If you’ve browsed countertop ice makers at all, you’ve likely noticed that each product description claims a number of pounds of ice that the machine can make. Unless you’re trying to keep a body on ice or you’ve turned your spare bedroom into a speakeasy, you don’t need to worry about this number. That’s because all it tells you is what the machine could, theoretically, produce in 24 hours. And that kind of ice production would only be possible if you completely emptied the machine as soon as a batch of ice was ready and ensured the water reservoir was constantly filled. The chances you will ever bother with all that are basically zero, so it shouldn’t matter if you have a 24-pound ice machine or a 26-pound ice machine.

If you're an ice person then you may already know that the GE Profile Opal 2.0 is the best countertop ice maker money can buy. If you are not an ice person, you may be surprised by just how much money it takes to buy it. But this machine does one thing better than any other ice maker out there: It produces perfectly chewable, Sonic-style ice nuggets.

Ice makerthat keepsicefrozen

The ice that comes from this machine isn’t frozen solid like the ice you make when you put an ice cube tray full of water in the freezer. Nugget ice is actually made of compressed ice flakes, which is why it’s famously so soft and so satisfying to chew.

If you simply want the most compact countertop ice maker, choose this bullet ice maker from Newair, which is the smallest one I’ve tested. It has a footprint of 8.74” x 12.32” and it’s just over a foot tall.

Bestportable ice maker types of ice

The Opal 2.0 is the only machine that makes true Sonic-style ice—sometimes called “pellet ice,” “pebble ice,” and mistakenly referred to as “crushed ice.” I personally like Helen Rosner’s moniker for it: “the good ice,” and since I got my own Opal ice maker, I often refer to myself as “Emily with the good ice.”

If your interest in nugget ice goes beyond chewing and chomping—or if you’re willing to compromise a bit on the texture and live with nuggets that aren’t quite as soft as what you’d get from the Opal—you can save hundreds of dollars on a similarly sleek machine from Newair. If you aren’t picky about ice shape, texture, or cube size, and just need lots of frozen water on demand, there are several nearly identical bullet ice maker machines from reliable brands that all cost around $100.

Best countertopice makerthat keepsicefrozen

If you live alone or don’t mind refilling the water reservoir more regularly, you can save a little money and a few inches of counter space by getting the version of the Opal 2.0 without the extra water tank. I recently downsized, and since my counter space is now more limited and my household now has one adult instead of two, I use my Opal 2.0 without the side tank and I don’t feel like I’m refilling it any more often than I did with the side tank and two adults. The water reservoir is also much quicker and easier to refill than the side tank.

Though that particular high-end model is the best nugget ice maker out there (learn more about why below), it’s certainly not the only option. And one thing is clear: After more than a year of living with one, I don’t think I could ever go back to regular-old freezer ice. That’s because a portable countertop ice maker produces ice much more quickly than freezing water in ice cube trays, and it can be used just about anywhere as long as you have access to an outlet, then tucked away when you don’t need it. Perhaps most importantly, with a countertop ice maker, you’ll never have to worry about your ice absorbing food smells from the fridge and freezer.

Conversely, after testing three bullet ice makers, I realized they were eerily similar in terms of style, size, price, and performance. Further research revealed that all bullet ice makers in the $75 to $150 range had the same body style, produced the exact same ice bullets in two marginally different ice sizes, and some even had identical control panels. That’s why I stuck with ice makers from well-reviewed brands we know and kept away from some of the random brands that primarily pop up on Amazon like Aglucky, Euhomy, or the Silonn ice maker.

Nuggetice Maker

The clear ice cubes you get in nice bars and restaurants typically come from giant, prohibitively expensive machines like Clinebells. Anything you have at home will be a compromise in quality compared to that, but you could consider this more diminutive clear ice maker from Newair. All clear ice machines work by building the ice cubes in layers to prevent air bubbles. Those bubbles are what make other ice cloudy, but also chompable. So clear ice, while beautiful, isn’t as fun (or safe) to chew as nugget ice or bullet ice. But if you’re more concerned with aesthetics than texture, I thought the ice clarity from Newair’s clear ice cube maker (formerly called the Luma Comfort) was quite good.

Best countertopice maker

In addition to assessing the standard unboxing, setup, and cleaning, of multiple nugget ice machines, I really focused on the chewability of the nugget ice they produced. After chomping lots of ice, I found that though the machines were similar in style, price, and function, the ice they produced varied in clarity and texture.

If your childhood summers didn't include Sonic limeades (or in my case, cherry limeades) you might not understand all the hype for pellet ice, but it's never too late to hop on the bandwagon. Test kitchen editor Kendra Vaculin told me it took a penicillin cocktail at a Brooklyn bar to turn her into a believer. "There's something about it feeling like a snow cone, but adult, with ice you can crunch between your molars," she says. "Plus, it keeps the drink so, so cold—which for me is necessary with whiskey."

© 2024 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Bon Appétit may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices

These are truly portable ice makers: small and light enough to pack in the car for a weekend at the lake and to tuck away in a closet until your next party. They also work quickly by freezing water around little metal prongs and can start producing bullet-shaped ice cubes within 10 minutes of setup.

Smallportable ice maker types of ice

This is the biggest of the three bullet ice makers I tested, but if you’re looking for an affordable countertop ice maker with a little retro flair, you might prefer this retro bullet ice maker from Igloo.

