Mmmm.... Crushed Ice...
Written: Jan 14 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to use; quick; makes great crushed ice; simple; funky-looking
Cons: Takes a little strength and effort; watch those blades!; top-heavy; noisy
The Bottom Line: The down-sides are very minor and this is a handy gadget, so if you love your crushed ice, go for it.
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| owling's Full Review: Metrokane Retro Ice Crusher |
My mother got us this great little Metrokane Retro Ice Crusher as a house-warming gift when we moved. We have the all-chrome version, and it's a funky-looking thing, all shiny and blocky. The ice crusher has two parts, a top (which contains the blades and has the turning crank attached to it), and a container it sits on top of that holds the crushed ice. You put the top onto the bottom, lift the lid, drop the ice cubes in on top of the blades, close the top, and crank away. Crank in one direction and you get finer crushed ice; crank in the other and you get coarser crushed ice. (You aren't going to get ice fine enough for snow-cones out of this, but you can get a reasonably fine grain.)
Weight
One odd note is that the bottom part is much lighter than the top, thanks to the mechanisms all being in the top part. You'll need to be slightly careful when moving this thing around as this makes the contraption top-heavy. Not a big deal.
Blades
If you lift up the lid and look inside, you'll note the blades are pretty big and wicked-looking. You'll probably need to leave the lid open for this thing to dry thoroughly after you've used it, but if you have kids or pets around you don't want their fingers getting in there. I solve this by laying something like a fork handle between the lid and top so air can get in, but not paws.
Strength
This is definitely a manual machine! You're going at hard chunks of ice with a manual crank and blades. This takes a bit of hand strength and arm effort. There's no way I could do this, with my tendonitis. This is definitely something my husband has to do.
Noise
Again, you're hacking away at hard chunks of ice with a manual crank and blades; this means it's a little loud. No big deal; this is just a little startling if you aren't expecting it.
This is definitely a limited-use specialty gadget, but it's very good at what it does. The drawbacks are quite minor and kind of inherent to the fact that this is a manual ice crusher. All in all, if you're looking for an ice crusher, this will certainly do the job.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
owling
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Member: Heather Grove
Location: Maryland, USA
Reviews written: 689
Trusted by: 264 members
About Me:
Too many boxes to unpack, too few shelves...
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