Electrics & Small Appliances
Time to Chill Out ...
With the IGLOO Counter Top Ice Maker
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About ...
I'm one of those annoying people who has to drink their beverages ice cold. We have an under the counter ice maker at home, but those models are expensive and take up a fair amount of space. We didn't want to invest that much, and really didn't have the space for an under the counter unit at our lakehouse. I was hesitant at first, because I thought, "will such a small unit really be all that helpful?" Turns out ... it is! LOL! We purchased the stainless IGLOO counter top model and it has turned out to be perfect for what we needed!
If you need more ice in your life, a portable counter top ice maker might be just what you need. It's certainly affordable - ranging in price from $80 to $120 and only needs about 10 inches of counter space. I chose the IGLOO brand because I've always been happy with their other products - this one is the same, I haven't been disappointed. To be sure, there are other fine icemakers out there, but this is the one that I know very well. The regular size unit makes 26 pounds of ice in 24 hours and has a self-cleaning function - you can select small or large cubes. The cylinder-shaped cubes fit perfectly into a bottle of water, genius!
A Few Thoughts ...
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A portable, counter top ice maker is perfect for our remote location and eliminates the need for frequent trips for ice. At our lakehouse, it's 50 minutes round trip to run for ice! It's perfect for entertaining, when you just need extra ice ocassionally - keeping that gorgeous ice bucket of yours, filled to the brim! Perfect for work as well.
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The counter top feature eliminates the need and expense hiring a plumber to install water lines and drilling holes into the wall or floor, not to mention loosing valuabe floor and under counter space.
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Just want to mention that because the ice is made so quickly, it is not super hard ice. We use it right out of the unit, but popping it into the freezer makes it super hard, so drinks stay cold, longer. We keep a covered container in the freezer and as the icemaker pumps out ice, we empty the basket into the container. If we are entertaining a crowd, we switch to filling bags of ice and store them in a cooler.
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One last tip, the large cubes are made much more quickly than the small.
Let's Make Nut Butter!!
The Cadillac of Blenders - Vitamix!
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What to make in the Vitamix ...
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​Grind whole grains for flour
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Make dough for pizza & bread
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Emulsify whole grains & nuts for milk
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Grind nuts for nut butter
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Frozen desserts like ice cream, sorbets & shaved ice
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Make grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
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Chop Veggies
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Blend soups, smoothies, dressings, puddings & batters to your heart's content
Timeline - How a Can Opener Business Turned Into an International Blender Manufacturer?
1921
William Garver Barnard travels the country selling can openers and kitchen appliances through his company, Barnard Sales.
While helping a family member through a serious illness, Barnard became convinced of the importance of whole foods nutrition and changes the focus of his business to selling vitamins and
health food products through the mail.
1937
Barnard sees a blender at a trade show and considers the possibiities. He decides to introduce his own model later that year. He calls it, the Vita-Mix. The name is designed to compliment his vitamin and health food business, maintaining his focus on whole food nutrition. It sold for $11.95.
1948
Barnard moves his operation to Olmsted Township, Ohio, where it operates to this day.
1949
Barnard's son, Bill, convinces William to buy airtime on television, so the senior Barnard can do live demonstrations of his Vita-Mix blender. He also shared the message about the importance of whole foods and vitamins. This is considered the first infomercial to air in the U.S..
1962
Bill Barnard's son, Grover, becomes CEO of the company and drops sales of the vitamin and health food lines to focus on the blender business.
1970
Vita-Mix introduces a more powerful motor with circular saws designed to turn wheat into flour and peanuts into peanut butter.
Early 80's
Celebrity, Richard Simmons represents the Vita-Mix blender in infomercials. The infomercials end in the late '80's.​
2010
The company restyles it's logo into a blender vortex and is renamed "Vitamix," dropping the hyphen.
2012
New technology features a microprocessor that allows the blender to use a ramp-up speed dial. A more powerful motor is also installed, to support strong, stainless steel 4 inch blades.
A Few Thoughts ... I love my Vitamix and the amazing things I can do with it! I know this is an expensive blender, so let's chat about that. The expense comes from the microprocessor and the very large motor housed in a table top appliance. One can purchase a much cheaper blender, but grinding grains), nuts and grating hard cheeses will quickly destroy the motor. The microprocessor allows for the gradual ramping up to a very high speed that is essential in the emulsification process in making nut butter, it also contributes to the process for making ice cream, mayonaise and everything in between. For grinding grains, think - "making my own chick pea, rice, tapioca or oat flour - whatever you can imagine. For certain, this is a purchase for the long haul.
I also want to talk about cleaning the unit, because let's face it, if something is hard to clean, it is quite possible that we won't use it. That is not the case with the Vitamix! I have the model that is pre-programmed for cleaning and it works like a charm! Set the blender to the "clean" setting, fill the container 2/3 full of warm water (Vitamix says not to use hot water.) with a drop of dish soap, turn on "start" and it's like a mini dishwashing cycle takes place in the container, complete with multiple speeds ... thanks to that strong microprocessor! The less expensive model does not have the self cleaning feature, but on the Vitamix website, cleaning instructions are listed to execute the same cleaning process, manually, you just increase the speed dial manually as opposed to the microprocessor
doing it for you.