The Ultimate Guide to Ice Cube Trays: Materials, Shapes and Uses

Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you purchase through them, at no extra cost to you.

What is the best ice cube tray?

The best ice cube tray for most homes is a flexible silicone tray with a lid, because it releases cubes easily, resists cracking and keeps ice from absorbing freezer smells. The right choice, however, depends on what you are freezing: silicone suits everyday and novelty shapes, rigid plastic is cheap and stacks well, and stainless steel lasts for years but needs a little patience when it comes to releasing cubes.

Shape matters just as much as material. According to Küb’s ice mold buying guide, shape is the most important variable because it determines melt rate, which determines how quickly a drink becomes diluted (Küb, kubcraft.com). A large sphere melts far more slowly than a tray of mini cubes, so the tray you buy should match the drinks and recipes you actually make.

Key takeaways

• Silicone trays are the easiest to use day to day: cubes pop out cleanly and they handle both ice and food like broth or purées.
• Shape controls dilution. Spheres melt slowest, large cubes are close behind, standard cubes are the all-rounder and mini cubes chill fastest (Küb).
• Lids and covers protect ice from absorbing odours in the freezer, a problem any tray without a cover can develop.
• Ice trays are not just for water: use them for stock, sauces, herbs in oil, coffee and baby food to cut waste.
• Stackable or lidded designs make the most of a crowded UK freezer drawer.

Which ice cube tray material should you choose?

Materials fall into three main camps, and each has a distinct personality. There is no single “best” for everyone, so think about how often you freeze ice, what you freeze and how much freezer space you have.

Silicone

Food-grade silicone is flexible, so a gentle push or twist releases cubes whole, which is why many silicone trays are designed for standard cubes as well as novelty shapes (Küb). Silicone also tolerates hot liquids far better than rigid plastic, which makes it the natural choice for broth cubes, fat and sauce freezing. The trade-offs: soft trays can warp or spill when full unless they have a rigid frame or lid, and silicone can pick up faint odours if you never wash the lids or covers.

Plastic

Rigid plastic trays, the classic style, are inexpensive and often lighter and stackable, which matters in a packed freezer. They chill quickly because there is less insulating material between the ice and the freezer air. The downsides are well known: cubes can be stubborn to remove, and thin plastic becomes brittle and cracks over years of freezing and twisting. If you go plastic, look for thicker construction and avoid twisting the tray dry, which is what actually cracks the corners.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel trays are the durability pick. They will not crack, stain or absorb smells, and many can go in the dishwasher. The catch is release: metal has no flex, so you need to run the base under cool water for a few seconds, or let the tray sit out for a minute, before the cubes will budge. For a household that freezes one or two trays a week and wants them to last for a decade, steel is a sensible investment. For heavy daily use or novelty shapes, silicone remains more convenient.

What shapes and sizes of ice cube trays are there?

Küb’s guide breaks the market down neatly by shape, and the logic holds up for any brand (Küb, kubcraft.com):

• Spheres: the slowest-melting format. Best for whiskey, bourbon and any drink you will sip over 30 minutes or more.
• Large cubes: melt slightly faster than a sphere but sit flat and look intentional in a rocks glass. Ideal for Old Fashioneds and stirred cocktails.
• Standard cubes: the all-purpose workhorse. They chill a highball quickly and will not water down a mixed drink prematurely.
• Mini cubes: fast melt but a very high chill rate, which makes them the choice for shaken cocktails where dilution happens at the shaker, not the glass.
• Novelty shapes: fun middle ground between mini cubes and spheres, great for parties and gifting. Think skulls, bears, cats and tropical shapes.

A quick rule of thumb: the bigger the ice, the slower it melts and the less it dilutes your drink. If you mostly drink long mixed drinks or iced coffee, standard cubes are perfect. If you sip spirits neat or over a long evening, buy a large-cube or sphere tray and thank yourself later.

What about capacity and cube count?

Trays range from dainty six-cavity large-cube moulds to trays with well over a hundred mini cavities. More cavities means fewer refills, but also a bulkier, harder-to-slot-in tray. If your freezer is a narrow drawer rather than a shelf, measure before you buy, and consider a stackable design so two trays can share the footprint of one.

Do ice cube trays really need lids?

In a word, yes, if you can get one. Uncovered ice can pick up freezer odours from whatever else is in there, from frozen fish to leftover curry. A lidded tray keeps cubes tasting of nothing but water. Lids also solve two other everyday annoyances: they stop water sloshing across the freezer as you carry the tray over, and they let you stack trays or other items on top without freezing the lot together.

If a tray you love does not come with a lid, freeze the cubes, pop them into a sealed freezer bag and use the tray again. You lose a little convenience but keep the freshness.

Beyond ice: clever uses for every tray in the drawer

The humble ice tray is one of the most versatile tools in a British kitchen, and it earns its keep long after the gin is poured. Here are the uses that genuinely save time and cut waste:

• Stock, broth and sauces: freeze leftover stock, passata, gravy or pesto in cubes, then drop frozen portions straight into pan. Our guide to freezing broth and sauce cubes in ice trays covers the method step by step, including how much a typical cube holds.
• Herbs in oil or butter: chop soft herbs, cover with olive oil or melted butter and freeze. One cube is a ready-made flavour base for frying.
• Coffee and tea cubes: freeze leftover brewed coffee so iced coffee stays strong instead of going watery.
• Citrus and wine: freeze lemon or lime juice in cubes for cocktails, or splash of leftover wine for cooking.
• Baby food and smoothie portions: purées freeze perfectly in silicone trays, and a lid keeps everything fresh.

