"People in the modern world will never fully appreciate how miraculous it is to have ice on demand. Before the invention of refrigeration technology, we relied on naturally formed ice. If you were in sunny Florida and wanted an ice-cold drink, you needed to have wealth because this was a luxury. The ice industry was a massive business, involving people cutting huge blocks of ice from frozen lakes in the northern U.S., Canada, Norway, and other frosty climates, then shipping them all over the world."
"The concept of the lever-operated ice cube tray is simple. Like modern trays, it has sections that you fill with water that will freeze into cubes. This is actually a removable aluminum grid. The center of the grid is connected by a hinge or spring mechanism to a handle that extends halfway or two-thirds of the tray's length, depending on the design. When the handle is pulled up, it puts pressure on the connected grid walls, which dislodges the ice."
Ice was once a valuable commodity transported globally from frozen regions before household refrigeration made on-demand ice possible. The aluminum lever-operated ice cube tray provided a practical home solution by using a removable hinged grid and handle to press and release cubes. Users sometimes loosened stuck ice with cool water to avoid bending the aluminum or uneven release. The design, patented in 1949, offered tactile satisfaction through the cracking sound when ice released. Advancements in materials and tray designs eventually led to the replacement of lever-operated trays with plastic and silicone alternatives.
Read at Tasting Table
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]