Unlock your airbending skills to make crystal-clear ice cubes



The sound of ice breaking is a representation of a refreshing beverage. On a literal level, it sounds like smaller, larger surface-area bits of ice breaking apart and melting more quickly due to structural damage. That's not always a problem, but there are occasions when you want ice that will keep your beverage cooler for a longer period of time, hold its shape, and dissolve slowly. You need to create crystal-clear ice for it.

The majority of ice that you manufacture at home or buy in a store is at least slightly hazy. While ambiguous "impurities" are frequently blamed for this cloudiness, the purity of your starting water has little bearing on it. Obviously, pure water should be used as a starting point, but even an ice tray filled with filtered, boiling water will result in cubes with cloudy centers.

An ice cube tray that has been filled and placed in the freezer sits in an open container that is exposed to cold air coming from all sides and starts to freeze from the outside in. An ice cube will most likely appear crystal clear if you observe it around the midway point of the freezing process, while its core is still liquid. Since the ice will still have a strong and constant crystal structure in the outer layers at this point, the descriptor "crystal-clear" is appropriate.

There will be an air bubble hiding in the outermost layers of your partially frozen cubes, ready to cloud your ice. The trapped air will obstruct the production of clear crystals and produce the familiar fuzzy white web when the ice crystal matrix encircles that bubble. In more technical terms, the trapped air expands differently when the temperature changes and has a lower thermal burden than water. This results in internal fissures—the crackling you hear in your glass—because the inner and outer layers of your ice expand at different speeds when they come into contact with liquid.

Making crystal-clear ice

There are three ways to manufacture beautiful ice at home, along with all the advantages that come with it. The first technique is the least expensive but requires the most labor; the second is quicker but more expensive; and the third is just purchasing a large machine to complete the task. Controlling the direction and rate of ice crystal production is essential to all three.

Method 1: a serrated knife and a cooler

Directional freezing, or making sure the ice forms in one direction rather than from all sides, is the most crucial element in creating clear ice. In actuality, this entails utilizing a cooler or another container with insulation everywhere but the top. Look for a cooler that fits inside your freezer, fill it with clean water, and leave about an inch vacant on top to accommodate expansion. When you first do it, err on the side of caution and leave more free space than you think you need because the alternative will result in your cooler cracking. Place it in the freezer and give it a day. The trapped air will all be forced to the bottom as the water freezes from the top down.

When the allotted time has passed, take out the cooler and flip it over onto a dry surface. At the bottom, there will probably still be a layer of liquid water and trapped air, and everything will start to pour out. Additionally, you will get a great, clear slab of ice because the air won't have had a chance to cloud it.

Cut the ice now to the appropriate thickness. Create grooves in the ice with a strong serrated knife that are about one centimeter deep, and then use a hammer to tap the back of the blade to break through the remaining thickness. You can create custom-sized, absolutely transparent, solid ice cubes by repeating this method.

Using an insulated ice tray, method 2.

Purchase an ice cube (or sphere, if you're feeling fancy) directed freezing mold. The ice cube tray itself should have a small opening in the bottom of the ice chamber for the air to travel through, and it will be insulated on all sides except the top. Everything that comes out of the mold itself will be clear since there will be an additional compartment beneath the cube mold for the air and foggy ice to get trapped in. Similar to the cooler method, this works best if you remove it from the freezer before it has completely frozen to the bottom, preventing the formation of hazy ice.

3. Purchase a large machine.

A good countertop clear ice maker will cost you between $150 and $250, but if you frequently purchase bags of ice due to your high demand for it, it might be a wise investment. These machines, as with other machines, will produce smaller bits of ice but will also save you time and work. The majority of home clear ice makers function by continuously pouring recirculated water over an extremely cooled metal lattice with an open front, causing the ice crystals to grow backwards and preventing air from being trapped. Both the Sentern portable countertop clear ice maker and the NewAir ClearIce40 operate on this theory and have received positive reviews, but you must use or freeze the ice they produce right away or otherwise, as you would have predicted, your immaculate cubes will melt.

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