For this kind of cooking use, silicone is the clear material winner: it flexes to release frozen sauces and handles warm liquids without drama. Keep one tray dedicated to food and one to ice, and label the lids so nobody mistakes a fish-stock cube for a gin and tonic.

What makes ice cubes cloudy, and does the tray matter?

Cloudy ice comes from dissolved air and minerals being pushed to the centre as water freezes from the outside in. The tray is not really to blame, but you can improve clarity with water and technique. Use filtered or boiled-then-cooled water to reduce dissolved gases, and freeze slowly if your freezer has an adjustable setting. Directional freezing, where water freezes from one direction so impurities are pushed ahead of the ice front, is the technique behind the crystal-clear blocks you see in cocktail bars, and while home setups rarely match that perfectly, filtered water and a slow freeze get you noticeably clearer cubes.

Also worth knowing: cubes made in silicone trays sometimes carry a faint “rubbery” aroma when new. Wash new silicone trays thoroughly with hot soapy water, or run them through a dishwasher cycle, before the first batch.

How do you get ice cubes out without a struggle?

Stuck cubes are the number one complaint about ice trays, and the fix is usually simple. For rigid plastic or stainless steel, run the bottom of the tray under cool tap water for a few seconds; the outer layer of each cube melts just enough to release. Avoid twisting metal trays aggressively, which can bend them out of shape. With silicone, push up from underneath each cavity rather than twisting the whole tray, and the cubes will pop out whole.

If release is a constant battle, it may be time for an upgrade. Flexible silicone with individual cavities, or trays designed around easy removal, make a genuine difference; it is worth looking for trays marketed around easy removal, such as flexible silicone designs with individual cavities.

Are novelty ice cube trays worth buying?

For the right person, absolutely. Skull, bear, cat and other shaped moulds are a cheap way to make a home bar feel special, and they make excellent stocking fillers. Küb notes that novelty shapes melt more slowly than small cubes but faster than spheres, so they work best in drinks you will finish in a reasonable amount of time rather than long nursing sessions (Küb). Because the details of a shaped mould need good release, flexible silicone tends to be the practical choice here; rigid plastic can make intricate shapes trickier to pop out intact. If skulls are your thing, our roundup of the best skull ice trays compares the options on the market.

One practical note: novelty moulds have smaller, more intricate cavities, so fill them on a level surface and carry them to the freezer on a baking tray to avoid spills.

Which tray should you actually buy?

Here is a simple decision path based on everything above:

1. Cocktail and spirits drinker? A large-cube or sphere tray in silicone, with a lid.
2. Everyday water, soft drinks and iced coffee? A standard silicone tray with 12 to 16 cavities and a cover.
3. Shaken cocktails and parties? A mini-cube tray; hundreds of small cubes chill fast and fill a bucket quickly.
4. Cook who freezes stock and sauces? A dedicated food-grade silicone tray with a lid, kept separate from your ice tray.
5. Tiny freezer drawer? Stackable or slimline trays, which let two trays occupy the space of one (retailers such as Wowcher list stackable designs for exactly this reason).
6. Buy it once? Stainless steel, with the caveat that you will run each tray under water before de-moulding.

Whatever you choose, skip the flimsy unbranded trays that crack after a season: a good tray costs little more and lasts years. Start with one versatile lidded silicone tray, learn what you actually use ice for, and build your collection from there, one sphere mould or skull tray at a time.

FAQ

How long do ice cubes take to freeze?

Standard cubes generally need a few hours in a typical home freezer to freeze solid, with factors like tray placement and freezer temperature affecting the exact time. Large cubes and spheres take noticeably more time to freeze because of the extra volume, so many people leave them overnight.

Can you put hot liquids in an ice cube tray?

Yes in silicone, with caution in everything else. Silicone handles hot liquids comfortably. Rigid plastic can warp with very hot liquids and stainless steel transfers heat that can affect nearby frozen food, so let hot stock or sauces cool for a few minutes first regardless of tray material.

How do you get rid of a plastic smell from ice cubes?

Wash the tray in hot soapy water, or run it through the dishwasher, then freeze and discard one batch of cubes before using ice for drinks. Store ice in a lidded container or bag afterwards, because most off-tastes come from the freezer air, not the tray itself.

Do ice cube trays go in the dishwasher?

Most silicone and many modern plastic trays are dishwasher safe, always confirm on the product listing. Stainless steel trays are generally fine too. Very cheap plastic trays are best hand-washed, as dishwasher heat can accelerate the brittleness that makes them crack.

How many times can you use an ice cube tray before replacing it?

There is no fixed limit. Replace a tray when plastic becomes brittle or cracked, when silicone permanently holds odours or stains, or when a metal tray warps out of shape. A well-made tray used weekly should last for many years.

Sources

• Küb, Best Ice Mold Guide: How to Choose the Right Ice Cube Trays (kubcraft.com)
• Wowcher, kitchen and homeware listings including stackable trays (wowcher.co.uk)
• Fridge.com, Types of Ice Cube Trays expert guide (fridge.com)