It's just an ice cube tray - you wouldn't think there would be much to say about it, would you?  But this design is so clever I wanted to share my thoughts about it.  I'm talking about the Stacking/Nesting trays from Sterilite.

Each tray measures 11 1/2"L x 4 5/8"W x 2"H, and has 16 holes for cubes.  The bright blue trays are made of a flexible plastic.  Flexible enough that they can be twisted and bent for easy removal of the ice, but sturdy enough that you can carry them by one end and not worry about the other end dipping.

But it's the shapes and alignment of the holes that really make this tray "different".  There are two rows of 8 holes each.  The holes are basically oval shaped, with one row slanted in one direction, and the other row slanted the other way. 

Why the funny shapes?  It's simple... When faced in the same direction, the trays nest into each other nicely.  This is perfect for storage when you're not using them.  But when faced in opposite directions, the trays do not fit into each other.  They can't, because their holes don't line up.  They're slanted in two different directions.  In other words, the trays don't slide into each other - they sit on top of each other.  This is perfect for when they're filled with water and stacked in your freezer.  After all, it doesn't do any good to stack them in the freezer if one tray slides into the other.

What a clever design!  They even make it easy for you to tell which side is which by placing a circle on one side of the tray, and a square on the other.   Stacked so the circles and squares line up and one tray will slide into the next.  Put the circle on top of the square and one tray sits on top of the next.

There's another feature that makes this a clever tray - there are ridges built into the walls separating the holes.  These ridges allow water to channel from one hole to the next when you're filling the tray.  In other words, you don't need to move the tray under the running water making sure to fill each hole.  Just start filling the first hole and when finished, the water will automatically flow to the next hole, and the next, etc, until the entire tray is filled.

Besides the clever design, I like the size and shape of these cubes.  They're quite big - approximately 1 3/4" long, 1" wide, and 1 1/4" tall.  The cubes release easily with just a twist or two of the flexible plastic.  We paid about a dollar for three trays.  Overall, this is really a perfect ice cube tray.  Highly recommended!

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 1