If there's one job I HATE, it's mopping floors. It's right up there with vacuuming and emptying the dishwasher on my list of Useless Tasks.

Before we got our new Whirlpool refrigerator a few years ago, here's how I made ice cubes:

I'd run overfull ice-cube trays from the sink to the freezer, where they usually landed half-empty.

The trays would then get tipped over in the freezer and I’d wind up with either wide, flat ice cubes stubbornly stuck in the bottom of the tray, or lopsided triangular ones that froze as the tray was leaning.

Neither option was very desirable, especially since the wide flat jobbies would melt even further when I dipped the tray in hot water to loosen them.

Then I'd have to mop the floor because of all the spilled water. My floor was getting mopped waaay to often to suit me, particularly since I was the one doing the mopping.

Ugh.

I’d used a closed ice cube tray before but wasn’t pleased with it, and had resigned myself to a lifetime of mopping when one day I came across the Tupperware Freezer Mates Fresh & Pure Ice Tray. In an instant, the sun came out from behind the clouds, the music started playing, and my life was changed. I want to share with you the wonders of this ingenious product.

However, before we begin, a caveat: I used my Tupperware Freezer Mates Fresh & Pure Ice Tray for years before we bought our new icemaker fridge. At which time I gleefully gave them away. So I no longer own one, and don’t have it in front of me as I write. However, I’m so familiar with this item that I can discuss it knowledgeably; only a few details, like the dimensions of each ice cube, are missing.


FEATURES AND HOW TO USE IT

• The Tupperware Freezer Mates Fresh & Pure Ice Tray comes in two pieces: the semi-translucent bottom ice cube tray and the cobalt blue snap on lid.

• It measures 1¾” tall x 4" wide x 11½” long.

• If memory serves, it makes 14 ice cubes.

• There’s a small notch at the top of each divider in the tray.

• The lid has a hole in the top covered by a hinged stopper that flips open and closed. When closed, the top of the stopper is flush with the surface of the tray lid.

• To use it, snap the lid onto the tray and open the stopper. Fill the Tupperware Freezer Mates Fresh & Pure Ice Tray with water from the tap or pitcher. As you pour the water into the hole in the lid, it will flow through the notches from one compartment to another until all are filled. You can gently swirl the tray as it fills to help fill each compartment. Flip the stopper back over the hole and snap it closed. Carry the covered ice cube tray to the freezer. Do not mop the floor.

• To get the cubes out, run the closed tray under warm water for a few seconds, and then give it a twist. I do this with the lid on, to prevent any adventurous cubes from popping out on a voyage of exploration.


WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

• What’s not to like? Like most Tupperware products, this is a sturdy, well-designed ice-cube tray. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do, which is fill easily, transport without spills and drips, and freeze evenly.

• I used mine a lot, and they lasted for years. I was still using them when I gave them to Goodwill, and I’m sure they are still going strong in someone else’s kitchen.

• If you’re like me, you occasionally find a forlorn ice-cube tray in the freezer that’s been there so long the ice is reduced to a fraction of its original volume, and smells of freezer burn and whatever else you have in the freezer. The Tupperware Freezer Mates Fresh & Pure Ice Tray can substantially prevent the first phenomenon and totally prevent the second. The lid keeps “ice box odor” out of your ice cubes.

• I’m occasionally guilty of freezing liquids other than water in my ice cube trays - fruit juices, leftover pesto or marinara sauce, various purees, leftover wine and broth - and some of them, especially those with tomatoes in them, can stain. Before using the Tupperware Freezer Mates Fresh & Pure Ice Tray for those items, I'd give it light spray of oil to prevent staining. Otherwise, one of the many virtues of this item is that it washes up easily and completely. I used a soapy bottle brush when I did them by hand, but you can also put them in the top rack of the dishwasher.


WHAT I WOULD CHANGE IF I COULD

• Nothing.


SUMMARY AND VERDICT

The Tupperware Freezer Mates Fresh & Pure Ice Tray is an ingenious solution to a common problem. It works much better than any of the other ice-cube trays I’ve ever used, which I’ll review in the near future.

And my floors? Well, they weren't quite as clean as they had been, back in the Bad Old Days when I was mopping three times a week. But I was a lot happier.

Five stars.

Recommended: Yes