With all the talks and debates about which brands offer the best quality ice machines, many people tend to forget about another essential accessory that, in its absence, would turn every house and pool party into a logistical nightmare: ice buckets. Ice buckets will help keep your ice intact for many consecutive hours, ensuring that you, your friends, guests, and family members will have as many cold drinks as they want.
Therefore, if you already own an ice maker and are planning to throw a party, you definitely consider purchasing this accessory. Since there are a lot of options on the market, the purpose of this article is to make your choice easier. Without further ado, here is a complete ice buckets buyer’s guide for your event:
Material
The first thing every potential buyer should consider is the materials. Ice buckets come in a wide range of materials. While it is true that some materials make the ice buckets more convenient regarding usage and maintenance, the truth is that no material is objectively superior than the others — it all depends on personal preference. Usually, ice buckets can be madeout of acrylic, silver, galvanized steel, glass, wood, or even stainless steel.
Now, as for the materials themselves, the one that delivers both in the aesthetics and practicability departments in equal measure is stainless steel. It is very resistant against corrosion, it will not break upon falling, and it is, all in all, a very durable and sturdy accessory. However, you should be aware of the fact that you will be spending a lot of time scrubbing, polishing and cleaning it, so if this bothers you, you might want to give stainless steel ice buckets a pass.
Moving forward, if you really want to go all in regarding looks and impress your guests, you should definitely go for a bucket made out of silver. You could either go for pure silver (if you have the money to spare, of course) or a silver-plated bucket. There is also the alternative of transparent acrylic buckets. Regardless of your choice, the differences between the buckets are quite minor, and since all of them serve the exact purpose they were created for, this should not be the main criteria after which you make your purchase decision.
Insulating Capabilities
The next tip for purchasing a good ice bucket is to check if it has potent insulating capabilities. According to specialized online sources such as the IceMakerPro website, this criteria is especially important if you have a habit of organizing outdoor parties on a regular basis. If the air on a particular day is filled with moisture, the accessory’s quality of life will be affected by condensation, which could cause the material to get corroded.
One simple way of verifying whether or not the ice bucket is a good insulator and if it can handle the effects of its layers. More specifically, if the appliance is composedout of two walls (a standard feature of all high-qualityice buckets), you can be sure that it is capable of holding the coolness inside, preventing condensation from occurring on its outer layer and keeping the ice dry for extended periods of time in the process.
Stand
This is the one thing (the accessory’s accessory, if you will) that many people forget about. Ice buckets have a tendency ofgetting wet, so you cannot just let it sitting on the rug, and neither can you leave it on the grass inyour yard or on the table to get turned upside down by an airheaded guest. On top of all that, an ice bucket sitting in a random spot just does not make for good visual aesthetics.
What you will need, in this case, is a sturdy, stable stand. Not only does it look good, but your friends and guests will be able to easily reach out for a bottle of beer or wine comfortably without taking frequent trips to the refrigerator. Thankfully, most ice buckets already come with a stand included in the package, so will not have to purchase it separately. Moreover, if you are tight on space, there are a wide variety of models that have a foldable design. The only thing you need to ensure is that it is physically capable of withstanding the weight of the ice bucket.
Capacity
Now, when it comes to capacity, it entirely depends on what type of event you are planning to organize if it is a party thrown in a bar, a large gathering in your backyard or a small, intimate meetup with your closest friends. For bars (unless it is a classy kind of event) and large parties, there is no need in going overboard and picking up a silver bucket, a plastic, 4.5 to 5 literbucket should be more than enough to cover the entire party’s ice demand. For single table usage or a small gathering of friends, a small ice bucket with a capacity of one and a half liters at most should be sufficient.
Conclusion
Surprisingly, ice buckets are one of the most overlooked accessories, which is a real shame considering how convenient and useful they can be. Nevertheless, there are a few things you should take into account before deciding which type to purchase, from the capacity, insulation capabilities, building materials, stand, and so on and so forth. If you want a combination between functionality and visual aesthetics, go for ice buckets that are madeout of stainless steel. Hopefully, this article has provided you with some insight and helped you make the best purchasing choice possible.
