Go to the Recipe: How to Make Ice Cream With Dry Ice
Every time I try this method, I feel like my ice cream has an odd, almost metallic flavor to it. The texture is really good, the actual flavor of the base is good, but there is a odd after taste.
That aftertaste is almost certainly some residual CO2. If you store the ice cream in a freezer for a few hours, it should go away.
That's what I figured it was. Could it also be caused by the dry ice not being in a fine enough powder? Every time I've done it, I've only hit it with a mallet. I'll have to try it with the blender next time. Great tutorial!
A fine powder does help ensure all of the solid CO2 readily sublimates.
I wonder if the metallic aftertaste might not be something from the production of the dry ice. When I asked our local dry ice supplier about using it to make ice cream, he frowned and recommended liquid nitrogen.Mike Harde
Dry ice is pretty pure CO2 by design, and is regularly used in food production, so I doubt that there would be any kind of impurities of that sort.
Did you use industrial-grade dry ice or food-grade fry ice?
I just did this and it works wonderfully.I found it took just 2:1 (3 lbs dry ice to 1.5 pounds of ice cream mix).Making the dry ice into powder using a blender was difficult so we switched to the food processor which worked very well. Break the chunks fairly small (no larger than a golf ball, at most) and process a few cups worth, then drop more in a few chunks at a time.Finally, add the powder to the stand mixer pretty gradually.This was great fun.No metallic taste here.
This was fun! Note: You might want to pay special attention to Step 4 "Add spoonfuls of dry ice to the bowl .........." If you add more than a few spoonfuls, the mixture boils over and makes a lovely mess all over the countertop,,and cabinet,, and floor. Oh well, there was still enuf to make about 3 cups of very good ice cream!On another note, that slightly metallic taste might be carbolic acid. H2O(l) + CO2(g) <-> H2CO3(aq) That's why carbonated water is a bit sour and why flat soda is too sweet (to compensate)
Note also I made this with hand mixer and that worked great for my very small batch.
As I don't have a stand mixer: would I be better off churning with a hand mixer (thanks Wali for the tip) or in the blender?
I'd like to make ice cream a few days before using it in a recipe using this technique and i was wondering if it stores well in the freezer?
Did this my first time last night and I'm definitely impressed with the result. Great technique!
Did you try with dry ice or nitrogen?
I have a concern about breaking up dry ice. I have a ninja food processor that will make a fine powder out of ice. But I'm concerned that dry ice (negative several hundred degrees Fahrenheit) could make the blades brittle, which could shatter and eject through the side of the plastic container. Thoughts?
It is -109F. I would be very concerned if the Ninja couldn't handle that.
some of the CO2 from the ice surely dissolves into the mixture and reduces the pH due to an increase in carbonic acid, which causes it to be more acidic. This might in turn change some of the flavors.
So I just made a batch of peach ice cream; my first using dry ice. Method worked like magic and the ice cream froze in just a few minutes. My guests were all amazed. Thanks for the great idea...
BTW, I also noticed a flavor characteristic that I would describe as almost "carbonated" and tangy on the tongue. Whether this is from the carbonic acid or just the dissolved supersaturated CO2 I could not determine.
Did you gety an answer , I need to store dry ice sorbet and icecream
Hello geeks.
Can somebody tell me if you can make dry iced techniques sorbets and ice creams in advance and keep them in a freezer or Does it defies the purpose? If yes ,do you advise to add stabilizers?
Thanks in advance
Froggiechef
Should keep in the freezer fine. If you can't buy dry ice, one way of obtaining it is to empty a CO2 fire extinguisher into a clean pillowcase. That's the way I do it.
I've just finished mine.
A good reminder is NOT to use a Nutri Bullet to make the dry ice powder.
I didn't realized that I was creating a bomb. It literally exploded when I blended the dry ice. Now it's funny but in that time it wasn't. Thankfully the cup from the nutri bullet didn't hit me.
But of course, dry ice evaporates to CO2 (gas) and couldn't escape, therefore, it exploded. I don't know where I had my mind.
After that, I smashed the dry ice in a towel with a hammer and it worked fine.
Hello, it's actually advised that you do put your newly made ice cream in the freezer for it to "warm up" otherwise you'll have a nasty case of frostbite on your hands, or rather, your mouth. Stabilizer should work fine as long as your base has been prepared correctly.
I tried doing one but has anyone encountered the problem where the ice cream base is freeze into a solid form at the bottom of the mixing bowl of the stand mixer? Is this due to the dry ice is not fine enough or probably added too much dry ice at one time?
I have the same problem: it makes like a ice pellet at the bottom of the bowl. I removed it and let it thaw then incorporated it to the next batch of ice cream to be made. Suggestion welcome though
You can use a blowtorch on the sides of the mixing bowl. Grant uses one in the liquid nitrogen video.
