Wintersmiths Ice Baller Double - Crystal-Clear Ice Ball Mold

I bought this October 2022 so lots of time to use it before posting this review. I read reviews indicating the plastic holder will crack if you leave it in the freezer longer than 24 hours. I personally don't believe this is true. What likely cracks the container is running water over it to melt the ice inside. I don't do this at all. I leave the container in my sink until the ice comes out as one complete block without running any water at all. It takes quite a long time to get the ice to melt enough for this to occur but worth it to prevent the plastic from cracking due to running water, especially warm or hot, water over the container. Warm or hot water will shock the plastic likely causing it to crack. I've left my container in the freezer longer than 24 hours with no issues but still try and get it out around this amount of time. Depending on how well your freezer performs will dictate how long it takes to completely freeze the ice balls. So better the freezer at maintaining 0 degrees or colder the better. Bottom line, it is expensive for what it does but definitely worth having a nice round ice ball for drinks. I've had comments on it so definitely a conversation piece.

This thing works IMMACULATELY. I was looking at buying a separate freezer to put a cooler into it so I could make clear ice but of course that was prohibitively expensive. This thing works like a mini-cooler that fits easily into a normal freezer. It has a separate space below the sphere molds for the bubbles to move to as the ice freezes so it actually does produce almost perfectly clear ice spheres. (watch a video on youtube to see how/why clear ice is made if that doesn't make sense)Make sure you wash it between each freeze though because sometimes stuff on the mold will leave little imperfections on the ice when you first pull it out.Only downside I see is that if you leave it in the freezer too long the entirety of the water freezes, so after popping the balls out, you've gotta run hot water over the icey bottom chunk to get it out to then refill it for the next freeze. Otherwise it can take a couple days to just melt sitting on a counter. but it's only a mild inconvenience.But general summary: this thing is amazing, I'll be getting another one so I can always have plenty of ice for my adult beverages from Scotland.

This has got to be the absolute best ice ball maker, for the price, on the market!I had PERFECT results the 1st time! All you need to do is FOLLOW the directions!1. Wash all the parts in warm soapy water before use2. Using hot tap water, fill the reservoir to the fill mark3. Ensure your freezer is at LEAST ZERO degrees F!!!4. Place the entire assembly in the freezer for 24 hours! Exceeding 30 hours will CRACK the plastic liner5. After 24 hours, remove from freezer and pull up on the tabs, one at a time, to remove the ice balls6. If not completely frozen, the ice balls and not the remaining water at the bottom of the reservoir, place back in fridge for a couple of hours7. once removed from the mold, store ice balls in a zip-lock bag in your freezer8. using warm water, melt the ice which remains in the reservoir and star all over to make more ice ballsThe ice will come out perfect! You can use bottled water, however, ensure you WARM up the water before use. Do NOT boil the water, heat only to the same temperature of your tap water, use a thermometer if necessary!You can spend more money and of course you can spend less, however, this product is the best value for outstanding results EVERY TIME!

I'm upset that I didn't buy these sooner. I spent money on the various "clear" ice ball molds on Amazon that were rated #1-10. Every single mold that I purchased had cracks, air, and would melt fast. The Wintersmith's Ice Baller is the real deal. It does cost a lot, and I'm sure that's why most people go to the junk that claims to make clear ice, which it doesn't. With the cheaper molds, I tried distilled water, boiled tap water, tap water, boiled distilled water, bottled spring water, and messed with the temperatures a few different ways and they always resulted in cloudy ice balls. You can use tap water with the Wintersmiths and it still comes out crystal clear. They're awesome and worth the $$$!!

I tried to make my own but after much work and experimentation I bought this rig. Wow I'm so glad I did. This just flat works, don't leave in freezer longer then 24 hours as you want a bit of unfrozen water in the bottom reservoir when the balls are frozen. This prevents the water from freezing solid and risking damage due to cracking. You will only make 2 balls in 24 hours just harvest at happy hour and enjoy 2 perfectly clear iceballs that disappear in your drink. Reset and harvest 2 the next day.Tip, place the ball in the glass and let sit for 3-5 minutes to temper the ice, this will prevent cracking when you pour liquid on the ice ball.Enjoy.

This was bought as a gift and the reciever of the gift loves it. The spheres are perfectly clear and melt slowly for a Texan!! One needs strength and patience and maybe another pair of hands to get the ice out of the mold. The storage pouch is nice and the mold doesn't take up alot of freezer space!!

If you boil water first it seems to work better.

Absolutely Love It! Follow the instructions and they come out like "glass". No real difference between tap or filtered water provided the water is WARM when you fill up the unit. Also make sure you let the ice balls "rest" a bit before pouring your favorite liquid into it to prevent cracking.I tried a number of others molds and none of them came close to matching the clarity and consistency of the Wintersmiths Ice Baller system. Do yourself a favor: buy this and be done so you can spend time drinking instead of fiddling with other ice molds.