I’m aware of a few different ways to make perfectly clear ice, but each has its own tradeoffs.

I’m also aware of a whole bunch of different ways people claim to be able to make clear ice, but I’ve been unable to replicate.

What are you doing? Does it require special equipment? Do you recommend it?

  • exasperation@lemm.eeOPEnglish
    0·
    17 days ago

    Directional freezing in a cooler/ice chest

    This is my go-to method, and requires only 2 pieces of equipment in addition to a freezer: a cooler that fits in the freezer, and a serrated knife for cutting cubes. (Note that the serrated knife tends to take a beating, so it doesn’t hurt to have a dedicated cheap knife for this purpose).

    1. Take a cooler, take the lid off, fill it halfway with water.
    2. Put the lidless cooler in the freezer as an open container.
    3. Pull the cooler out 12 hours later or however long for the thickness of the slab of ice to match the size of the ice cubes you want to make.
    4. Take the frozen slab of ice off the top and put it on a cutting surface. Discard the excess water.
    5. Let the ice warm up to melting temperature throughout the slab, so that the ice doesn’t crack excessively when you cut it.
    6. Saw into the ice with a serrated knife, just enough to where you have a distinct line.
    7. Hit the ice at the seam, watch the ice split off. If you don’t care about the knife, you can just use the knife as a chisel to hammer at with your palm or even a mallet.
    8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for each cut you want to make, until you have cubes or prisms you want to use. I make 1" x 1" x 5" (2.5 x 2.5 x 12.5 cm) prisms for highball glasses, or 2" (5 cm) cubes for tumblers.
    9. Put the ice back in the freezer for later use. I recommend spacing them apart on something until they freeze solid, so that the wet ice doesn’t stick to itself.

    Pros: easy, reliable, no special equipment needed.

    Cons: the edges and corners tend not to be perfectly straight, if that matters to you. It also tends to take up a lot of space in the freezer while in progress. And if you forget about it, you might find yourself with a big block of ice that you can’t get out of the cooler without thawing.

    Other notes: the insulation of the cooler does matter some, as a very well insulated cooler tends to make for a more uniform thickness in the slab of clear ice you make.

    • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
      2·
      16 days ago

      This is the exact method I used to use. Unfortunately, it cracked my cooler interior, so I can’t just dump water right in there anymore. I bet it depends on the exact shape of your cooler, and if you let it freeze solid or pull it out while there’s still liquid water.

      I have a thick wooden towel that I use as a muddler, and I use it as a mallet to hit the back of my crappy serrated knife.

      I saw a video or something of someone using cheap insulated coffee mugs (like the type you get as a freebie with a company logo on it) to freeze individual cylinders, but the effectiveness probably depends on the shape of the mug.

      • Krauerking@lemy.lol
        1·
        16 days ago

        I use the coffee mugs things and they work very well. Really don’t need to worry about the shape since just the top couple inches should be freezing which is usually the widest part.

        But yeah you generally don’t want to let it freeze completely. Ice expands a lot but the steel liners in the cheap tumblers seem to hold up for some reason.

        Also I really can’t recommend an ice pick enough. Just a simple bamboo handled aluminum pick should be enough just having that pointed tip makes cracking the ice so much easier. And can still wack the back of it.