My Refrigerator Is Making Smelly Ice Cubes. What's Wrong?

At CR, we’ve previously used a garlic test to drive the point home. Using a single-evaporator refrigerator, we filled the fresh-food compartment with garlic, made ice in the freezer, and found that the ice didn’t just smell like garlic (though it did)—it tasted like it, too. 

To avoid smelly ice cubes, clean your refrigerator’s ice collection bin according to the manufacturer’s instructions; usually, a mixture of baking soda and warm water will do. Then put baking soda boxes in both the fresh-food and freezer compartments as close to the icemaker as possible. These will absorb food odors to minimize their travel into the icemaker.

Next time you shop for a refrigerator, consider upgrading to one with a dual evaporator, typically found only on more expensive fridges. That means the fresh-food and freezer compartments have their own dedicated evaporators, and no air passes between the two spaces, leaving your ice odor-free.