With the custard recipe I've noticed that the carbonic acid flavor remains even after a few hours, however the next day I cannot detect the flavor at all.
I noticed this post a year ago and thought it was sort of a fun way to geek out. I already had an 1 qt. ice cream maker and never felt the need to try and source dry ice. This weekend I said what the heck, and was dumbfounded by how much more smooth and creamy the ice cream turned out. I'm a dry ice convert! As some have highlighted, definitely add the dry ice powder only a spoonful at a time to prevent the mixture from bubbling over the top of the mixing bowl.
We had about 1200g of dry ice powder and a 680 g base and there was so much dry ice left over we had to make two additional batches of ice cream, including one where the base wasn't even chilled.
That is seriously so dangerous and I'm glad you're ok. Everyone needs to be careful when working with dry ice as they need to make sure that they're using a vessel that's open so that the gas does not accumulate -- as it will accumulate very quickly.
I can't believe I waited so long to try this. The texture of dry ice churned ice cream is unbelievable. My 5 and 6 year olds went nuts over it as they even helped spoon the stuff into the stand mixer. The only possible negative I would say is that some people found the light carbonation of the ice cream to be off putting. The complaints inspired me to make a lemon-lime ice cream which I called "Sprite" ice cream. I think I might try putting together my own root beer base to give that a try.
I wonder if this technique would work with a Vitamix Aer Disc container.
Why did mine have a fizzy mouth feel, how can i avoid this?
That is from the dry ice, it is Co2 so it will slightly carbonate it. if you want to avoid that you need to use liquid nitrogen.
Leave it in the freezer for a couple hours and the fizziness should go away
Is Ming Chan correct - will the fizziness go away if you leave it in the freezer? I churn ice cream, and then put it in one of those Tovolo things to set up. Just did the ChefSteps sous vide approach to the base - was *amazing* - and then ran it through my cuisinart freezer. Tasty but a touch icy. Not excited about LN2, but if there will always be residual fizz with dry ice, even after time in the freezer, I probably wouldn't use the CO2. Anyone experimented with that?
I'm very interested in trying this but I have a question. I've never purchased dry ice before. I see in stores around me they carry Penguin brand dry ice, but in reading the fine print it says do not consume the product. So is there a special kind of dry ice I need to use to make the ice cream? Or is all dry ice the same?
Dry ice will go from a solid to a gas and evaporate. So using it to freeze is safe just do not consume in solid form. This is a disclaimer they have to state for safety, so no one burns their internal parts. I will add that letting the ice cream rest a bit in the freezer after churning helps to further dissipate any lingering fizzy notes.
I hate to be that guy...but I'm gonna be. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide, and doesn't evaporate; it sublimates. Yes, there's a difference.
Yeah you cannot directly consume it for those that think you can just pop it in your mouth. You can use it for this recipe it’s safe to use just not safe to directly eat.
How do you know how much base to put in your mixing bowl?
I'm just trying this now with the Mint Chocolate ice cream recipe, and the second I added a spoonful of dry ice, it bubbled up and out and all over my counter. D'oh!
Clearly user error, but still... how much can we expect a base to bubble up?
If I did the dry ice process to make the ice cream, then stored it in an iCreami container to process later would it be better than not using dry ice?
Ah thats a fun question!If the thought is the hot rod spin makes ice crystals smaller and adds air, and Creami refreshes it later the improvements (if any) might be too small to notice or worse you simply yield less volume in the beaker than when you started. Everything is worth trying once but here is what I guess would happen.
Great question though Chad, if you give it a try please let us know what you find!
I'm seeing a caveat to this process being hinted at in the comments, but isn't explicitly stated in the recipes.
Can someone talk about the tiny ice crystal longevity for ice creams made using the Dry Ice and the Liquid Nitrogen techniques vs conventional churning?
Are these fun methods only beneficial if the ice cream will be consumed within a few hours?
To put it another way, after 24 hours in the freezer, is there any noticeable difference between ice cream made using these techniques versus conventional churning?
Hey Scott. the short answer for you is they are best consumed within a few hours.
It's important to note that this isn't unique to this style of ice cream churning. This will be found with ice cream made from a soft serve machine or even a Carpigiani machine.
It's hard to be exact with how long the ice cream can be in the freezer before the texture begins to change. Some of the variables that influence the rate of ice crystallization include the style of ice cream and the temperature it's stored at. BUT with all this being said and not having done a side by side test YET, I believe you would have less noticeable ice crystals when comparing LN2/Dry Ice spun vs a cheap countertop churner. Over a long enough timeline they will become very similar.
Thank you! I was beginning to suspect this...
You've made it very clear.
I'll save my future dry ice experiments for when I have eager guests! Appreciate it!
On step 2 it looks like different setups, one with a plastic and silicone blade, and one with the metal blade. Will they both work, or should I be worried about the plastic with dry ice since it is so cold?
