Ice Block Cracking

[lacey]

I'm freezing my own ice blocks with plastic molds that have lids. My ice keeps getting a crack right down the middle of the block and the top of the ice freezes lopsided. My freezer is set to 8 degrees. I don't know if I should be freezing my ice without a lid on the mold, or what I'm doing wrong. I'm also not opening the freezer while the ice is freezing. Does anyone have any advice for me? I attached photos of what my ice keeps turning out like.

[IceClouds]

Sounds like you are doing everything correctly. The only thing that i am noticing is the mold itself. when i was freezing my own ice, my buckets were very flexible and allowed the ice to expand a little outwards and not just upwards. Your mold seems very thick and the Ice may only have the option to go up causing it to crack. I could be wrong, but worth a shot.

Good Luck!

[lacey]

Thank you for your reply! When you were freezing your own ice, where would you get your molds from?

[Kim]

Try removing the ice block once it's frozen. As IceClouds has mentioned, your ice needs "room" to expand. When it is restricted, it will start to expand upward. Ice will usually crack when that happens. Hope this helps!

[IceClouds]

These are the buckets i had bought https://www.amazon.com/Food-Grade-Gallo ... B014I5H97Y They dont appear to be available as a 30 pack anymore. I am sure you can find them in lower quantities

[shaveiceyoda]

I would suggest you bring up the temperate and see if that helps. 8 degrees will freeze it faster but too fast. Try 15 degrees then go 20 degrees then 25 degrees. Try slow it down by increasing the temperature. You will take longer to freeze your ice but it should reduce the cracking. Good luck!