From the side it seems that there is nothing easier than to prepare ice for cocktails, especially if there are special molds. In practice, everything is not so rosy - before you make ice, you will have to learn the important nuances of the process. Otherwise, a clear and transparent ingredient for alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages will look like a muddy gray substance.
Quite often, the housewives question how to make ice at home, if at hand there was no suitable form. Fans of experiments and creativity have developed for this case several solutions that will help to achieve the desired result with your own hands.
Secrets that will make transparent ice without bubbles
Frozen water and ice for cocktails are two completely different things. Contrary to the promises of manufacturers of devices for the production of ice, it is not enough to pour water into the mold and put it in the refrigerator. Only with the preliminary preparation can you expect that the final product will be transparent and attractive.
There are several methods for producing quality ice with your own hands:
- Treated water. We pour water into a steel or enameled container( main, not aluminum) and bring to a boil. After the liquid has burned for several minutes, we cool it naturally. Then boil the water again and cool again. In the intervals between boiling, do not forget to cover the container with a lid, avoiding the settling of dust. After the treatment, we pour out the water by forms and freeze it. This approach makes it possible to obtain transparent ice due to the fact that air bubbles are removed, and the water molecules are closer to each other.
Advice: Regardless of the type of approach for ice making, professionals recommend always using filtered or drinking water. Otherwise the unpleasant smell will leave only for a while and will be opened in full after the cube has got into the drink.
- Slow freezing. If the time and capabilities of the refrigeration unit allow, then you need to set the temperature at -1ºC.We wait until the temperature rises to the desired temperature and we put the molds in the chamber with water spilled over them. In addition, it is recommended to wrap the device with a food film. The holding time is not less than 24 hours. Slow displacement of bubbles as the liquid cools, ensures that the ice will be clear and even.
- Freezing in a salty environment. Someone suggests using seawater to prepare the base, but if this option is not possible, you can prepare the salted medium with your own hands. True, to achieve the ideal concentration will only be experienced. Practice shows that with this approach one can hope for the desired result even when the water from the tap is frozen. In a bowl, pour water, add salt, stir. We remove the container in the freezer, the temperature should not be below -2 ° C.After the liquid has become very cold, we lower the ice forms filled with water into it, and again we put it in the freezer.
The last option is considered the most correct and preferred. During such processing, ice cubes become not only transparent, but even, without cracks and divorces. All harmful particles will be expelled, so the elements after getting into the drink will not cause an unpleasant smell. An additional advantage of the approach is that the salt water can be kept in the freezer constantly( under the condition of maintaining the set temperature) and reused.
How to make ice without ice form - available creative
It is not necessary to have special molds at home or to construct them yourself to make beautiful and original ice. If you want, you can find a lot of decent ways out of the situation:
- If it's not about making cocktails, but about feeding single-component drinks, then you can prepare ice immediately in glasses. To do this, you need suitable dishes that can withstand a temperature of -1 ° C.Simply pour some chilled drinking or boiled water to the bottom of the glass and put it in the freezer for a slow freezing. Be sure to make sure that the remaining parts of the container are completely dry. This method allows you to achieve the necessary cooling, and the beverage in the glass gives an unusual look.
- You can use plastic cups with a bottom of different diameters to freeze water. Liquid pour no more than a centimeter and freeze as usual. At the output will be the original round pieces of ice. They can even be divided into halves or quarters, if initially lay pieces of plastic, cut out of their own hands from unnecessary bottles.
- Some people manage to prepare ice with covers. They can be made of plastic or metal, twisting or folding. The only difficulty is that when extracting ice from such products, it is difficult not to damage it.
- If desired, you can adapt Lego or silicone molds as workpieces. Only need to thoroughly disinfect them before use.
- In the most extreme case, you have to do with plastic bags. We cut them into large flaps or we initially take packets of very small volume. We pour water in them and spin them with balls of various sizes. We put it in a bowl and freeze it according to the rules.
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.
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