How to make clear ice cubes

Clear ice cubes can impress your guests with your attention to detail.

For most everyday beverages, the regular cloudy white ice cubes that come from your ice cube trays or refrigerator ice-maker are perfectly fine. However, sometimes you want a fancier looking cube, perhaps for floating in a punch bowl or in highball glasses at your next cocktail party. The slower the water freezes, the less cloudy the ice cubes will be -- but using filtered or distilled water also helps with the clarity of the ice.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Kettle
• Filtered or distilled water
• Silicone ice cube trays

1. Boil the filtered or distilled water in a kettle. Fill it so you can make as much ice as possible. You can filter your own water in ahome filtering device, such as a filter pitcher or faucet attachment, or simply purchase distilled water at your local grocery.

2. Pour the boiling water into the silicone ice cube trays. Use silicone rather than plastic trays -- silicone is a more heat-resistant material, and boiling water can melt plastic. The boiling water slows the freezing process, and this combined with the filtration process allows the ice to release any trapped air bubbles, which are the main cause of the cloudiness of regular ice.

3. Place the trays in your freezer and allow to freeze.

Tips & Warnings

• Try silicone ice cube trays in special shapes, such as geometric cubes or spheres, for really impressive ice.

• As an alternative to silicone ice trays, metal ice cube trays are also heat-resistant.

• Be careful not to splash boiling water onto your skin when you are pouring it into the trays.

References

• The Kitchn: Straight Up - How to Make the Best Ice Cubes for Summer Cocktails
• Fidgety Fingers: The Way to Make Clear Ice Cubes Is to Use Boiled Water
• EcoSalon: How to Make Perfectly Clear Ice Cubes for Cocktails
• Water Filters Blog: How Do You Make Clear Ice Cubes?

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish