How 2 make ice

Ha Ha.. Well, I have been buying ice for months now for my mom because she complains that the ice from our freezer tastes bad. It didn't just start tasting bad, she started wanting more/better ice. We have an ice maker, so I tried stand alone cube trays to see if that changed anything. She swears that our ice tastes like junk and the stuff we're buying is better. I think the problem is related to the air that gets trapped in the ice and not ambient smells from foods in the freezer.

The water tastes funny after the ice I made melts.

Any suggestions?

bad tasting tap water? :shrug:

try a britta filter and then make ice from the filtered water. Worked for us.

- Use hot water to fill the trays. Hot water has less dissolved gasses in it, and the lesser amount will continue to leave the warm water in favor of the cooler enviroment of the freezer. This will help make the ice clearer and have fewer bubbles etc. that can trap bad tastes.

- Run the tap for a minute before filling the trays. Sediment or metals leached from the pipes while the water was stagnant can create a taste as well. After several seconds, the water is cleaner.

TupperWare makes ice trays with tops that seal over the tray. There is even a little door that opens to fill it up with water. They are great because they are easy to fill, they are sealed so you never get the "old ice"/absorbing odors, and since they are Tupperware, they have a lifetime guarentee!. Fill with favorite water and freeze!

Ttry filtering the water before freezing it? We use a Brita filter 'cuz my son's picky about water tasting funny (I don't taste anything wrong, but he does).

Doesn't a box of baking soda prevent odors from spreading in a fridge? Maybe it works in a freezer too?

Tupperware sells ice cube trays with lids; supposedly to prevent freezer smells from getting into the ice.

That's all I can think of right now. If the melted water tastes funny, then there might really be something in your cooler or water lines of your ice maker. :thinking:

zespectre said:

try a britta filter and then make ice from the filtered water. Worked for us.

Click to expand...

Try buying some filtered water at the market first to see if it works; might save some money.

Karl

Id wash the ice maker and get an inline filter after purging the crap that comes out of them.

Maybe get some ice trays with smaller cubes or different sizes?

I think all ice tastes the same, mom says the tray ice tastes better than ice maker cause the filter is bad, too far underhouse for dad to change it. She uses ice maker ice for the ice chest and tray ice for drinks.

I tried the ice right away, it didn't sit in the freezer. Old ice is yucky. I'll try the bottled H20 next. Our tap water is pretty good- local watershed- but who knows?

Our local water is hard hard hard. We keep the extended warranty on the water heater and get a new one courtesy of Sears about every 6 years. If you make ice from tap water, you can literally lick the ice and wonder if you're licking a salt-block.

The solution? We get distilled water from a healthfood store and make ice from that. Ice trays are $1 for 2, and the water, at 40 cents a gallon, is much cheaper, not to mention more convenient, than buying ice.

greenlight said:

Ha Ha.. Well, I have been buying ice for months now for my mom because she complains that the ice from our freezer tastes bad. It didn't just start tasting bad, she started wanting more/better ice. We have an ice maker, so I tried stand alone cube trays to see if that changed anything. She swears that our ice tastes like junk and the stuff we're buying is better. I think the problem is related to the air that gets trapped in the ice and not ambient smells from foods in the freezer.

The water tastes funny after the ice I made melts.

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Add a filter to the sink faucet that you can use to fill the ice trays. You can put Arm & Hammer in the freezer too.
Like this. http://www1.bottomdollar.com/p__Pur...izontal_Brushed_Steel_Finish_FM9100,__7753080

Like most people have, I would suggest an inline filter, of course, placed in between the source and your fridge, for your auto icemaker...but first let the icemaker make a few trays of ice before actually using it, so that the junk from the filter (carbon mainly) clears out, along with any impurities in the water.

Some refrigerators have built-in filters. Yours might have one, and if it does, it's probably in need of a change. Check the owners manual, if you still have it, or call an appliance repair store to ask if your refrigerator has a built-in filter. They usually would know.

try something like this
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=56367-43568-WHCF-IMTOS&lpage=none

Changing the filter is a good idea. The ice maker has a hot water inline, so are there issues concerning a filter? I sort of assumed that the h2o had cooled by the time it made its way to the freezer. \

Next q: Is there a simple inline filter I can buy to filter the water? I know there are lots of options- I'm not interested in experimenting with all the different types.

I guess it's time to start looking for water filters at the next garage sale.

Good, cheap way to find out if the water is picking up tastes from the freezer or the trays vs. if the water is the suspect, is to use distilled water. Bottled spring water might have a flavor of its own, but distilled water is just water. Of course, the plastic bottle might flavor the water, but that's going some if the water is fresh. Try to eliminate any potential suspects before spending real money.

Fresh ice from filtered water, in clean trays, in a clean freezer, that has all other foods covered or well wrapped usually does the trick, but you have to do all of this to be sure.

If you still have a fussy person in the house, you might consider a few drops of flavoring in the ice, even just a few drops of lemon juice.

Of course, if the ice still tastes a little off, you could try purifying it with a little bit of good bourbon.

use distilled water

Click to expand...

You certainly wont like the flavor of ice made from distilled water, but you could use that as a way to eliminate the possibility that it's picking up flavors from inside the fridge. It's the minerals and dissolved air in water that makes it taste fresh. Freezing removes a lot of that and can bring out any otherwise background funkyness in the water, or in the air that is still dissolved in it. But distilling removes all of it and it tastes yucky.

What kind of piping was used to connect up your ice maker? That can be a culprit too. Friend got a new faucet and the plumber used some rubber lined stainless steal mesh hose and it was horrible. They said to just run it for half an hour to get rid of the rubber taste, but even after running it for a lot longer than that over several weeks his water still tasted like burned tires.

I really just think that a defrosting and a good cleaning of your freezer and fridge and especially the ice maker parts will yield a significant improvement.

Are you sure it's the ice that tastes bad?

Consumer Reports has said that many models of refridgerators pull air from the fridge into the freezer portion, meaning that food smells end up in your ice.

Some newer models prevent this, but buying a new fridge for better tasting ice is probably a bit more expensive than making bagged ice runs....

You could also try a box of baking soda in the freezer section to help neutralize stray odors if there are any keeping them from sneaking into the ice cubes over time.