Our website uses cookies, which are small files of letters and numbers that we put on your computer if you agree. These cookies allow us to distinguish you from other users of our website, which helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allow us to improve our site. You can withdraw your consent at any time.

If you want to save even more money, you can get a smaller (slightly less good looking, in my opinion) version of Newair’s nugget ice maker. This machine opens on top and resembles cheaper bullet ice makers, but it still produces Newair’s crunchy pellety nugget ice.

I mainly focused here on the two most popular types of countertop ice makers: nugget ice makers and bullet ice makers. Financially speaking, that translates to expensive ice makers and cheap ice makers—because the type of ice you get from a countertop ice maker is directly related to how much you’re willing to spend. And after thoroughly testing ice makers for Epicurious in 2023, I learned that while all bullet ice makers are created almost too equally (more on that below), the same cannot be said for nugget ice makers.

The Opal 2.0 has a built-in cleaning function that you have to activate with a button on the control panel, and the manual suggests doing that weekly. It’s…a lot considering cleaning the machine requires draining out all the water, making a diluted bleach solution, and running the cleaning cycle multiple times. Regular cleaning helps to prevent mineral buildup and dangerous bacteria from accumulating inside the machine, but I offer no comment on how strictly I follow the weekly schedule with my own Opal 2.0 and I haven’t had any issues. You can also get an add-on water filter to reduce chlorine and minerals in your ice if you’re not already using filtered water.

One interesting thing I learned diving deep into the world of countertop ice makers: If you’re not buying a specialty ice machine that makes nuggets or clear ice cubes, the rest are all pretty much the same. They’re all compact bullet ice makers with the same ice-making capabilities, nearly identical body styles, and they all cost less than $200—and often less than $100.

Bestice maker

Portable ice maker types of icefor home

Nugget ice, in particular, is so much more versatile than the kind of frozen-solid cubes you get from most ice molds, and it’s far superior to whatever shape your fridge’s built-in ice maker pops out when it feels like actually doing its job. In addition to being satisfyingly chewable, nugget ice instantly makes cocktails, fizzy drinks, and even plain water feel more summery and refreshing. I find it’s also the best option when you need to pack something on ice since it’s so malleable it can cover nearly all the surface area of even oddly-shaped items.

Middle of the road in terms of size, this one from Frigidaire allows you to check how much ice you have via a clear door on top of the machine. It’s easy to use and easy to clean; you simply remove a plug on the bottom of the machine to drain and rinse the water reservoir.

This countertop nugget ice maker from Newair is capable of making a lot more ice in 24 hours than the Opal 2.0 (44 pounds versus 24), and costs half as much. It works really quickly; when I tested ice machines for our sister site Epicurious, this one dropped the first little ice nuggets in less than five minutes. They weren’t nearly as chewy as the ice that came from the Opal, but they were still satisfying to chomp and great for putting in drinks. Plus, because ice nuggets are so small, even crunchier ones like these will soften up very quickly in water or a cocktail.

The best countertop ice makerA more affordable nugget ice makerWhat to buy if you just want lots of iceAre there any good clear ice makers?What do the pounds mean on an ice maker?How we selected and tested ice makers

While bullet ice, which is generally a bit bigger, less symmetrical, and somewhat harder than nugget ice, has never gotten the online adulation of the latter, it is pretty soft and chewy compared to what you get from an ice cube tray because it’s made quickly and not frozen solid. So if you just want to make sure you always have enough ice for cooling your drinks, and you’re not picky about what type of ice it is, these machines are all so similar that you really can just choose one based on color or finish. That said, they’re all slightly different sizes (all noted below) so if you’re super short on space, go for the Newair, which is the smallest of the three recommended below.

This ice maker doesn’t have an optional side tank, but it’s easy to fill the water reservoir from the front of the machine (just lift the ice drawer out) and cleaning is easy too. One selling point of this machine is its self cleaning function, which is simpler than the Opal’s fussy cleaning cycle.

This machine is easy to use, and will give you ice nuggets on demand—and if I hadn’t put it side-by-side against the Rolls Royce of countertop nugget ice makers, I probably would have been thrilled with my little ice pellets. So if you want nugget-style ice on demand and don’t want to spend $600 or more on a machine, you’ll probably be thrilled with it too. And hey, if you throw a lot of parties, you might even be into the optional blue LED light, which illuminates the ice drawer and gives a kind of nightclubby vibe.

If you’re anything like me, you’re going to be very excited to show off your new nugget ice maker after you get it all set up. My favorite use for “the good ice” is cocktails. And while pellet ice is not the same thing as crushed ice, it’s a perfectly acceptable—and I’d argue, preferable because it melts a little slower—alternative when making drinks. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

There are two versions of the Opal 2.0, and if your household goes through a lot of ice—or if you throw a lot of parties—it’s worth it to spring for the model with the side tank so you don’t have to constantly refill the water reservoir. The side tank triples the amount of water the machine can hold, but reattaching it after refilling it does take some getting used to if you want to avoid spills. This machine can also get quite loud when it’s actively making ice (it takes about 90 minutes to make a bucketful), though I’ve found that the motor runs less often when it has more open space surrounding it, so nobody shove baby all the way into a corner, okay? You can also use the machine’s Wi-Fi connectivity and companion app to schedule a batch of ice while you’re out of the house if you’re the smart home type.