Best Portable Ice Makers

Are you going on a vacation that’s going to involve a lot of activity in the hot summer sun and you know you’re going to need a lot of bags of ice to keep your drinks cold? If so, you probably hate the idea that you’ll have to haul around some massive bags of ice. What you need is a good portable ice maker. You can just throw it into the back of your car and plug it in when you get where you’re going. This saves you a lot of the hassle involved with buying bags of ice at the nearest convenience store. You just have to make sure you find a truly good one that won’t give out on you when you need it the most.

Easy DIY Ice Maker

Here’s an easy way to make your own solar powered ice maker in case you need a backup for your portable ice maker or just don’t want to spend the money on one. (Don’t worry, I know how it is. I’m running on a budget too and don’t want to spend a lot on extra gear.)

Tips for Picking Out A Good Ice Maker

Remember that you decide what works best for you. Ignore the hard-sale hype and pick out the options you want in an ice maker. How much ice do you expect to use in a day? Is the size of the ice maker going to be an issue if you intend to use it for travel or camping? Is the ice maker a quality item that can last you through several summers? If you can get a straight answer for all these questions, you can start narrowing your options down until you find the one that’s well-suited for your needs.
Set a budget. Setting a budget at the start will help you find a good ice maker for a reasonable price. Line up several ice makers within your target price range and compare the options, reviews, and reputation of the manufacturer. If you see a really good ice maker that’s just a few bucks more, make absolutely certain it’s worth the extra money but don’t completely rule it out in case you find out that the ones you’ve been looking at are just cheap pieces of plastic and metal.
Pay attention to consumer reviews. If the ice maker that somebody bought online broke in a month, you can be sure you’ll hear about it in the review he posts. While most ice maker models and manufacturers will have the occasional lemon, you should pay attention if something gets mostly poor reviews. On Amazon, you know a product is a good one if it gets mostly 5- or 4-star reviews. Maybe it isn’t a perfect ice maker but it should be able to hold up to frequent summer use.
Narrow it down to 3 or 4 models and then compare them side by side. If they’re within your price range, ignore the price and look at the features and reviews. Is there anything about any one that might be a deal-breaker or that the others just do better? Is there one that just seems to generally stand out?
Buy only from reputable manufacturers and retailers. Your source should have a good track record for turning out a quality product. Good customer service is another plus in case you ever have problems with your ice maker. If a retailer you’ve never heard of offers a price for a product that sounds too good to be true, it could be a cheap knock-off or there’s some kind of catch. You should walk away from those and find somebody you know you can trust.

Get Creative! Want some flavored ice cubes to suck on during those especially hot days? If so, clean out your ice maker, fill with purified water and mix in your favorite powdered drink mix. Certain pulp-free juices like apple or cranberry work well too.

The Convenience of a Portable Ice Cube Maker

Portable ice cube makers are usually small enough to sit on your kitchen counter and can be taken with you on those long car trips. They’re very useful for cases where you don’t feel like making several trips to the hotel ice maker to fill your cooler or just want a few ice cubes in your drink. Once you’ve taken it on one trip, you won’t want to go back to the same old way of making ice or spend a lot of money on those huge bags of ice cubes again.

Pick Up Your Portable Ice Maker on eBay

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