Crystal Clear Ice

[dcarch]

"----One question I had though was how much oxygen can be removed from water through boiling it? --"

Not at all. You cannot remove O from H2O by boiling. (sorry, just joking, I know you meant air) :-)

I don't consider that experiment you linked successful. The ice cubes seem very cloudy to me.

dcarch

Edited December 21, 2011 by dcarch (log)

[Junkbot]

I don't consider that experiment you linked successful. The ice cubes seem very cloudy to me.

dcarch

I wouldn't say successful, more proof of concept since they look a lot better than the other trials. This person seemed pretty successful, as well as this one.

[Mjx]

Would someone mind briefly explaining the reason it matters whether or not ice is clear, and how/whether that ties in to the way this is achieved?

[Junkbot]

Clear ice is mostly aesthetic. The only venues that really care are upscale bars. Granted, huge chunks of crystal clear ice in your cocktail does look pretty nifty since it's so novel.

The reason it's so novel is because most people have never tried to make it at home, which is fairly trivial to do. The easiest way to do it is to freeze water in an open cooler. The bottom layer will be cloudy, but if you can just melt/chip it off.

Try serving your guests clear ice at your next get together; it'll be sure to get many comments.

[dcarch]

-----.  Clear ice is a side project here.-------

 

Details, please?

 

dcarch

[paulraphael]

Details, please?

 

dcarch

I used to live across the street from an ice sculptor who had to make big blocks of perfectly clear ice. His trick was to keep the water circulating ... he used something that looked like an aquarium pump. This apparently stopped air bubbles from forming.

Edited July 12, 2014 by paulraphael (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Details, please?

 

dcarch

 

I'm sure I must have posted about it somewhere.  Briefly, I boiled ice cold water in my Polyscience, then froze it under vacuum in a canister.  Most of each cube was clear, however they were not perfect.  I plan to retry the experiment using distilled water, but first I have to defrost the freezer.  That, or buy another freezer...whichever comes first.

[cdh]

The trick I've seen used successfully for clear ice is to freeze a block of ice inside an insulated cooler inside your freezer... the insulation simulates pond ice freezing conditions so it freezes top down and is clear, like pond ice.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I've been reading Camper English's The Ice Book.  On page 34 there is a picture of commercial molds which includes a Dexas clear ice maker tray.  Of course I had to try one.

 

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

 

Herewith is my first attempt at directional freezing...

 

 

 

 

[lindag]

Do you do this in your blast freezer?

[weinoo]

I bought one of these, which is obviously similar in its methodology of ice making to the product @JoNorvelleWalker shows us above.

 

Pain in the ass to make clear ice, in that the thing takes up a lot of room (so my freezer is not perfect for it), and mostly the cocktails I make are served either stirred or shaken and served up.  So really, in many cases, what's the point?

[btbyrd]

Five years ago I bought a clear ice mold that makes two spheres at a time. This was an error. Square rocks are better. Spheres just clink and roll and fall everywhere. If you can only get one mold, go for the cubes. And after that, the spear. There's really something magical about a long rectangle of ice that disappears in a Collins glass (or other long drink glass).

 

Spherical ice does have some fun optical properties though.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, lindag said:

Do you do this in your blast freezer?

 

Yes, I did this in the blast freezer, but only because the blast freezer was easier.  As @weinoo mentioned, these things take up a lot of room.  I would have had to take stuff out of the kitchen freezer to make space.  The blast freezer is reasonably level.  The kitchen freezer is not.  Also the temperature of the blast freezer is adjustable in one degree increments.  The kitchen freezer has a dial, hard to reach, that affects both the freezer and the refrigerator temperatures.

 

However because the blast freezer has a fan, I placed aluminum foil over the setup so that the surface of the ice was not rippled.  After the ice was frozen I transferred it to the kitchen freezer.

 

I would say that the most important trick to the clear ice process is to adjust the freezer temperature warm enough so that the cubes freeze very slowly.

 

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, btbyrd said:

Five years ago I bought a clear ice mold that makes two spheres at a time. This was an error. Square rocks are better. Spheres just clink and roll and fall everywhere. If you can only get one mold, go for the cubes. And after that, the spear. There's really something magical about a long rectangle of ice that disappears in a Collins glass (or other long drink glass).

 

Spherical ice does have some fun optical properties though.

 

 

You're sort of on your way to a Bushwick cocktail - is that where that was headed?

[btbyrd]

12 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

You're sort of on your way to a Bushwick cocktail - is that where that was headed?

 

I suppose so. I hadn't heard of that cocktail until now and was making a birthday drink of my own creation. It was basically a Bushwick without the Amer Picon and with a dash of Ango. And served on a rock, not up.

[FauxPas]

3 hours ago, btbyrd said:

I suppose so. I hadn't heard of that cocktail until now and was making a birthday drink of my own creation.

 

Happy Birthday!  The ice looks beautiful. Was it an enjoyable beverage?  🙂

 

[C. sapidus]

Pikesville is my favorite rye. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find it recently.

 

Ice cubes, something something.  😉

[JoNorvelleWalker]

49 minutes ago, C. sapidus said:

Pikesville is my favorite rye. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find it recently.

 

Ice cubes, something something.  😉

 

My new Dexas cubes are currently chilling a zombie.  Once you get over the learning curve for directional freezing, you won't believe the results to effort ratio for making pristinely clear ice.

 

Slightly off topic my favorite rye is Whistlepig, single barrel, barrel strength --  but I drink my rye neat.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I am still fascinated by the actuality of perfectly clear ice.  I had beautiful cubes tonight in my Mississippi punch.