Fix Your Smelly Ice Cube Tray With This Oven Hack

Do your ice cubes come out of the freezer with a funky smell or off flavor? The culprit might not be your water; it could be your ice cube tray. Ice cube trays, especially ones made of silicone, can absorb strong odors from the freezer. Silicone is particularly permeable to gases, making it easy for smells coming from adjacent food items to penetrate and settle into the tray. The odor will then seep into the ice cubes as they freeze. Freezing a whole tray of ice cubes takes time. Once they do freeze, their taste can be affected by these smells, which then alters the taste of the drinks you prepare with them.

Odors tend to linger on ice cube trays for a long time. So much so that even if you wash the trays multiple times, the smell will often remain. If you're dealing with this problem, a good fix is to bake the ice cube trays in the oven. Place the empty trays in the oven and bake them at 250 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 60 minutes. This hack works by burning off the smells without damaging the ice trays. (This really only works for silicone molds since they can withstand this level of heat.)

This trick is also helpful if you like getting creative and use your ice trays for other things besides plain ice, such as cocktail cubes or frozen cooking stock. The heat resets your trays and ensures your next batch of ice will be fresh.

While this baking hack can help eliminate the smell on ice trays, there's no guarantee your ice cubes won't absorb odors from the other things stored inside your freezer. (Your freezer is not just for frozen food and leftovers, after all.) Even if you can't smell anything unusual when you open the freezer door, some odors can still affect ice because it absorbs airborne particles during the freezing process.

To avoid this, tightly seal all food containers before putting them in the freezer. Uncovered items like pizza boxes or takeout containers share their scents with nearby items when left overnight. To prevent ice from soaking up their smells, you can store finished ice cubes in resealable plastic bags. It's also a good idea to replace old ice cubes every couple of weeks and do regular wipe-downs to maintain cleanliness in the freezer.

Washing the ice trays every so often with a mixture of mild dish soap, lemon extract, and water can also do wonders for your ice cubes; preventing them from tasting stale or smelling off. Never use bleach or ammonia when cleaning the trays because they can make your ice cubes unsafe for consumption (and also taste like bleach).