Top Countertop Ice Maker Reviews: Find the Best Ice Maker for Your Kitchen

Today, we’re reviewing the Frigidaire Ice Maker, which we purchased from Costco for about $85 to $90.

We’ll start by unboxing it and testing its performance in making ice for this hot summer weather. The packaging is impressive, well-protected and neatly organized. This ice maker features some great functions, including a self-cleaning option, which is handy even though I plan to use purified water. It has a 2.1-quart water reservoir and can produce up to 26 pounds of ice in 24 hours, which is quite impressive.

The ice maker has a digital LED control panel that indicates when the ice bin is full or when more water is needed. The box highlights its ability to produce bullet-shaped ice, which is perfect for various uses. Opening the box, we see the unit is well-secured with styrofoam and plastic wrapping. It also comes with an instruction manual. The ice maker has a stainless steel finish that matches other kitchen appliances well, and there's a protective film that needs to be removed.

Even though the inside of the machine should be clean, I’ll give it an extra rinse for safety. After removing some stickers and tape, we can see the internal structure of the water reservoir. It has a drain plug underneath for easy emptying and cleaning.

Next, we fill the reservoir with purified water, ensuring not to exceed the max fill line. According to Alexa, my wonderful assistant, this equates to about 8.4 cups of water. After filling, we place the clean basket on top, ensuring it sits correctly over the water. When the ice melts, it will return to the reservoir and be recycled into new ice.

We then close the lid and press the power button to turn on the unit. The green light indicates the machine is on and starting the freezing process. The unit makes a soft noise, similar to a small fan or refrigerator. For small ice cubes, it takes about 8 minutes per cycle, while larger ice cubes take about 30 minutes. According to the instructions, the ice will last up to 18 hours in the bin. So, when the bin is full, we need to transfer the ice to the freezer to continue making more ice.

This ice maker can produce up to 26 pounds of ice in 24 hours. To achieve this, we need to empty the ice bin regularly. Initially, the ice cubes are thin and fragile, but they become thicker and more solid over time. Now, I’ll put the first batch of ice into the freezer.

In our test, it took about an hour and 20 minutes to fill one bucket of ice. There is enough water left in the reservoir to make at least one more bucket. Simply turn the machine back on to continue. The ice maker can produce 26 pounds of ice in 24 hours if you consistently empty the bin.

For those using the machine overnight, it’s reassuring to know it will stop making ice once the bin is full, and any melted ice will recycle back into the reservoir. When you’re done using the ice maker, you can either turn it off or unplug it until you need more ice.

Overall, this Frigidaire Ice Maker is an excellent device. It quickly produces a substantial amount of ice and supplements the ice from your freezer effectively. It’s noteworthy that the ice cubes become thicker after the initial few cycles. This product comes highly recommended, and I might even get another one to compare. I purchased mine from Costco, which has a great return policy, but you can also find it on Amazon. If I try an Amazon version, I’ll review it for you as well.

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more reviews!