Do ice makers keep ice frozen?

Most countertop and portable ice makers do not keep the ice frozen. They are built to make ice quickly, not to store it cold, so they have no freezer, and the ice they make slowly melts in the bin, often draining back into the reservoir to be made into ice again. This surprises people who expect the bin to stay full of frozen ice, but it is normal for these machines. To store ice, you transfer it to a freezer, which keeps it frozen. Some higher end countertop models and built in ice makers do keep the ice frozen, but the typical basic countertop machine does not. The countertop machines in our best countertop ice makers guide make ice on demand rather than keeping it frozen.

They are not freezers

The key point is that a basic countertop or portable ice maker is not a freezer. Its job is to make ice fast from the water in its reservoir, which it does well, but once the ice is made and dropped into the bin, there is usually no refrigeration keeping that bin cold. So the ice sits at room temperature in the bin and, like any ice out of a freezer, begins to melt. This is a fundamental difference from a freezer, which holds a low temperature to keep ice frozen indefinitely. The countertop ice maker makes ice but does not store it frozen, which is the source of the common surprise that the ice does not stay.

The ice melts and is remade

Because the bin is not kept cold, the ice melts over time, and on many countertop machines the meltwater drains back into the reservoir, where it is made into ice again on the next cycle. So a machine left running keeps a rough supply of ice by continuously remaking what melts, rather than storing a frozen stock. This is why the bin does not simply fill up and stay full of frozen ice, and why leaving the machine running to keep ice available is inefficient, since it is really melting and refreezing the same water. The melt and remake cycle is normal for these machines and follows directly from their not keeping the ice frozen.

Store ice in the freezer

To actually store ice, you move it from the ice maker to a freezer. Since the countertop machine will not keep the ice frozen, transferring a batch to the freezer, in a bag or container, lets the freezer hold it frozen for whenever you need it, using the energy it already spends staying cold. So the practical way to build up a stock of ice is to make batches in the ice maker and freeze them, rather than expecting the ice maker to keep them. This is the normal approach: the ice maker is the fast producer, and the freezer is the store, each doing what it is suited to.

Some models do keep ice frozen

Not all ice makers are the same, and some do keep the ice frozen. Higher end countertop ice makers with an insulated or refrigerated bin can hold the made ice frozen for longer rather than letting it all melt, and built in, under counter, and some premium machines have cooled storage that keeps the ice frozen. Refrigerator and freezer ice makers, of course, keep ice frozen because they are inside a cold compartment. So if keeping ice frozen in the machine matters to you, look for a model that specifically offers a cooled or insulated bin, rather than a basic countertop machine, which makes ice fast but does not keep it frozen.

What this means in use

Knowing that a basic countertop ice maker does not keep ice frozen shapes how you use it. Make ice shortly before you need it rather than expecting a stored supply, or make batches ahead and freeze them. Do not leave the machine running all day to keep ice available, since that just melts and remakes the same water, wasting energy; instead run it when you want ice. And do not be alarmed when the bin does not stay full of frozen ice, since that is normal. So the machine suits on demand, fresh ice, with the freezer used for storage, which is the efficient and intended way to use a countertop ice maker.

The short answer

So most countertop and portable ice makers do not keep the ice frozen, because they are built to make ice fast, not to store it, and have no refrigeration for the bin, so the ice melts and, on many models, drains back to be remade. To store ice, you transfer it to a freezer, which keeps it frozen. Some higher end countertop models with insulated or cooled bins, and built in machines, do keep the ice frozen, but the typical basic countertop machine does not. So make ice on demand or freeze batches, do not leave the machine running to keep ice, and use the freezer as the store.