Best blenders & ice crushers according to redditors

It’s a portable ice pick

https://www.amazon.com/Terya-Portable-Cover-Kitchen-Ebonywood/dp/B072MLNB3R

ice chipper

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Sunbeam blender + ice cubes = crushed ice

EDIT: I don't understand the downvote. You don't want to buy crushed ice, as it melts so much faster. It is actually cheaper to buy bags of ice cubes, and crush them in a quality blender. If you want a huge quantity of crushed ice, I would get one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0009XAHG0/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

In college I was a cook at a Waffle House (a chain of very casual diners in the Southern US, famous for their waffles), and we were trained to give the waffle iron a quick spray before every single waffle. No sticking, no problem.

We also, incidentally, used an icepick to get the waffles off the iron. If the waffle is fully cooked, it works great.

Source

I have this one:

Waring Pro IC70 Professional Stainless Steel Large-Capacity Ice Crusher
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009XAHG0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_Ep8Hwb2F00DPG

It's slow, but it does a nice job. My kitchen isn't big enough to have a fridge with a built in crusher, so I sprung for that one. I had a hand crank one for a few years, but if you're making drinks for more than yourself and one other person, you'll spend all night cranking it. With this, I pour ice in, switch it on, and it crushes while I'm mixing.

Hand Cranked Ice Crusher

I switched from a bag and mallet to one of these and never looked back. Also very inexpensive. You do need a stable and very smooth countertop for it to work properly - it attaches with a large suction cup on the bottom.

It's likely an ice chipper. I have a similar one in my kitchen, and use it to break apart frozen food items.

I don't have experience with any of the Trader Sam's Mai Tais but the original 1944 Trader Vic's recipe is detailed in one of my earlier posts.

The consensus seems to be to use Small Hand Foods orgeat if you can get your hands on it and Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao. I used what I had on hand when I made it in the post above. For the rum, Denizen's Merchant Reserve 8 Year was formulated especially for the Mai Tai, being a blend of Jamaican and Agricole rum. You can also do a 50/50 split between an Agricole Vieux and an aged Jamaican rum. I have Clement VSOP on hand for my Agricole Vieux which is a good option but others can chime in with their favorites. The world of aged Jamaican rums is vast and it's fun to substitute different ones in the Mai Tai and see how it changes. Appleton Reserve might be a good rum to start with as the Jamaican component and you can experiment from there.

For juices, always used fresh squeezed and preferably juice within a few hours of using them.

For crushed ice, you can take a lewis bag and ice mallet and smash ice cubes (while releasing some stress). If you don't want to buy those, feel free to use a rolled up clean dish towel and a rolling pin or something like that.

For bigger parties, I know people recommend the ice from Sonic Drive-In or Chick-fil-A. They'll both sell you a bag for cheap.

I've been looking to get a hand crank ice crusher but haven't yet. I've seen this one recommended a lot as well as some of the vintage ones on eBay like the Oster Snowflake.

You might wanna invest in a cheap hand operated ice crusher. Amazon Uk has this one.

Then simply pour your drink of choice onto the crushed ice. Not quite a slushie but pretty close and for minimal effort.

At the bar we have this ice crusher. Pretty fast and the ice is still comparable to the Lewis bag in terms of dryness.

I used to drink more Diet Mt. Dew and Diet Pepsi than anyone you've ever seen. Legend---ary for not such a great thing. For me it was three things. First, I was drinking it for "energy" from the caffeine. Second, it was an addictive liquid grazing habit that wasn't great. Third - it was a reason to stop at the Loaf 'N Jug (7-11-ish) on the way in to work -> Which invariably led to major temptations of the donut and candy bar variety.

So - I bought some caffeine tablets (turns out soda has much less caffeine than I thought it did). These keep me awake and sharp when needed. 2nd - I bought some fun things to drink water out of - and got many different carb-free mixes. I find new and interesting water bottles - and don't beat myself up if they are a couple of bucks.

