Let’s be honest: online recipes are a minefield. Sure, the user ratings system employed by most online recipe sites help bring the cream to the top and push the crap to the bottom – but every now and then you’re bound to stumble upon a recipe and think “this looks great” only to find that dinner’s ruined and you wasted a lot of time.

But this recipe, in my opinion, is foolproof.

Posted back in 2010 on Food.com, one helpful cook decided to let everyone in on her little family secret: Ice Cubes.

Ingredients; water. Directions: Empty the ice cubes that are left in the trays (if there are any left) into the bin. take the trays over to the sink and fill them with cold water, place the water filled ice trays back in the freezer, replace the ice bin if you had to remove it, and finally shut the door to the freezer.

Beautiful.

But it’s some of the comments that are the real gems. I love how many of them take the shape of your traditional recipe site comment. Check out some of the best below:

This recipe is horrible! Maybe I should have left them in longer than two minutes (the recipe doesn’t say how long to leave them in the freezer so I just kind of guessed) but mine came out all watery. I won’t be making these again.

I wanted to make your recipe but our well ran dry, so I didn’t have any water to make ice. Since I was having a party, I really had to come up with a clear liquid substitute so I would have ice on hand. A word of warning: when you make vodka cubes your BIL will hit a tree with his new car and your sister will never speak to you again.

I harvest my own free-range water, so the idea of putting it in a plastic tray and a commercially made electricity-wasting freezer disgusts me. I prefer nature’s method, waiting until the temperature outside drops below freezing.

I tried this recipe but I must have done something wrong cause they didn’t turnout like the picture! I think I left them in to long or didn’t have the temp. set right cause they came out freezer burned. Next time I think I will try it in the microwave on a cool setting, I am a pro when it comes to making high quality meals that way.

My son can’t get past step one. Is anybody else having that problem with their teenagers?

Wow, this recipe has SAVED me! All this time, I thought I had to wait until the lake froze over and chip at it to have ice! Now, my real question is this: CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO MAKE WATER?

So delicious! I doubled the recipe in a huge baking dish and am freezing the rest in individual servings. So excited to enjoy this dish for the next few weeks!

Awesome! I am not much of a cook, but I thought what the hey? I’ve got a few days off work, I’ll try it! Plus, I already had the ingredients at the house! My husband was amazed at my newfound culinary skill! This recipe is filed under “Favorites”!

NEED HIGH ALTITUDE INSTRUCTIONS / ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE. I am traveling and will be at a house at around 8,000 ft elevation. Please Advise.

To be fair to recipe creator CHRISSYG, I don’t think she was all that serious about it.

“I’m publishing this recipe because I’m sure that there are other families who have members, who don’t know how or have forgotten how to make ice when the ice tray is empty,” she said.

[via Fark]