How to make ice for drinks at home?

The question “How to make ice at home?” makes many people smile. After all, what could be easier than pouring water into molds and putting it in the freezer?! Just what to do if you don’t have an ice cube tray on hand or it’s cracked? And for some reason the ice in restaurants and in the photos is transparent, but at home it turns out white and cloudy. Of course, restaurants use ice makers, but at home you can do without them and make a small amount of clear ice in the freezer. We'll tell you in detail how to do this.

Why does ordinary ice have a heterogeneous structure and white crystals in the center? The answer is simple: because of the composition of the water from which we prepare it. Everyone knows that water can be hard or soft, and different substances can be dissolved in it. It is salts, gases and other impurities in the process of freezing water that form large white crystals in pieces of ice and change its color.

Only non-carbonated purified water with minimal hardness can form transparent ice when frozen. If you prepare ice correctly, it will have no taste or smell, and will melt about 40-50% slower. How to prepare it:

Take purified water for baby food on the basis that each guest needs 500-600 grams of ready-made ice.
Pour water into an enamel or stainless steel pan, bring to a boil, boil for 2 minutes, turn off the gas, cover with a lid and let cool.
Repeat boiling again, cool under the lid to room temperature. This way you will get rid of gases dissolved in water.

Pour the prepared water into molds and cover them with cling film and place them in the freezer until completely frozen.

A few important details:

The freezer compartment must be clean to prevent bacteria from getting into the ice and unpleasant odors from being absorbed. Do not store ice in fish or meat containers.
To avoid the formation of bubbles, pour water in three stages - first to the bottom, then to the middle, and only then to the edge of the mold, allowing each layer to harden completely. You can also use the slow freezing method for this purpose (temperature -1 Celsius for 24 hours).
You can also freeze hot water (without covering it with film), taking into account the quality of the mold material and the power of the freezer.
Ice can be stored indefinitely.

You can use any form to make ice except glass - the glass will simply burst when freezing water expands. You can remove the finished ice from a mold of any size and material if you slightly heat the mold itself from the outside. If you don't have a special ice tray, you can use:

plastic glasses
plastic or metal lids
silicone molds for miniature cupcakes or sweets
chocolate box insert
small plastic bags
parts of a large Lego set and other plastic toys

All these form options need to be processed before use. New plastic bags and plastic cups do not need to be washed, but it is better to wipe children's toys with alcohol.

In Asian countries, they even prepare desserts from crushed ice, pouring it with fruit juices and syrups. Special equipment is used to crush ice. But it’s unlikely that anyone would install such a thing at home just for crushing ice. Therefore, you can use other methods to prepare small portions of crushed ice.

Use a hand crusher . This will take a lot of time and effort, but there will be little ice.
Use a food processor or blender : container with an S-shaped blade, pulsing mode. It will be noisy, but everything will work out provided the device has normal power and sharp knives.
The best method is to place the ice in a thick kitchen towel, wrap it tightly, and smash it directly into the towel with an ice mallet (or a clean meat mallet). Use a flatter surface. We do not recommend using a plastic bag - the ice will simply tear it and fly apart.

About the author: porezeptu

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Delicious ice

Using ice you can change not only the temperature, but also the appearance and taste of the cocktail:

Add aromatic herbs to the ice figures; they will decorate it and give it a spicy original taste. The most suitable options are mint, thyme, lemon balm, and basil. Be sure to consider the compatibility of the drink and herbal supplements. Instead of herbs, you can freeze tiny edible flowers - small buds of roses, violets, nasturtiums.
Freeze berries (after removing the seeds), fruit slices, olives, citrus slices, melon or watermelon slices. Fill the mold to about a third of the volume and freeze. Place a slice of product and fill with water. An unusual cocktail can be served by placing pieces of nuts in ice cubes.
Use juices, lemonade, fruit drinks, liqueur. This will enrich the taste of the cocktail and make its color brighter. The main thing is not to forget about the compatibility of tastes.
Add crushed chocolate or shavings to ice; you can freeze the finished chocolate drink.
Take food coloring and flavoring. Multilayer ice cubes look especially interesting. Pour some water into the mold, add flavoring and coloring, and freeze. Pour in a little more water, add another flavoring and coloring, freeze, etc. These cubes are an excellent decoration for cocktails.

From soda and vinegar

The preparation method is similar to the previous one:

Mix baking soda and acetic acid (1:1). There should be no reaction (foaming).
Heat the mixture until the liquid evaporates and a thick crust begins to form on the surface.
Cool to room temperature.
Don't interfere. After 15-20 minutes, a monolithic lump of crystalline sodium hydrate will appear.
The liquid remaining after “freezing” is sodium vinegar. Drain it into a separate container.
Crystallize the crystallized substance.
Pour into a clean bowl, cover with a napkin, and cool.
Pour in some of the previously drained vinegar. The liquid will freeze immediately.

The solution can be reused.

Remove the substance at room temperature. Do not flush the waste down the drain, but wait until the substance evaporates naturally.

Idea 5. Sushi in ice bins

An unusual but super way for lovers of Japanese cuisine. Sushi prepared in ice cube trays always comes out perfect in shape and size!

Preparing sushi in ice cube trays

We line the molds with cling film, put fish, shrimp or avocado down, then sauce and rice with your favorite seeds. Press, tip onto a plate, remove the film and VOILA!

