GE icemakers in a new fridge to see how it works.

It worked like a charm.

Its the good ice! Maybe we should make these again.

 

[rp2813]

If that GE cube design made a comeback across the various brands, it would be a must-have for me on my next refrigerator purchase.   We've all put up with those ridiculous crescents for far too long.

 

[rpms]

When I worked at Sears a man bought a fridge,picked it up and took it home and installed it.
Two days later he brought it back and said his wife did not like the shape the ice cubes were in.
Everyone at the store thought that lady had way too much time on her hands. Wait a few minutes and the cubes will change shape anyway.

 

[dermacie]

I have to say in my lifetime which is nearly 4 decades now I have never had ice from an ice maker not in a crescent shape. I have always lived in a home with an ice maker and I don't think I could live without one now.

 

[circlew]

I've never had one that made round ice, as we never installed an ice maker in the '77 Hotpoint refrigerator. My Amana make the standard shape.

My cousins in TN had a GE that made these round cubes, and I always liked them.

 

[perc-o-prince]

My former boss (I have his job and he's elsewhere in the company) told me of ice cube molds he has that are sold specifically for whiskey. They're large spheres so thy melt slowly and have pretty good impact without dilution. I'll try to get the name from him.

Chuck

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

+ Ice Service!

My first and only Round Cube-Ice Cube Experience was from the Ice Chute of a good Custom Crafted Hotpoint Harvest Gold Side by Side!

-- Dave

 

[rp2813]

Giant Spheres

There may be a few brand names for those big spheres, which I think are a variation on the giant cube suggested for a Vieux Carre cocktail (see picture).  I find the mold difficult to fill, as you can't see what you're doing.  The type I have is a "Tovolo Clear Ice System" and makes two spheres (see further below).  The one on the top comes out partially clouded; the bottom one crystal clear.   It was a gift.   I've used it a grand total of one time.   I also have a rubbery tray that makes four large cubes.  It was also a gift, from the same person.  I've used that once or twice.

 

My barber and I talk booze and cars all the time.  He freezes spheres in the mold, then extracts them, puts them in a plastic bag and repeats the process so he'll have more than two available at any given time.  Still too much work for me, particularly since our fridge has an automatic ice maker.  Besides, when I mix myself a drink it rarely lasts so long as to become seriously diluted.