Ice Cube Hell - The Rubbermaid Experience
Written: Mar 08 '03 (Updated Aug 04 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great for smaller freezers, cleans up easily, can stack Rubbermaid ice trays on top.
Cons: Expensive for a piece of plastic, doesn't protect the ice from freezer smells.
The Bottom Line: If you are looking for a no frills ice cube bin, this is it.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Rubbermaid Ice Cube Bin 2862 |
While I was digging through the housewares section of the site I came across an ice bin that looked a lot like the one I have tucked away in the back of the closet. Not giving it a second through – I spent ten minutes looking for the ice bin listing to see if it was indeed the one that I own. As luck would have it – the numbers on the bottom of the bin [2862] are the same for this listing. Who would have thought that something as basic as an ice storage bin would be worthy of a review? Well, contrary to what most people think – Rubbermaid occasionally puts out a product that sucks. Sure that might sound a little harsh, but I’ve got the facts to back up my statement.
What Is It?
If you have never seen an ice cube bin [some people haven’t you know] it is a plastic rectangular bin that is used to store ice cubes. Measuring about twelve inches long, five and a half inches wide and six inches deep it is perfect for smaller freezers but if you have a large freezer and go through ice like there’s no tomorrow – you might want to invest in a larger, stronger bin. I used to make ice by the tray until I got sick of being the only person to refill the empty ones. Now I pick up a twenty pound back of ice once a week, chuck it in the chest freezer and refill the ice container [not the Rubbermaid one] when it is empty.
If I had to have a number one complaint about the Rubbermaid Ice Cube Bin it would be that it doesn’t offer any protection against freezer smells – even if you change the box of baking soda on a frequent basis – your ice can still absorb the funk of frozen foods or drifts from the refrigerator. The top of the container has two small lips on the inside portion – these are great for holding ice cube trays [Rubbermaid ones fit the best] while they are freezing and it helps to cut down on a little of the ‘funk’ but not all of it. Since I mentioned that we go through a lot of ice [I am an ice tea junkie] you might wonder why I’d be concerned with the possibility of ‘ice cube funk’ – when I used the trays there would always be a few ice cubes that would be stuck at the bottom of the bin – these never got removed and after a while would start to smell. We don’t have the best tap water here in Southern California so I had to start using bottled water to get rid of the white build up that seemed to accompany each and every ice cube tray dump. While the ice cube bin doesn’t get nearly as much of the white powdery build up as the trays, there would always be some in the bottom of the bin when I would go to clean it out. I’m not sure what that white stuff is and part of me really doesn’t want to know.
There are some good points to this ice bin – namely the front lip that makes it easy to pull the ice cube tray out or push it back in. The bin itself has a nice contour to it but I still don’t understand why the sides are sloped. This does nothing but create wasted space in the freezer. You can’t tell by looking at the picture but there are a few fine points that set this apart from the rest of the ice bins on the market. On both sides of the bin there are small lips to make it easier to pick up when it is full – with two side sections to keep it sliding around if your hands or the container are wet. From the Epinions description of this bin it says that it will hold four trays of ice [loose] – I find that a bit of a stretch since two ice cube trays filled it almost three quarters of the way. Even so, it holds enough ice for about 8 glasses of soda or ice tea
I’ve since retired this ice bin to the closet to hold odds and ends. I doubt I would ever purchase another one of these unless it were available in a large size – something I’ve yet to see at any store that sells Rubbermaid products. As a whole the ice cube bin is fairly strong – the one I have hasn’t broken even though I no longer use it to store ice. I paid somewhere between $2.50 and $3.00 for this about two years ago and in all honesty I really don’t think this is a great bargain. After all it’s just a piece of molded plastic.
Ice Cube Hell – The Rubbermaid Experience
As I mentioned earlier, ice cube trays and I have never been best friends. The Rubbermaid ice cube trays that I purchased cracked after a few months of use [from the twisting of the trays] and after that I sort of lost faith in the Rubbermaid name. The biggest disaster came when I decided to make use of the ice cube bin to hold the long thin ice cubes [that I now know are called “ice tubes” for sport bottles. I filled them up and placed the plastic tube container inside the ice cube bin so it wouldn’t get knocked over. Little did I know that there was a little bit of water in the bottom of the ice cube bin. I spent the better part of twenty minutes trying to salvage the “tube cubes” only to end up with about three [out of 15] that actually looked like the picture. Moral of the story – make sure your ice cube bin is completely dry before you put ice or frozen items into it.
The Bottom Line
If you don’t need to store a ton of ice then this is a great purchase. If you have kids that are in and out of the freezer all the time, go through a lot of ice, have an ice maker or purchase bags of ice – think twice before picking this up. For me it is just too small for the amount of ice we go through on a weekly basis. I opted for a Sterilite Showoff container [that came with a lid] and for my needs it’s worked out better than the Rubbermaid ice bin. There isn’t anything wrong with this ice bin – but please take into consideration the amount of ice you use, the size of your freezer and if there isn’t a better option for storing those frozen gems.
As always, thanks for the visit!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Other Rubbermaid product reviews…
• Rubbermaid Laundry Basket • Rubbermaid Blue Ice Mini Freezer Pack • Rubbermaid Take-Alongs 9 Ounce Sip Cup • Rubbermaid Servin’ Saver Egg Keeper • Rubbermaid Take-Alongs Rectangle • Rubbermaid Ice Cube Bin • Rubbermaid Take-Alongs Chug Bottle 17 Ounce • Rubbermaid Take-Alongs Deep Square • Rubbermaid Snap Case Series •
Want to check out those funky ice tubes I mentioned in my review? Check out Staceys1’s review entitled Totally Tubular Ice Cubes!
Recommended:
Yes
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