Distilling Honey Into Vodka: An Interview with Caledonia Spirits Owner/Distiller Ryan Christiansen
Ice Tools Recommended by Camper English of Alcademics

Testing Out The Ghost Ice Clear Ice Tray Insert

Tony Gonzales is a bartender and fellow ice nerd who had clear ice cube trays made. The brand is called Ghost Ice

Well, not really trays, they're inserts that fit into insulated coolers to take advantage of the directional freezing. If you're familiar with the method of poking holes in the bottom of silicone ice cube trays and placing them on the bottom of the cooler, it's the same thing except these trays rest on the top. 

This is a better system because you can adjust the size of the cubes you make in it. You place the tray on top of your cooler and fill it with water. Fill it so that the ice cubes are only two inches high, or all the way up to three. 

 

IMG_9343
IMG_9343

 

Gonzalez originally built the trays to fit the Coleman Party Stacker cooler - a longer cooler meant for holding a lot of beer cans. Some bars have been using this cooler in their bars (if they have walk-in freezers) to make ice via directional freezing and cutting it up with a band saw like pro ice companies do. With the Ghost Ice trays, the insert makes 48 big cubes in about 48 hours. 

However, due to popular demand, Gonzalez cut some trays down for the Ghost Ice For Home model so that they fit into the Igloo Island Breeze that everyone (me first in 2009) uses to make ice blocks at home. These make 20 cubes in about 2 days. 

He sent me a tray to try. I put it in my freezer which at its highest setting is about -9C/15F. I let it freeze for 48 hours and it was just right - the ice had frozen in the trays and just barely underneath the tray. It made a groovy pattern in the ice below it when I pulled out the tray. 

 

IMG_9372
IMG_9372
IMG_9372

 

The ice popped out super easily, better than any other tray I've tried. I should also mention that the silicone these trays is made from is super thick and seems like it will last years. 

The thing is that if you use this size cooler to make ice anyway, this insert actually maximizes your ice harvest compared with freezing a block of ice and cutting it up yourself. These trays go down pretty far into the cooler so that you're not wasting a lot of clear ice beneath them, plus when you carve up an ice block you lose a lot of the ice to chips and shards. With the Ghost Ice insert you can use every bit of the ice that comes out of this tray. I wasn't expecting that; a nice bonus. 

IMG_9391
IMG_9391

 

Oh and just because I know a lot of y'all are perfectionists and may not like the slightly 'pointed' tips on these cubes, I wanted to let you know you can always flatten ice even. I used a thaw plate (remember the Thaw Master from 80s TV commercials anyone?), but you can use a cookie sheet or any conductive metal. 

 

IMG_9410
IMG_9410

The price on these is quite steep - $300 for the large size and $150 for the small, but this is a one-person company and a custom-made product. For a bar with a walk-in freezer or other large freezer space, and a relatively small volume for cocktails to serve each night, it's a great deal over a short time - if you're paying .50 a cube for two-inch cubes from a specialty ice provider (which is low), that's only 12.5 times (25 days) you have to make ice cubes in the Ghost Tray system (plus the cost of the coolers which is low) to make your money back. 

As a home ice nerd like me, well let's not pretend the small model isn't a big splurge. The cubes are awesome though. 

Check out the videos on the Ghost Ice website and Instagram page for more info and demos.  

 

IMG_9410

 

The index of all the clear ice experiments on Alcademics is here

 

Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Melissa

The ice looks really nice and clean cut. I was also thinking about the edges that they would end up rough which would be less appealing. The ice looked like clear gems. Nice!

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment

Your Information

(Name and email address are required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)