GE Profile Opal Countertop Nugget Ice Maker Review.

I love my nugget ice maker. That plus my coffee machine are my two favorite home gadgets. I bought it last year on Prime Day, so I’ve had it a little over a year and it is just the best. It makes something so ordinary (ice) feel special and luxurious, plus it’s really nice having pebble ice on demand without having to go buy it (I’ve bought bags of it at fast food restaurants before!). When friends come over for cocktails it’s nice to be able to offer them pebble ice in their drinks.

Even after over a year, the novelty hasn’t worn off. I never have to stock up on ice for parties and gatherings. And because I make the ice myself I know it’s clean and free from contamination. I will have a proper built in ice maker at the new house but I’m keeping this too… I need my pebble ice! Today I wanted to dedicate a post to share my review of the GE Profile Opal Countertop Nugget Ice Maker with everything I love most about it. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments!

GE Profile Opal Countertop Nugget Ice Maker Review

I have never had a countertop ice machine before so I can’t really compare it to other ice makers but I will tell you that I LOVE this. And I do not have a ton of counter space in my apartment (I won’t at the new house either) but it is worth the real estate! I love this thing so much.

Features

Production Time:

A kind of wild fact is that this machine can make up to 24 pounds of ice per day, which works out to one pound of ice per hour. It is really just so fast and efficient! I have never come close to using or needing even a fraction of that but it’s nice to know I have the capability to do so. When friends will come over and we will empty out the big (it holds three lbs of ice) and it’s actually pretty quickly replenished. It’s really fast. Once you plug it in and start making ice, you will have enough ice for a drink or two in just twenty minutes.

Accessories:

It comes with a cute little ice scoop and a drip tray to ensure there’s never any mess or runoff on your counter top. Also worth noting: I bought the version with the side tank as it produces 3X more ice. The side tank attaches easily to the ice maker. I fill it with distilled water (an easy extra step with long-term payoff; you don’t have to descale the machine if you use distilled water).

Pros And Cons Of The GE Profile Opal Countertop Nugget Ice Maker

Pros

Ice Size

I just love these ice nuggets! This is such a frivolous thing but the little ice cubes make me so happy. They are crunchy and chewable and just a little addictive. I feel silly and frivolous gushing this much over tiny ice but it’s just the best.

Machine Quality

I think that this machine is great quality. I have had mine for a year and change and have had no issues with it.

Ease of Use

It’s really easy to use. Cleaning it is a pain but once it’s clean it kinda just does everything it needs to do on its own without any other work from you. The machine is smart! It knows when your ice is running low and it recirculates any melted ice into the water reservoir so that you always have fresh ice on hand. It makes ice all day long. And when the bin is full it knows to stop. It also has a pause button which is nice if you don’t want the noise. Since my apartment has an open plan we do this during movie nights!

Yield

The GE Profile Opal 2.0 can make up to 24 lbs of ice per day – that is one pound of ice per hour. The bin holds three lbs of ice (which is a lot), meaning that it will be full in three hours. I am really impressed by how quickly it makes ice!

Cons

Cleaning

Cleaning the GE Profile Opal 2.0 is probably the biggest con. You really do need to clean it (at a minimum) every couple months. Mine got moldy once and it was really disgusting and gross. I recommend cleaning it every two months (they recommend every month!) and not waiting until it gets disgusting, as I did! The other thing for me is that my kitchen sink is currently in an island (it won’t be at my new house) which means that every time I clean it I have to pick it up (it’s heavy!) and bring it over to near the sink.

The cleaning cycle itself is pretty painless and takes about 15 minutes (you just make a solution with bleach and water and run the cleaning cycle – again, the machine is smart and knows what to do!), it’s more that I hate moving the machine.

De-Scaling

You also need to descale the machine with vinegar every few months. I got irritated by this and started using distilled water and now I don’t have to descale it anymore. I just buy a few gallons at the grocery store; problem solved.

Noise

It is a little noisy. Nothing too bad but because I sleep with my door open (cat) and everything is on one floor, sometimes I can hear it at night. Same with when watching a movie, as I mentioned above, we pause it for that! I’m really looking forward to having it be downstairs and my bed upstairs.

Price

This ice machine is expensive. It costs $579 (I bought mine for $468 on Amazon Prime Day in 2021). So you better really want it / think you will get a lot of use out of it. I use mine all day every day and have found it to be worth the money.

Size and Portability

I’m sorry but this is not a portable ice maker. I thought it was interesting that the website listed it as portable and easy to move. It’s pretty heavy? Maybe it’s portable to someone who is a little bit stronger. Wherever you put it, that’s where it is going to live. It is heavy. As I mentioned, the biggest con for this is the cleaning process and carrying it over to the sink to drain it. (In another home – not this one or my future one I would keep it next to the sink so that you wouldn’t have to do this).

I guess it would be portable compared to say, a built in ice maker. You can plug it in anywhere, fill the reservoir with water, and as ice melts it is added back into the reservoir where it will be made back into more ice. The other thing to consider is its height, which is 17.25″. Make sure you measure. Mine fits perfectly under my kitchen cabinets but if it were any higher, it wouldn’t work in the space. It would not have fit in my last apartment.

Is The GE Profile Opal Countertop Nugget Ice Maker Worth It?

It is hard to tell you that a $600 ice maker is “worth it,” (worth it means so many different things to everyone!!!) but I really love mine. To me it’s worth it. Worth the cost, worth the time spent cleaning, worth the counter space. I definitely recommend waiting til there is a sale… (there usually is on Amazon Prime Day!) but if you can afford it and you love pebble ice (and cocktails!) I think you will really love this machine.