Onyx

Stainless Steel Ice Cube Tray (18-Slot)

Plasticproof Excellent $$$Our price tier

Stainless steel ice tray with a lever release — ice freezes in metal rather than in the flexible plastic tray that spends its life going from freezer to warm water.

Check price on Amazon

Ice freezes on steelNo flexible plastic.

Lever releaseNothing to twist or crack.

No freezer smellSteel absorbs nothing.

See exactly how we verify this

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases — at no extra cost to you. We show a "Check price on Amazon" link rather than a number because Amazon prices change often.

Why it's safe for your family

The tray is stainless steel with no coating, so the water freezes against metal. Flexible plastic trays are the alternative, and they are repeatedly flexed, frozen and run under hot water, which is exactly how a plastic surface degrades.
Steel releases ice by conducting heat, not by bending. A short run of cool water on the underside frees the whole tray, and there is nothing to twist or crack.
It cannot absorb freezer smells, which is the specific complaint about plastic trays: ice that tastes like whatever was in the freezer last month.
A metal tray is a lifetime object. There is no plastic to go brittle at freezer temperatures and split, which is how most trays end.

Quick specs

Material

Stainless steel

Release

Lever mechanism

Slots

18 cubes

Plastic

None

Care

Dishwasher safe

What to avoid instead

Avoid flexible plastic trays and silicone trays with plastic lids if what you want is no plastic contact — although note silicone is a reasonable middle ground and is not the same material class. The real trade with steel is that it is not flexible, so releasing cubes takes a moment of running water rather than a twist.

How we verify — and what we don't

Straight answer: we're a research team, not a testing lab. Here's exactly what our rating is based on — and what it isn't — so you can weigh it honestly.

What we check

What the product is made of, from the maker's own specs and product listing.
Whether any part that touches you or your food uses PTFE, PFAS, plastic, or a coating that can degrade.
Peer-reviewed research on how that material behaves when heated, scratched, washed, or worn.
Known failure modes — how the product actually breaks down in a real home.

What we don't do

We have not chemically tested this specific unit in a lab.
We don't take payment to rate a product higher — there is no sponsored placement.
We don't show star ratings or "trusted by thousands" counts we can't stand behind.

What gets a product rejected

Anything that adds a known microplastic, PFAS, or off-gassing source — a non-stick coating, a plastic surface against food or skin, vinyl/PVC — is downgraded or cut. We only list what clears that bar.

Don't take our word for it — check the sources yourself Onyx's product details

Common questions

Is it hard to get the ice out?

Not once you stop treating it like a plastic tray. Run cool water briefly over the base and pull the lever; the whole tray releases. Trying to force a frozen lever is the one thing that damages it.

Does metal make the ice taste different?

No, and it generally tastes better, because the tray is not absorbing freezer odors. Ice tasting of the freezer is a plastic problem, not a water problem.

Will it rust?

Stainless in a freezer has none of the conditions rust needs. Dry it if it goes through a dishwasher and gets stacked wet, which is generic stainless advice rather than anything specific to a tray.