The Best Countertop Ice Makers

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Want a lot of ice for your chilled drinks but don’t have an ice maker in your fridge (or the one you have is slow and junky)? These countertop options are perfect for making a lot of ice quickly.

Whether it’s a refreshing glass of lemonade or a fancy cocktail, the addition of a couple of ice cubes immediately makes it that bit nicer, especially when it’s a hot summer’s day. There’s an easier solution to adding ice cube trays to your freezer and it doesn’t require having a fridge with a built-in ice dispenser—buy a portable ice maker. Not only can you make more ice with them than the little ice maker in your fridge can make but using distilled or purified water you can make much better tasting ice too.

One extra neat thing about countertop ice makers is the portability factor. They don’t require a water hookup and you can easily move them anywhere you can plug them in. Need more ice at a friend’s house for a graduation party? Take it over there and plug it in. Want lots of ice up at your cabin to fill coolers and make margaritas? As long as you’ve got an outlet and jugs of water to top off the tank, you’re in business.

Here’s a look at the best portable ice makers and why they’re worth your time.

Best Overall: Costway Ice Maker ($126)

When it comes to the best ice maker out there, you’ve actually got a few options. As an honorable mention, the Frigidaire Portable Compact Counter Top Ice Making machine is pretty good, but we’re slightly bigger fans of the Costway Ice Maker. Why? It’s lighter and smaller so it’s easy to place in your kitchen without taking too much room. It’s also speedy and highly effective.

Able to work without interruption over 24 hours, it can make up to 26lbs of ice which is more than enough for a great party. Its ice cube basket has a capacity of 1.5lb so you don’t have to swap it out too often with basket load averaging 8 minutes (depending on if you go with small or large cubes). At all times, you can check out what’s going on via its seethrough window. There’s also a light that indicators when the water level in the reservoir is running low, and when you need to add more water. It also gives you a heads up when the ice bucket is full.

Best For Ice Options: Frigidaire Ice Maker Machine ($150)

Most ice maker machines only offer a choice of small or large cubes which is usually fine for most people. What about if you’re a little pickier and like to be able to create medium ice cubes too? That’s where the Frigidaire Ice Maker Machine is the ice maker for you.

Like any good quality ice maker, it’s able to produce up to 26lbs of ice each day. Its ice bucket is a little bigger than most so it can hold 2.2lbs of ice at any one time. Where its biggest strength lies is that all-important option to create small, medium or large ice cubes. The smallest cubes only take about 6 minutes to form too, although expect the biggest kind to take about 15 minutes.

Whatever size ice you’re keen to use, this is a highly competent machine.