Beyond The Fog—More Fun Uses For Dry Ice
The first thought you may have when you think of dry ice may be memories of fake fog pouring out of a spooky Halloween punch bowl. While this is a fun idea for dry ice, it has many other uses you may not be aware of.
Not Just in the Kitchen
Dry ice can be a fun and inexpensive way to make homemade rockets. This is done with a soda bottle and water. Drill a hole in the lid of the soda bottle, so the gas will be able to escape, and cover the hole with tape. Fill the soda bottle to 1/3 full of water, and place dry ice in the bottle until it is half full. Then, quickly place the lid on the soda bottle, set it down on the ground, and step back! In just a few moments, the bottle will be launched into the air!
Another good non-culinary use for dry ice is to keep mosquitoes away. Mosquitoes are naturally attracted to dry ice. If you place some in a cloth bag away from where you plan to sit, they will be drawn away from their human targets. Even better, hang the bag next to a bug zapper and the mosquitoes will more likely be drawn to the zapper itself.
Fruits and Veggies
Flash frozen produce is less likely to get soggy when defrosted. Dry ice is a great way to do this. To flash freeze your fruits and veggies, put dry ice in a cooler and place the produce you intend to freeze on a cookie tray over the dry ice. Close the cooler, and wait at least 10 minutes. Once the produce is completely frozen, just put it in freezer-safe bags and move it to your freezer.
Another fun use for dry ice is making fizzy frozen fruit. All you have to do for this recipe is break up your dry ice into small chunks and place it in a bowl. Then put your fruit in the bowl, and let the dry ice sublimate. Again, this takes about 10 minutes. Once the fruit is frozen, it will also be carbonated! Try this trick with a few different kinds of fruit to see how the carbonation affects them.
Ice Cream
You can also make ice cream with dry ice. You'll need about a cup and a half of dry ice for every 5-6 cups of ice cream you intend to make. Once you have your ice cream ingredients ready, pour them all into a bowl. Break the ice into chunks, and add it to your ice cream mixture. Stir until the ice cream is sufficiently frozen. You can add a couple more chunks if it's not freezing well enough. If you have any leftover chunks, pull them out with a fork, and you are ready to enjoy your ice cream.
Contact a local outlet, such as Chilly Willy & Cool Carl's Ice, to pick up dry ice for your chosen possibilities.
Share