How To Make Nugget Ice (Sonic Ice) At Home Without Machine

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The holiday season has come, and that means lots of outings with friends, family, and work.

I’m here to help you make the season extra interesting by cooling off with some nugget ice.

The best part is that you can make your own nugget ice cubes at home and you don’t even need a machine.

Keep reading for our simple tutorial, which explains all the steps you need how to make nugget ice and make it chill in your drinks and food!

What is Nugget Ice?

Nugget ice is known by many names, including pellet ice, sonic ice, soft crush ice, chewy ice, and pebble ice. Unlike most ice, which is carved from a larger ice block, nugget ice is made by freezing water in layers until mounds of cubes form.

This process creates air pockets in the nugget ice, giving it its distinct porous and chewy texture. It’s also lighter and airier than standard cubed ice, floats at the top of your drink, and distributes more evenly.

Why Is Nugget Ice So Good?

Because of the unique way nugget ice forms, it has a soft and chewy texture similar to a slushy. This allows it to melt slowly and allows you to enjoy your drink for longer than regular ice cubes.

The soft texture of nugget ice also makes it perfect for use in a variety of applications, including cocktails, desserts, and even smoothies, where you want to avoid diluting the flavors of your beverage. If you are looking for some inspiration on how you can use nugget ice, below are some of our favorite ways:

Use it as a base for a cocktail.
Create your own slushy with nugget ice and fruit juice.
Serve it at an outdoor party or picnic, as the soft texture will keep your drinks cold longer than regular large ice cubes.

3 easy ways how to make nugget ice at home

Making nugget ice at home is a breeze. All you need are some simple ingredients and a little time on your hands. Here are 3 easy ways to make nugget ice at home:

Load up the silicon ice cube tray with water and freeze it
Smash your ice cubes with a meat mallet or rolling pin
Make nugget ice with a nugget ice maker

Let’s take a closer look at each step in detail so you can get started making nugget ice at home today.

1. Load up the silicon ice cube tray with water and freeze it

This is the cheapest way to make nugget ice at home. It’s not as efficient as buying a machine, but it does work. You can find silicone molds for making nugget ice on Amazon or at any kitchen supply store at a very affordable price.

my top pick

EuChoiz Silicone Ice Cube Trays

The bottom is well-shaped with flexible material, which makes it easy to get most ice cubes out. Just right for those who like to chew ice.

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Here’s how to make nugget ice cubes with ice cube trays:

Step 1: Fill a silicon ice cube tray with water, then put it into the freezer. Let them sit there until they’re frozen. The next step is to make sure the water is in each tray before taking it out of the freezer. They’ll melt and get messy again if you take them out too early.

Step 2: Take the trays out of the freezer and carefully remove the top from each one. You may want to leave them in a bowl or something else that will catch any small pieces that fall off your tray.

Step 3: Once all of your ice cubes are made, put them back into their original containers and store them in your freezer until you need them later on down the line!

Pros And Cons Of Making Nugget Ice With Regular Ice Cube Trays

You might not love it for

Time-consuming since you need to remove every small ice cube from the ice tray.
You can’t make a lot of ice cubes at once like you can with ice makers.

2. Make nugget ice with a nugget ice maker

This is the most efficient, least time-consuming method to make nugget ice. A nugget ice maker is a kitchen appliance that makes small, perfectly shaped cubes in just seconds!

According to Britannica, a nugget ice maker can make 18 cubes every 11 minutes

Restaurants and bars often use these machines; they are also a great tool for home use, especially if you have a small freezer or limited storage space.

The nugget ice machine pumps the water you provide into an extremely cold cylinder, where ice forms and is scraped off with a spinning auger.

The ice is crushed and broken up even more, and then you can use the pieces in a container to cool any drink you want.

All you have to do is fill the reservoir with water and start the machine. Then, after 10 minutes, wait for your nugget ice to form.

my top pick

GE Profile Opal 1.0 Nugget Ice Maker

The GE Profile Opal 1.0 countertop nugget ice machine produces one pound of fresh ice per hour and has a large bin holding up to 3 pounds of crunchable nugget ice. That’s 24 pounds of ice per day.

You can easily schedule fresh ice and monitor your machine’s status through the app on your smartphone via built-in Bluetooth connectivity.

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Pros And Cons Of Making Nugget Ice With Nugget Ice Maker

You might not love it for

Expensive

3. Make Nugget Ice With An Ice Crusher

If you don’t have a sonic ice maker or don’t have time to remove every ice cube from ice cube trays like 2 methods, then making nugget ice with an ice crusher might be just what you need!