How to make ice without an ice mold - affordable creativity

It is not necessary to have special molds at home or design them yourself to make beautiful and original ice. If you wish, you can find many worthy solutions to the situation:

If we are not talking about preparing cocktails, but about serving single-ingredient drinks, then you can prepare ice directly in glasses. To do this, you will need suitable dishes that can withstand temperatures of -1ºC. Just pour a little chilled drinking or boiled water into the bottom of the glass and put it in the freezer for slow freezing. Be sure to ensure that the remaining parts of the container are completely dry. This method allows you to achieve the necessary cooling, and gives the drink itself an unusual look in the glass.
To freeze water, you can use plastic cups with bottoms of different diameters. Pour the liquid no more than a centimeter and freeze as usual. The output will be original round pieces of ice. They can even be divided into halves or quarters if you initially line them with pieces of plastic cut out with your own hands from unnecessary bottles.
Some people manage to make ice using lids. They can be made of plastic or metal, twisted or rolled. The only difficulty is that when removing ice from such products, it is difficult not to damage it.
If desired, you can use Lego parts or silicone molds as blanks. You just need to thoroughly disinfect them before use.
In the worst case scenario, you will have to make do with plastic bags. We cut them into large pieces or initially take very small packages. Pour water into them and roll them into balls of various sizes. Place in a bowl and freeze according to instructions.

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In addition, you can come up with other equally original options for making ice. The main thing is to act according to the rules, then the components will become a real decoration of the drinks served.

We recommend that you read the article on how to separate the yolk from the white

How to make popsicles from smoothies?

Place a small saucepan on the stove. Pour a glass of water into it and pour a glass of sugar. Cook sugar syrup.
Wash the strawberries thoroughly and remove the stems. Pour into a blender bowl and add half the sugar. Let's stand.

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Peel the kiwi, cut into arbitrary pieces and also mix with sugar. Make strawberry puree, add cooled sugar syrup - 5-6 tablespoons. Taste it, it should be quite sweet. Add a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice. We also grind the kiwi into puree with the addition of sugar syrup. You don't need to add lemon juice to this portion. There are essentially two options for freezing - separate strawberry and kiwi ice cream or make striped fruit ice.

If you choose the second option, then pour half of the strawberry puree into the molds and place in the freezer for at least an hour. Then pour half of the kiwi smoothie. Let it harden again for 40-60 minutes. At this stage, place the stick into the sweet mass.

Do the same with the remaining smoothie and enjoy rich natural ice cream when freezing is complete.

Technology and cooking features

Before you start making ice, it’s worth considering the features of the technology for preparing this cold dessert. In fact, preparing it does not require much effort; everything is done quite simply and easily.

The main thing is that you must have juice from natural berries and fruits. Various spices and granulated sugar are also added to it.

But still, before you start preparing it, you should carefully study some important features:

Making ice using fresh fruit. This treat can be made from fresh seasonal or frozen fruit. But before you start cooking, be sure to thoroughly rinse all components from dust and dirt. As soon as the fruits are washed, it is recommended to wipe them and after that you can start making ice;
Juice based ice. This is the most common cold dessert technology. In this version it cooks very quickly. To do this, you need to squeeze juice from fruits or berries. It can then be mixed with the ground pulp. The liquid mixture is poured into molds and placed in the freezer for a while. As soon as a crust of ice forms on the surface, a stick is inserted into each mold and put back into the freezer until completely frozen;
Ice from sugar syrup. The technology for making this ice is quite simple. For preparation you need juice from fruits, berries, granulated sugar and water. Water is poured into the container, sugar is added and everything is mixed. Next, the berries or fruits are ground to a puree-like mass. Then the berry or fruit puree is poured into sugar syrup and stirred. The finished composition is poured into molds, which are placed in the freezer.

Immutable condition

So what's the deal? Why is it so difficult to get clear ice at home? How to make it clean, like a tear, smooth and shiny? The answer to the question is quite simple: the cubes will then turn out ideal when the conditions are favorable. There are several of them, and now we will tell you about them.

Firstly, the raw material from which you plan to make perfectly clear ice must also be ideal. What does this mean? It's simple: tap water is not good for us. In the substance that utilities supply through pipes, it is quite difficult to determine the composition. Impurities of metals, chemicals and other nasty things during freezing do not allow water molecules to crystallize as they should; they break the initially clear structure of the ice.

Secondly, liquids often contain air; small bubbles prevent frozen water from becoming transparent and smooth. This suggests a conclusion: the water must be clean and free of gases. It can be an ideal raw material, but doctors strongly do not recommend using it in the diet.

Tips for making edible ice

Not only impurities, but also air bubbles reduce the transparency of ice. To get high-quality ice at home, listen to our recommendations:

The water in the water supply network contains many impurities; ice is not transparent when produced. One of the basic rules of professionals is that ice must be made from purified water. If you take water from a tap, be sure to thoroughly clean it with a filter and boil it, preferably twice. Boiling will help get rid of unwanted air.
Leave the water to stand for several hours, all impurities will settle. Carefully, being careful not to stir up sediment, pour the water into another container.
You can prepare a variety of ice figures using silicone molds.
When ice freezes, it absorbs foreign odors; try not to cook it near strong-smelling foods.

If you don’t have the required number of ice trays on hand, use improvised means. For example, fill small disposable plastic cups to the required height and freeze. The cups are flexible, removing the ice is not difficult. Another option is to cut pieces of food-grade polyethylene into squares, pour in a lot of water, tie them in a knot, and freeze them. You will get neat balls that will look impressive in a cocktail glass.