Prepara Ice Balls, Set of 4, Clear

Pretty much none of the fancy-ice-ball-molds I've tried are "perfect".. These guys do the job without being too bulky, but they are a bit of a process (all the ones I've used are a process).. The 2-inch diameter ball is a pretty good size. 2.5 inches is fun, but it's actually ridiculously huge. Probably a 2.25 inch diameter would be the ideal "big sphere", but I haven't come across one. And anything smaller than 2 inches is almost in the "why bother" department.. The ROX spheres are about 1.75 inches and are very noticeably smaller. Boringly small, practically, haha.Also, depending how cold the drink is, the sphere may-or-may-not last an eternity. Obviously, if you put the sphere in a large glass of not-cold liquid, it's not going to last very long. I've gone through 3 shaken margaritas with 1 sphere, and the sphere barely changed size. But shaken margaritas are already ice-cold. On the flip side, I've gone through 2 large glasses of not-cold tap water where 1 ice sphere was pretty much melted by the end of glass #2. It was great for the first glass..Really, they market these as ice for whiskey.. Which, when you pour, is going to be waaaay less than a big glass of water (or even a margarita..).. The whiskey will get cold immediately, without getting too watered down. But do yourself a favor and use a new sphere with every pour (if you care about it not being watered down as much). After glass number one, this will just be like any other ice cube, except it'll look like a weird mushroom (since only part of it will actually be in the whiskey, haha..)Quick side note: If all you want is a "big piece of ice," I'd say the best and easiest (and laziest) approach is the Tovolo King Cube tray. You get a 2-inch cube, and it pops right out of a flexible silicone tray. Zero hassle, haha, and 6 ice cubes. However, these won't necessarily fit in every glass.. 2 inch cubes are pretty danged big - they are significantly larger than these 2-inch spheres.But I digress. You are here because you're interested in ice spheres/balls!!I like these particular molds because the top and bottom is connected. No tops and bottoms getting lost, falling everywhere, etc.. Yes, they are still individual, though.. But I find these much easier to manage than the tops/bottoms ones.The way they work is, there's a bit of a plastic overlap, and they pop closed, then you pour water through the top fill-hole. Pretty simple. One note: water expands as it freezes.. These come with a "fill-line", where you imagine that "okay, I fill to here, and the water level will rise right to the top, and my sphere will be perfect." (Well, that's what I imagined...) Wrong.. At least, that's not what happens in my freezer..In my freezer, the ice sphere winds up expanding somewhere in the middle-ish, and the top/bottom of the mold alllways pop apart slightly. They never-ever leak or spill water, however! But the ice sphere expands in that area, so you don't get an exact sphere.. it's more like a verrrry slight oval, top to bottom.. Also, if I fill to the "fill line", I *always* have a FLAT part at the top. And the mold STILL slightly pops open.. Soo, I always fill past the fill-line.. I go about 1/2 the way between fill-line and the top. Usually a little water/ice comes out the fill-hole, but that's no problem. It gives me a nice perfect sphere at the top..Also, I've had all sorts of fun filling these with random fruit chunks. I've found that with a bit of fruit (or whatever), the ice spheres freeze better.. When it's just ice, the spheres tend to have a random crack or two somewhere on the outer edge. But with a piece of fruit, this doesn't happen. I figure it's because there's less water that's actually freezing, and therefore less expansion pressure from inside the center of the sphere (where the last of the water freezes).I fill all 4 up at once, and put them in a small tupperware/plastic ziploc container, which keeps them from falling over, and catching any water if any comes out the top. And I remove them all at the same time, and store the ice spheres in a ziploc bag in the freezer, for use later.. Removing them from the molds is kind of a pain in the butt at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy. Definitely leave them on the counter for a few minutes, and then run cool/cold water over the plastic before trying to the spheres.Here's how I fill them up and remove them from the molds.. It's a slight process, but not very difficult, and I never wind up struggling with the spheres getting stuck.1) fill them up past the "fill line".. (maybe 1/3 to 1/2 way past that line) This way, when they freeze, ice will make its way up to (or through) the fill-hole. I actually fill all 4 up at once, and have them in a short, square plastic tupperware/ziploc container. This keeps them contained and not falling over in the freezer. I also never close the lid.. Just keep it open, so any ice/water can come on out the top.2) once they're frozen, remove them from the freezer and leave them on the counter for about 3 to 5 minutes. They won't melt at all (unless maybe it's insanely hot in your kitchen). This keeps them from cracking when run under water to loosen them up.3) run them under cool/cold water (warm / hot water is more likely to make them crack) for like 10 seconds or so. I run the water so it is hitting the bottom, and the "back" (where the little flip-connection is), since the other side pretty much always partially pops open..4) If any ice has formed out of the fill-hole, run cool/cold water over the fill-hole, and it will melt the ice pretty quickly.5) separate the halves (flip it open). Almost always, I find the ice stuck in the top half. Take your finger tip (or random kitchen item, if your finger tip is too big), and push on the ice that's at the fill-hole. This pops the ice ball right out (into your hand).Yup, it's a slight process, but it's pretty easy if you fill it up more, and can push on the ice at the fill-hole.I pop out all 4 at the same time, and put them in a ziplok bag in the freezer. That way, when I want one, they're ready to go, and I don't have to do the silly process when I actually want a drink. I'd neverrrr use the things if I had to do that right when I want to use one, haha.. When I'm in the kitchen doing random-whatever, and I think to, I'll do the process. I have a dozen or so of them in a bag in the freezer at any given time.

They take up so little space and make nice big ice balls that last a long time. They also just look cool! Easy to fill, with a good fill line marked. I keep the frozen ones in a ziploc bag and it's so much better than making little cubes over and over again.

I ordered the set because I received 2 jumbo balls in a gift box, which is from a quality company so I figured I'd order some more. Unfortunately the set of 4 I ordered was a lot smaller than the 2 I got as a gift, disappointed.In the set of 4, 2 of the 4 leaked and the 3rd ball broke when I opened it. Only 25% of the set worked as described. Ultimate fail!

Order arrived super quick! Made a cocktail and ice balls were a nice touch. Thank you!

The ice ball molds are easy to fill and easy to get the frozen balls out of the molds. They seem to be made of a thick enough plastic to be serviceable.

These are garbage and a waste of money. Ice ball doesn’t come out

Simple to fill, prefect for Nalgene bottles.

Love them

Good quality and as described, I do find it very difficult to open and retrieve the ice once frozen, at times I just don’t bother and I use regularly ice

Don't over fill these or you struggle to get the ice out. Also if you tap the ice ball to help it out they break!

This product creates a cube no bigger than a standard cube once you run enough hot water to get the ice cube out. I’ve tried every which way but lose and this is by far the worst ice cube mould I have ever bought.

Listing says 6cm, actually 5cm!

To the one other reviewer on here - just run them under water and they come right out. Also dont over fill them.Without sounding like I'm getting overly excited about ice, I have to say these things are great!!I like the round ice because it melts much more evenly than crushed ice (and I like my drinks cold) and this is much more economical than $4.00 for a bag of ice.I've tried the silicone style and while they are okay, the soft sides tend to spill water everywhere and the top half floats meaning you have to sit something on top of it... freezer full of water isn't fun.These are simple and work great with no spillage at all.Buying more immediately.