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Transporting ice cream


paulraphael

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I've been making a lot of ice cream at home. In an effort to not eat a lot of ice cream at home, I'd like to bring some of it to other people's homes. But it's kind of hot outside.

Are there any compact, cheap, ingenious solutions to this? I saw in another thread that someone uses the freezer bowl of their ice cream maker for transport, but I'm hoping for something less bulky and fragile. Something like a quart or half gallon sized, soft sided cooler, or a wrap-around freezer pack.

Thoughts?

Notes from the underbelly

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If your talking only about 10-15 minutes from your freezer to theirs, just about any insulated bag will do. Just make sure it's solidly frozen before you begin transport.

For longer journeys I'd recommend finding a source of dry ice. Some convenience stores carry it, as well as some Wal-Marts. In larger communities there's likely to be an ice supply company that handles it and is willing to sell retail. I bought 10 pounds of dry ice pellets last weekend for a road trip at about $2 a pound. I imagine two or three pounds will hold a half-gallon or gallon of ice cream for two or three hours; for larger quanities and/or longer hours, it will take more dry ice. You'll want to use an insulated container of some sort (cheap styrofoam works well), just don't transport it in the passenger compartment of your vehicle for more than 10 or 15 minutes unless you've got at least some windows open. While the carbon dioxide is not in and of itself poisonous, it will displace air as it sublimates from solid to gas. Put it in a trunk that doesn't leak into the passenger compartment and you'll be fine.

Since the dry ice probably will keep the ice cream considerably colder and harder than your freezer at home, allow some thaw time at the other end.

Bob Libkind aka "rlibkind"

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... Are there any compact, cheap, ingenious solutions to this? ...

In the absence of active cooling, dry ice, liquid nitrogen, etc, you need two things: insulation and thermal mass. Lots of thermal mass, as cold as you can, and lots of insulation to restrict the flow of heat trying to warm that mass.

However, cheap thermal mass works against portability, and effective but cheap insulation works against compactness. Extra layers, or more thickness, of insulation is better.

Rather than thinking "cheap", think "low extra cost" - or what have you already got that can be pressed into service?

Assuming that you don't have access to either a "thermal cooker" or some other stainless steel vacuum flask with an adequately wide neck, maybe you have some sort of coolbox or insulated picnic/shopping bag (or even both) ... and some gel packs for them... and a cast iron casserole... and some bubblewrap packing material... ??? Freeze the gel packs and the casserole for a few hours. Then, working fast, wrap the ice cream container in bubblewrap and pack it inside the frozen casserole. Wrap the casserole and frozen gel packs in more bubblewrap (so the lid is held in place). Put this in the picnic bag, and the picnic bag inside the coolbox. Then hit the road.

You did get all the other preparations out of the way before packing the ice cream, didn't you? :cool:

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch ... you must first invent the universe." - Carl Sagan

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If you go the dry ice route, beware that carbon dioxide is heavier than room air. It will settle in dependent areas and be in high concentrations.

When I was a young dude, I had a bad experience. The lab I was working in ordered in dry ice once or twice a week and it was stored in a cooler but not actually refrigerated. The cooler was the size of a big, big chest freezer so when it was pretty full, there was plenty of "cold" to store dry ice for a week.

I was leaning into the chest when it was pretty empty, when I had to sneeze.

Very unpleasant. The carbon dioxide turns to carbonic acid on your mucus membranes and I felt very hypoxic.

Make sure there's enough ventilation in your car.

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Use one of those small portable ice boxes . They come in various sizes and are easy to carry along . They are not too expensive as well . I have used them so for for keeping water and drinks cold for as long as 5-6 hrs but never used them to keep ice cream from melting . If you are not traveling longer distances then I think you can use this for ice cream as well .

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What would be a good container for storing ice cream in the freezer?

Any container will be fine . FYI Stainless steel containers are the ones used commercially for ice cream storage .

Easy Recipes - A place to find and share cooking recipes that are easy to make.

Buy Kitchen Blenders : Online shop to order kitchen blenders for home & commercial use - All brands listed - Some items ship within 24 hrs

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I've been using a tupperwre bowl but frost/ice keeps on forming on the ice cream.  Is this a typical thing?  So, there's no specific container made to keep ice cream...uh...creamy (not icy)?

Do you apply a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream? I do, and the only parts that get frosty, even weeks later, are those that aren't touching the plastic.

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I've been using a tupperwre bowl but frost/ice keeps on forming on the ice cream.  Is this a typical thing?  So, there's no specific container made to keep ice cream...uh...creamy (not icy)?

Do you apply a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream? I do, and the only parts that get frosty, even weeks later, are those that aren't touching the plastic.

YES, YES, YES ! I even do this with commercial ice creams and it works so well. Rip off a big ol' piece of plastic wrap, and press it down tight onto the entire surface. You can keep it for weeks with no crystallization. No air contact EQUALS no ice crystals.

ETA----Replace the container's original cover over the plastic wrap, obviously, but just so's there's no confusion.......... :wacko:

Edited by Pierogi (log)

--Roberta--

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