It is not known for certain who invented the first ice cube tray, a refrigerator accessory that can make and remake small uniform ice cubes.
Yellow Fever
In 1844, American physician, John Gorrie, built a refrigerator to make ice to cool the air for his yellow fever patients. Some historians think that Doctor Gorrie may have also invented the first ice cube tray since it was documented that his patients were also receiving iced drinks.
DOMELRE - The Refrigerator that Inspired Ice Cube Trays
In 1914, Fred Wolf invented a refrigerating machine called the DOMELRE or DOMestic ELectric REfrigerator. The DOMELRE was not successful in the marketplace, however, it did have a simple ice cube tray and inspired later refrigerator manufacturers to includeice cube trays in their appliances as well.
During the 1920s and '30s, it became common for electric refrigerators to come with a freezer section that included an ice cube compartment with trays.
Ejecting Ice Cube Trays
In 1933, the first flexible stainless steel, all-metal ice tray was invented by Guy Tinkham. The tray flexed sidewise to eject the ice cubes.
Flexing the tray cracked the ice into cubes corresponding to the division points in the tray, and then forced the cubes up and out. Pressure forcing the ice out is due to the 5-degree draft on both sides of the tray.
Guy Tinkham was the vice-president of the General Utilities Mfg. Company that produced household appliances. Guy Tinkham's invention was named the McCord ice tray and cost $0.50 in 1933.
Modern Ice
Later, various designs based on the McCord were released, aluminum ice-cube trays with a removable cube separator and release handles. They were eventually replaced molded plastic ice cube trays.
Today, refrigerators come with a variety of ice cube making options that go beyond trays. There are internal automatic icemakers and icemakers and dispensers built into refrigerator doors.
Silicone Ice Cube Trays
Right now,the silicone ice cube trays are more popular,it's going to replace the traditional Ice Cube Trays,Why?
Silicone has become one of the new kitchen materials in the last few years. The change to silicone from non-stick coatings, plastic and other materials was made for several reasons.
In Nerith silicone ice cube trays, silicone is being used because, while it's flexible like rubber, it lasts longer and stands up to extremes of temperature much better. It's also not prone to staining and absorbing the odor, taste and color of liquids like rubber or plastic would be. So if you want to make drinks with cherry or grape juice ice trays, the clean-up would be easy if you used a Nerith silicone ice cube tray.
Another plus for silicone is that whatever you're buying can be made in bright colors. So if you have a certain decor for, say, your wet bar, you are more likely to find an ice cube tray color that will fit into that color scheme.
An important reason for the change is health-related. With several toxins being found in some plastics, people have become very wary, and want to know what the hazards are of using that material. Silicone has been independently tested in several countries, and it has been deemed basically inert, which means it doesn't leach toxins into food the way some other non-stick and plastic items do. (Links to hubs about baking uses for silicone are at the bottom of this hub.)