Freezing Objects in Ice
September 28, 2010
As you know I've been making clear ice at home. I've got a lot more experimenting to do, but for now I thought I'd try freezing a bottle inside a block.
I started with a mini bottle of Chambord, since it's the flashiest one I own. I tied a piece of fishing line around the neck of the bottle and suspended it in my ice-making cooler. I tied the top around a ruler to hold it above the cooler.
Happily it stayed in place while freezing. I popped out the block.
This block was cloudier than usual. I'm not sure if that's because of the object in the ice or not.
It looks a little better close up, so I cut the ice closer to the bottle.
It's not perfect, but it would make a great chunk of ice for a punch bowl.
An index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.
Now you have freakin`outdone yourself camper..wow..what a conversation piece for a party..
Posted by: Tiare | September 28, 2010 at 09:55 AM
A punch bowl? I don't understand the point of this experiment.
Posted by: Gin & Bear It | September 29, 2010 at 08:59 AM
decoration.
Posted by: Camper English | September 29, 2010 at 05:25 PM
these adventures in ice have been highly entertaining...really can't wait to see what the next trick up your sleeve is...
Posted by: [email protected] | September 29, 2010 at 06:59 PM
Thanks, makes complete sense. Do you think the block could be bored or drilled, without splitting, to hold bottles?
Posted by: Gin & Bear It | September 30, 2010 at 08:18 AM
I've been following your icecapades for a while now, and I was hoping you'd get around to freezing garnishes into your clear cubes. I've played a bit with these in regular trays, but positioning was always a problem. I solved this by letting the cubes partially freeze, sucking out the liquid centers with a syringe, then placing the garnish and refilling with near freezing water (or other flavored or colored liquid). This is a bit labor intensive, but gave some stunning results.
Do you have a plan for how to control the position of, say, a sprig of thyme or rosemary in the ice hunks? Fishing line is out, since you certainly don't want to have plastic filament floating in peoples' drinks.
Posted by: Colin Gore | September 30, 2010 at 10:46 AM
I can't tell if you're insane or GENIUS!
Posted by: Anne | September 30, 2010 at 03:46 PM
I have much work to do! I am going to attempt the core method as you describe, but then the ice wont be clear. The fishing line can actually pull right out of the ice if you thread it through, rather than tie it to, the object. I did this with the lemon peel letters I did a while back- fishing line pulled right out. I am pretty sure this could work with herbs- just poke a hole through with the line then pull it out afterwards.
But your method of letting ice partially freeze then cutting out the center gives me an idea: why not do that, then put the object in the center, then freeze it upside-down on a small bit of water so that the side closes but it remains a hole in the center of the ice with the object?
Posted by: Camper English | October 01, 2010 at 12:34 AM
I am not sure but drilling ice is definitely something I am going to try when I get time.
The shorter way would be to use a regular container to hold ice (not insulated) and let it partially freeze, then poke a hole in one side, drain out the water, and fill it with whatever.
Posted by: Camper English | October 01, 2010 at 12:41 AM
You should try freezing hot water, it generally reduces the cloudyness
Posted by: brit | October 02, 2010 at 10:21 AM
Ah, brilliant! There's an aphorism about two heads and their relative relationship to one that seems quite appropritate right now. I'll put this method on my to-do list, but it might be a few days. I'll keep you in the loop. Unfortunately I have been bad at documenting so I don't have any pictures of my previous trials, but I will make a point to amend my bad habits.
Sláinte,
Colin
Posted by: Colin Gore | October 05, 2010 at 08:25 PM
Don't try too hard, Anne:
Many of the latter are also the former...
Either way, this is pretty cool stuff!
Posted by: Dave | November 02, 2010 at 02:51 PM
Thanks for doing the leg work here. I used your cooler technique to make a pretty nice piece for a punch bowl. Mandarin oranges were submerged using a couple blocks of frozen spinach over plastic wrap. Here's a link to photos of the results. https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2114808&id=1382766589&l=b61b97ee1e You can see a little cloudiness around the oranges but without vibration or a pump I think this is about as good as it gets. Next time I'm thinking of partially submerged items protruding out of the top of the block e.g. liquor bottles, herbs, fruit, a punch bowl etc. Thanks again!
Posted by: Snowflaked420 | April 12, 2011 at 09:50 AM
That looks great!
Posted by: Camper English | April 12, 2011 at 04:16 PM
Camper, have you reviewed the Polar Ice Tray product? It seems to incorporate many of the ideas from this great discussion. I'd like to see a review and your thoughts. http://www.polaricetray.com/us/
Posted by: Rob | September 16, 2011 at 01:13 AM
Rob - yes I did write this up.
http://www.alcademics.com/2010/11/the-clear-ice-maker-that-already-exists.html
I've heard mixed results about it. Seems like it's okay but has its flaws.
Posted by: Camper English | September 18, 2011 at 06:37 PM
Thanks sooooo much for writing this. I have been trying for the last 5 days to get clear ice and always came up with the cloud in the middle. I am a fairly accomplished cook and couldn't understand why I couldn't make clear ice. thanks for the science lesson it was great! can't wait to try it out. I'm ging to see if I can put a laminated picture in the middle of the block.
Posted by: Daniella | January 05, 2012 at 09:53 AM
Thanks Daniella. I don't know if it is emphasized enough on this particular post, but the important thing is the insulated container (cooler).
http://www.alcademics.com/2009/12/clear-ice-blocks-at-home-in-an-igloo-cooler.html
Posted by: Camper English | January 05, 2012 at 09:57 AM
i have also searched for a clearer ice fixture. I came upon a website that said to use distilled water for clear frozen sculptures.
Posted by: Juana | May 14, 2012 at 10:42 AM
fun fun fun.... personally, I stick with 'Lemon Mint icecubes (icecubes frozen in 3 stages, firstly plain water, then a wet mint leaf, then water/lemon juice mix to complete the cubes....
work like a charm in some cocktails (stinger, mohito,caruso) when using cubes instead of crushed ice....
Give it a try !!
-Jake, dublin
Posted by: jake, dublin | February 07, 2013 at 11:41 AM
So I have tried the cooler method a number of times with great success. I couldn't find the square containers you used, but I found some square 2 inch pvc pipe online that works great.
I have been trying to freeze a lemon slice in a cube using the cooler method, but my results haven't been very good. I suspend the lemon slice with fishing line like you did above inside a cooler, but the ice surrounding the lemon is very cloudy. I am trying to recreate the picture seen here http://www.pinterest.com/pin/151996556147453807/
but i am just not sure it is possible to get ice that clear around something like a lemon slice. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Nate | October 17, 2013 at 04:15 PM
Hmm, well you need to suspend the lemon slice near the top of the cooler with room for water to move around it so hopefully the cloudy stuff moves out of the way. It's also possible that the water in the lemon is interfering (just a guess). Maybe test it with something not filled with liquid? I had success here with lemon peels:
http://alcademics.typepad.com/designimages/banners/icebanner6width1000.jpg
Also when freezing things in ice it's even more important to not jostle the cooler while it is freezing.
That's all I can think of for now. Good luck!
Posted by: Camper English | October 17, 2013 at 05:27 PM
Wow, the ice with the lemon peels looks awesome! I will have to try that. Thanks
Posted by: Nate | October 17, 2013 at 06:06 PM