Last, but best - I bought a quasi-pro snow-cone machine for the house (cost $60 on sale on Amazon - less than what I spent in 2 weeks on soda), and it is AMAZING! I've bought tons of different sugar-free flavorings and the family loves it. Sugar-free, guilt-free amazing desert guaranteed to give you brain freeze.

I have this new one and I'm very happy with it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AVRZEFS

For vintage you want to be looking for Swing-A-Way. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ice+crusher+swing-A-way&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=15

I received an ice-crusher as a wedding gift, and my quality of life has gone up drastically since.

I'm very particular about ice.

http://www.amazon.com/Waring-IC70-Professional-Stainless-Large-Capacity/dp/B0009XAHG0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411485366&sr=8-1&keywords=ice+crusher

I use this one

It's budget and not the best but works absolutely fine for a home bar, IMO. Sure, it takes longer than a decent electric one but at home I don't care.

ice crusher

1. Bowling Pin Water Bottle
   
   
2. A sexy swimsuit that's sfw, but your kids might still think it's gross.
   
   
3. Kitty Towel
   
   
4. Jellyfish Float!!
   
   
5. Retro sunglasses
   
   
6. Beach bag
   
   
7. Zombie comics
   
   
8. Action movie!
   
   
9. Snow Cone Machine with a Handcrank
   
   
10. Tree Face!
    
    
11. Alice Cooper Funko Pop for DadI'd like to get him this because I've kinda gotten him into Funkos and just got him a James Hetfield one not long ago. Anything else he wants, he probably already has or it's way expensive and not on Amazon. He's always been big into collectibles and I guess that's where I get it from. We didn't always get along, but we get along a lot better now and my dad has been very supportive of me and we have a lot more in common than I realized.
    
    
12. This Murican Thing
    
    
13. Giant Prehistoric Thunderbuddy
    
    
14. A board game, of course!
    
    
15. This masterpiece
    
    
16. THE ENTIRE COOLER WITH ALL OF OUR CIDER IN IT
    
    
17. Pineapple Romphim
    
    
18. Mint Green Roses
    
    
19. Firefighter water gun
    
    
20. You can't watch shark week without your shark hat.

I got this hand-crank ice crusher a few years ago after seeing it posted on Reddit. It takes some effort, but it works great. It wouldn't be good for more than 2-4 drinks at once, but for my wife and me it works fine.

Would something like this thing work? I'd hope that I could find something closer to the Alaskan ice Crusher for less than 230 on etsy,
but that one also looks to take up half of someone's yard!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AVRZEFS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480549249&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=hand+crank+ice+crusher&dpPl=1&dpID=31LNZSqasXL&ref=plSrch

I would be surprised if anyone sells that kind of ice in bags. It's such small pieces that any change in temperature would melt it all together.

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If you just need crushed ice for a part you can buy a manual ice crusher.

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https://www.amazon.com/UPGRADED-Crusher-Shaver-Manual-Grinder/dp/B07C98LRHG/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=ice+crusher&qid=1556925233&s=kitchen&sr=1-6

1. silver-plated julep cups are about $15-20 so it's not that scary if you just start with one or two :)
   
   
2. I used this cheap hand-crank ice crusher which works pretty well. I realized when I was testing this recipe that my blender has a "crush ice" setting but then remembered that it also produces wildly-varying sizes of ice ranging from powder to large chunks so I felt a little more confident in my purchase.

buy yourself one of these puppies:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AVRZEFS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Grinds 4 cups of ice in course or fine. About as low tech as you can get, but works well for home use (and parties). Well worth the $23 bucks!

this little dude performed admirably through a tiki-heavy summer for me.

ill admit its not the prettiest or most solid-feeling thing in the world, but its super cheap, gets the job done, and i find it more practical than smashing shit with a hammer (mostly because im in a crowded apartment)

You should put this on your list!! :) if I had the money, I'd buy it for you right meow.

I use one of these at work and it gets the job done. It's more durable than most of the models on amazon. When you crank it, make sure you don't have any fingers or knuckles sticking out over the edge of the lid when you hold it down (the handle will catch anything it can reach).

Out of curiosity, is there any advantage to a Lewis bag over a simple hand cranked ice crusher like this?