The best part of this equipment is that it goes in 2 directions. Not only can you use it to make nugget ice, but it also has a section for making crushed soft ice.

my top pick

Time for Treats Iceberg Ice Crusher

This stainless steel ice crusher will quickly produce crushed ice for any kind of drink. This tool is great for kitchen use, wet bars, parties, and when entertaining guests.

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You can make nugget ice in less than 5 minutes using standard ice cubes and this inexpensive tool:

Just follow these steps:

Step 1: Place the ice cutter on a flat surface, such as a table or countertop.

Step 2: Put regular ice cubes of any type you might have into the hopper and close the top lid.

Step 3: Crank the handles ice grinder while holding the lid closed on top until the cubes are crushed into small nugget-like pieces. (Remember to turn counterclockwise for nugget ice or clockwise for finely crushed ice)

Step 4: Enjoy your nugget ice!

Pros And Cons Of Making Nugget Ice With Ice Crushers

You might not love it for

The resulting ice cubes are more like crushed ice than nugget ice, but they are still acceptable for the price.
It saves more time than using an ice tray.

4. Crushing Ice Cubes By Hand

This method is the most labor-intensive of all, but it is also the cheapest way to make nugget ice. You will need a lewis bag and something to pound the ice cubes with like a hammer or a meat tenderizer.

Step 1: Place the ice cubes in the Lewis bag and wrap them tightly.

Step 2: Hold the bag firmly in one hand while using your other hand to pound the cubes into smaller pieces. Be careful not to hit yourself in the face with your hammer!

Step 3: When you’re finished crushing the ice, take it out of the Lewis bag and enjoy!

my top pick

Viski Professional Lewis Bag and Mallet Bartender Kit

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Pros And Cons Of Making Nugget Ice With This Method

You might not love it for

The resulting ice cubes are more like crushed ice than nugget ice, but they are still acceptable for the price.
It saves more time than using an ice tray.

Create a more chewable texture with carbonated water.

One good news for ice chewers is that if you want to make your ice more porous, you only need carbonated water. Carbonated water thickens ice cubes with air bubbles, creating a more crunchy, chewy texture.

Because the carbon dioxide bubbles in the ice are pushed out when it freezes, the resulting ice is chewy, crunchy, and full of air bubbles.

This way, you don’t need to buy other tools that cost you a lot of money but can still enjoy the joy of chewing ice.

To start, pour carbonated water into a regular ice tray, put it in a freezer, and wait for it to freeze. When the ice is ready, take it out of the tray and have some nice, chewy carbonated water ice cubes.

FAQs

The short answer is yes, opening the vents on a propane smoker can make it hotter.

The reason for this is simple: when you open the vents, you are letting more oxygen into the smoker, which helps burn the fuel more efficiently. This means that you will be able to get more heat out of your smoker without having to add any additional fuel.

Although chewing ice can be fun and a habit among sonic ice lovers, you should be aware that it is not really okay to do so. Ice crystals are small and sharp, so they can cause damage to teeth if you are not careful. The harder the crystal, the more likely it is to crack, break, and chip your teeth.

Besides this problem, chewing on ice can also cause problems for your jaw muscles because of how much pressure they have to take. If you chew on it for too long, this could lead to soreness in your jaw and throat.

Nugget ice makers are expensive for several reasons. They are typically made from high-end materials, like stainless steel, which means they cost a lot to produce. And because the machines are designed with such a wide range of features, they need to be able to withstand a lot of abuse and still work properly.

The design of nugget ice makers is also complicated. Instead of just being placed in a room somewhere, they are often designed to fit into various environments—in other words: you can bring your nugget ice maker anywhere you want.

Finally, advanced technology is involved in the manufacture of these machines; they are not just any old device that takes hours to produce ice, as a traditional ice maker does, but rather minutes.

Wrapping Up and My Experience With Making Nugget Ice At Home

Hopefully, these ways have been helpful to you in better understanding how to make nugget ice at home.

In the end, making nugget ice at home is a fairly simple process (and one that will take your frozen treats to the next level).

Investing in a silicon ice tray or an ice crusher can make things even easier.

Now that you know how to choose and make your own ice at home, so go ahead, and enjoy a high-quality beverage with your homemade ice—it’s sure to be a hit amongst friends!