chefgadget 1 X Ice Crusher by Westmark

In a couple of months, our young daughter will be 3 years old. And for whatever reason, she loves ice chips. We have found it's been particularly helpful to offer her ice chips when she's upset. The problem has always been breaking up ice cubes to make them small enough for her to handle and put in her mouth safely. My wife would actually use her teeth to make small chunks! What?! No, no - I couldn't watch that anymore. Me, I would wrap up a couple of cubes in a dish cloth and use a hammer on it. Noisey business.So, I searched amazon, as I often do, to solve this little problem. After passing over more elaborate, electric models of ice crushers and such, I found this one. And guess, what? It works! Yeah, it's a bit tough to squeeze the handles together in order to do the crushing, but it's not impossible, and I'm sure I'll find better techniques as I use it more. But it really does get the job done, without taking up much space (the other ones are just too darn big for what I need it to do), and it was reasonably priced.It comes in two parts, a top and a bottom. They hinge together without being fixed to each other, so it's very easy to clean. Clever, actually. What else is there to say? For what we needed, this was perfect. If you need lots of crushed ice for, say, parties or maybe medical reasons, I'd recommend one of the more ambitious ice crushers, which will crush more than one cube at a time, like this one, but will cost you more. Happy crushing!

The device is a compromise between function and storage space. If you want to crush a lot of ice, this obviously isn't what you want. However, for 2-6 cubes it certainly does the job, and takes much less storage space than the alternatives. It can be little messy, so I do the crushing in the sink. I have very small hands (for a man), and at age 72 not a lot of strength in my hands, but can still manage to make this work, although I occasionally get a cube that I can't manage. I took off 1 star because it separates too easily into it's two pieces, requiring it to be constantly "reassembled"; not a big deal, but annoying.Update: I have now been using this product to crush 4 cubes per day for about 1 1/2 years. The product does the job, but does frequently take significant effort, and it's not uncommon for me to have to reposition the cube more than once to find it's fault line. I eventually wondered if there was a better way, and decided to give a mini-cube ice cube tray a try. I've now been using one daily for over a month, and IT'S MUCH EASIER!I bought the Amazon "Arrow 60 Cube Ice Tray Frost Blue 2 Pack" It works like a charm. One tray makes more than enough ice for two cocktails. The cubes come out of the tray reasonably easy, and the tray is easy to fill uniformly using a reviewer supplied tip of tilting the tray lengthwise at about 30 degrees while filling. I'm sold! Bye- bye crusher; hello mini-cubes! The only thing I miss is the "hand crafted" irregular pieces that the crusher produced.

Only does one ice cube at a time. It is a waste of time to get enough ice for one shake.

although the product functions appropriately enough,it was only half the size I expected.the shape and style led me to believe it was similar to one I had many years ago but there was no way to determine the actual size because the picture has no reference points.

This device was too small. The top part continually falls away from the bottom section when you're crushing ice. It's awkward, but it works.

I read several of the other reviews and almost didn't buy this.Here's a good way to use it. First, I use these ice trays:Rubbermaid Easy Release Ice Cube TrayNext, put your cubes in a 2.5 gallon zipper bag: Hefty One Zip 2.5 Gallon Jumbo Bags 16ct (pack of 2)Put two cubes in the crusher top-to-top and put the crusher inside the zipper bag on the counter top. Push down on the crusher until it closes fully. The plastic bag will catch any stray ice chips and you can use both hands to push down, be sure to keep your fingers from getting caught between the handles.This works great on my boat where storage space is limited. Being able to crush two cubes at once doubles production.Another good way to crush ice: Use the same ice trays and bag, place bag on floor and hit cubes with hammer or plastic mallet. No kidding - this works great! Don't forget to honor the safety Gods, be sure to wear safety goggles or other suitable armor - ice shards always go for the eyes! Plastic Mallets - size 3 plastic malletDewalt DPG55-11C Clear Anti-Fog Protective Safety Glasses with Dual-Injected Rubber Frame and Temples

Postives:- It works just fine for a manual device- Sturdy enough that it will last a long timeNegatives:- The cup part fits an ice cube but I wish it was deeper so when you crush the ice it doesn't spill over- It's a little messy so I would do this over a large bowl. It will take a while to do a whole ice tray so if you want it done quickly, get an electric one.

Had a different make for over 15 yrs, believe it or not! This new ice crusher, which appears to be stronger, is easy to use and working just fine for my "cosmo" making!