Category: ice

This came out great!

Using this technique with the Thermos Funtainer and ice ball molds I put some cherries inside ice ball molds atop the Thermos and froze them. 

Nothing complicated, these looked awesome.

For all the clear ice projects on Alcademics, check out the Index of Ice Experiments page. 

While sheltering-in-place at home, I've taken to doing some (more) silly ice projects. For these I used the basic Igloo cooler method and placing objects near the top of the water line so that they'd freeze into the clear part of the ice after freezing. 

For the sunglasses, I rested a stick over the top of the cooler and tapes the sides to it so that the lenses were in the water. 

For the shark, as you can see I stood it upright in the cooler (originally taped to the same stick) and let the clear ice freeze downward.

In both cases I removed the block from the cooler before it was fully frozen (2-3 days) so that there would be only clear ice.

Most readers of Alcademics are probably familiar with this by now, but I realized that in my many (many, many) ice posts here on Alcademics I don't have a straightforward post listing how I most often make large perfectly clear ice spheres at home. So I made this post to insert into my ice project index. 

This method scales up so if you want to make 10 large clear ice balls at a time you can do so without taking up a lot of room or buying more expensive versions of this set-up. 

The process is based on Directional Freezing (pushing the cloudy part of freezing water in one direction, in this case out the hole in the bottom of the ice ball mold). The particular thermos to use was the suggestion of a reader on Alcademics. You nerds are the best! 

Equipment:

Ice balls molds – You'll want the large, 2.5 inch ice ball molds that are circular. 

Thermos – The most compact shape that fits these large ice sphere molds perfectly is these Thermos Funtainers. (You can use an insulated coffee mug or other thermos-style container if you want.)

Process:

1. Fill the thermos with water to the top. The water doesn't need to be distilled or boiled or any of that. 
2. Fill the ice ball mold with water.
3. Hold your thumb over the hole in the ice ball mold and place it upside-down on the thermos. The water will stay in the mold part as well as the thermos.
4. Put it in the freezer. The ice ball mold part will freeze first because it is not insulated. As it freezes, clear ice forms first and it will push the cloudy part of the ice down out the hole in the bottom (because it's partially insulated sitting on top) and into the thermos. The thermos should only just be starting to freeze when the ice ball on top is done freezing. 
5. Wait about 24 hours. Try not to let it go for more than a day and half or so, as you don't want the water in the thermos to completely freeze, as it expands and will deform your thermos, or even shatter if it's a glass-insulated thermos. 
6. The ice ball mold should easily pop off the thermos and be perfectly clear or pretty darn close.

Tips:

• If your freezer is set on super duper ridiculously cold it may freeze too fast for this to work (it won't push the cloudy part out the bottom but instead into the center of the sphere). You probably don't need your freezer quite that cold!
• If you're getting more of an egg shape from your ice sphere, try leaving a little space in the mold and/or thermos. 
• You can also "polish" your egg-shaped ice sphere into a better sphere just using a clean dish cloth, or even just rubbing it in your hands.
• If you're opening and closing your freezer and generally jostling the set-up, it tends to be cloudier. 

Alternatives:

• Star Wars fan? Check out how you can use Death Star-shaped ice balls in the same method. 
• There are now several commercial clear ice sphere makers on the market. Here is one I tried that worked really well, though the ice balls are a bit smaller. 
• You can use this set-up and freeze all kinds of things inside a clear ice ball! I've frozen things including limes, edible flowers, and fun toys for Halloween.  

Be sure to check out the many many other things you can do with ice at the Index of Ice Experiments on Alcademics. 

I was recently contacted by Dexas, a company that makes ice*ology ice cube trays, to give them a trial run. 

The company makes three versions:

• 8 cube trays
• 2 cube trays
• 2 sphere trays

The cubes are about 1.75 inches on each side, I believe the spheres are also 1.75" diameter. 

They cost $40 for 2 cube/sphere trays and $50 for the 8 cube trays

I tried them out twice, and they're good. Like all clear ice cube trays, they take advantage of directional freezing, the process I uncovered nearly 10 years ago on Alcademics. 

Like most clear ice trays, they employ an insulated container, a big tray that holds a water reservoir, and a smaller tray in the shape of the desired ice cubes.

The main difference between these trays and others is that the cube/sphere trays separate sideways, which makes them easier to remove from the silicone container than others that must be pried apart. 

They recommend that the reservoir trays be microwaved to release the cloudy part of the water so that they can be reused quickly for the next batch. I didn't try that but just ran hot water over them and this was effective, but I appreciate the easy turn-around time. 

Pros: 

• easy to use
• easy to remove cubes/spheres from trays
• make very good clear and solid shaped ice
• seem sturdy and long-lasting after a few trials

Cons:

• a bit small – 2" cubes would be better
• a bit pricey at $40 per two-cube tray
• 2 cubes at a time isn't many