Tausi Insider

Photo : Daniel Krason ( Shutterstock ) A malfunctioning ice maker can really put a hitch in your holiday cocktail plans. Discovering the ice maker is no longer, well, making ice might make you want to call in a professional , but there are some things to check yourself for before taking that step. Here are the most common reasons your ice maker is malfunctio ning , and some things you can try to fix before calling in a pro. How to fix an o bstructed water line The most common cause of a problem with your ice maker is that there’s an obstruction of some kind in the water line. If the filter needs to be cleaned, or if the valve is closed, that will cause the ice maker to stop making ice. These obstructions can be fixed by taking out the filter, located along the water line that goes to the ice tray/water spout in the refrigerator, and cleaning it by rinsing it out in the sink. When you check the filter, you should also make sure that the valve that goes to the waterline on th...

Photo : Claire Lower I don’t know how or where you were raised, but I was raised by Southern people, both in Mississippi and Los Angeles. My people are iced tea drinkers, which makes having a steady supply of frozen water very important, especially when it’s hot out, which was almost always. A key component of this lifestyle is having some sort of receptacle to store your ice so you can build a surplus. Taking it directly from the tray means you have to finish that batch of ice before you can make more ice, and that isn’t acceptable. Almost every freezer I encountered growing up had some sort of ice bin inside of it, and it was perfect accept for one little flaw: The ice sometimes absorbed the fridge and freezer smells, tainting an otherwise lovely beverage. And while an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of fresh ice, and there are several fancy, sealable ice bins you can purchase to block wafting aromas, the most elegant solution is to use a freezer bag. Freezer bags are desi...