Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought these 7 months ago and could not be happier with them! I use them to make ice cubes from filtered water. Some of the things I like most about these are: The lids keep the ice clean. The lids allow me to stack things on top of the ice, saving freezer space. The lids also help prevent evaporation when I don't use the ice right away. The trays and lids wash very well in the dishwasher. The ice cubes pop out very easily. I also find the lids have a side benefit I had not expected. When I want to use some of the ice cubes, I loosen the lid, then flip the whole thing upside down, and pop out the ice cubes onto the lid. When I don't use all the ice cubes, I just put the tray back over the lid, flip it right side up again, and put it back into the freezer. So it's easy for me to get the ice cubes I need (without prying them out of their individual compartments) while still being able to quickly save the rest of the ice cubes for later. This is so super easy and helpful when I'm in a hurry! I have filled the trays both ways: with the lids on and with the lids off, putting the lid on after the water is inside. The lids fit snugly, but aren't difficult to put on even when the trays are full of water. This makes it easy to fill them however you want without giving up the advantage of having the lids. Personally, I find it easier to fill the tray and then put the lid over it. The lids snap right on. The ice cubes themselves are clean and fresh. They are a perfect size for filling into my insulated water bottles. I'm very glad I got these ice cube trays. They've held up well for many months, and I see no reason for them to not continue doing well for a long time to come. I recommend these ice cube trays very highly! UPDATE: After 1-1/2 years of constant use, one of the lids cracked. At the time, these trays were not available on Amazon so I decided to try some other trays. To put it simple, as soon as I saw that these trays were available again, I ordered 3 sets! I was so disappointed with the other trays that I truly missed having these so I ordered lots more so I won't have to worry about being without. The first set of trays I tried were Chef Buddy Ice Cube Trays with Lids, Set of 2. The Chef Buddy trays looked identical to these ChefLand trays except for their color. The minute I saw the Chef Buddy trays, I was extremely disappointed. The lids were warped and extremely hard to put on. When I used them in the freezer, the trays themselves warped. You can see pictures with my review for those trays. I also tried some Komax Ice Cube Tray with No-spill Cover (Set of 4). They're okay. Their lids sealed well, but the ice cubes are very small and they don't pop out easily. I also didn't like that the ice cubes were different sizes (the cubes on the ends were smaller). The Komax ice trays were better than the Chef Buddy trays, but nothing close to being as good as these ChefLand trays. CONCLUSION: Even though one of the ChefLand lids cracked after a year and a half of constant use, I still prefer them over the other trays I've tried. The ice cubes are a perfect size and they pop out super easily. I am soooo glad they are available again on Amazon so I could order more! ** 4 YEAR UPDATE: I now own 5 sets (total of 10 trays) of these ice cube trays with lids. Two sets were purchased 4 years ago, and the other three sets were purchased 3 years ago. I gave one set to my daughter who really loved them, leaving me with 8 trays. Of those 8, one lid has cracked on the top (as mentioned in my earlier update), but it is still perfectly useful. Now 1-1/2 years after cracking, that crack has not enlarged or changed in any way. No other damage or cracks have appeared in any of the other trays. I am still very pleased with them! ** FOUND SECRET TO GETTING THE ICE TO POP EASILY: Over time, I did run into the problem of the ice did not popping out easily. It was easy enough to use the kitchen sprayer to spray 1 second of water onto the outside of the bottom tray, but still... that's not what I wanted or had enjoyed for so long. Then I noticed something. I started trying to rotate the trays. When I put a fresh tray of water underneath other already frozen trays, the ice became more difficult to get out. But when I put the newly filled ice try on the top of the stack, the ice popped right out! Yay! I have repeated this many times and consistently got the same results. Bury the fresh tray under frozen trays = ice difficult to pop out. Put the fresh tray on top = ice pops out very easily! This remains true even when I overfill the ice trays (a bad habit of mine) or instantly refill and freeze the ice tray without cleaning out the ice shards or frost from the lid. I think it may have something to do with the way in which the ice freezes inside the tray. When a fresh tray is put underneath frozen trays, the water freezes from the top and bottom, and the ice is difficult to get out. But when a fresh tray is put on top of the stack, the ice freezes first from the bottom. These ice cubes would pop out with almost no effort at all. So if you're having trouble with the ice not popping out easily, try placing freshly filled trays on the top. I know this works with these Chefland brand of ice trays, but this may also work with all similar ice trays.