While you are making glow in the dark ice, why not make some clear ice? There is a 'trick' to making clear ice cubes, but it isn't complicated and doesn't require an expensive restaurant ice machine. You need pure water and you need to control how it cools. The icemaker in my freezer has a water filter, but the ice cubes that it makes are opaque. My filter is relatively new, so I think that water doesn't cool at the right rate to produce clear ice or else there is a lot of air in the water. The clear ice cube in this photo was made using bottled water that had been purified using reverse osmosis (distilled water would be fine). I boiled the water to remove most of the dissolved air. I have heard that ideally you want to boil the water, let it cool, then boil it again. I got good results just boiling the water once. I let the water cool slightly so that I wouldn't burn myself spilling it, then poured it into an icecube tray and put it in my freezer. My unscientific investigation confirms that you can make clear ice by boiling and freezing purified water. I tried another tray, this time chilling the water more slowly, but that ice was milky on the bottom and clear on top. I also tried to make ice with unfiltered tap water. Let's just say the results convinced me I don't want to drink water straight from my faucet.
What can you do with clear ice? I guess you can use it as a magnifying glass. I can't say that I recommend using an ice lens for reading, unless you are reading outdoors in the dead of winter. In a pinch, you can use an ice lens to start a fire. Also... unless you like the taste of quinine, clear ice tastes a lot better in drinks than glowing ice.
Photo: This ice cube is clear enough to use as a reading lens. (Anne Helmenstine)
Comments
Very interesting but who actually asked you to bore us with ice?
And why did google bring me ti this page when i wanted to find out what is inside an icecube not how to make clear ones?
Bob: Google did not bring you to this page, your incompetence at searching did. Just because this information is not what you sought does not make it boring, as your insultingly stupid comment suggested.
Bob is obviously a moron.Something can’t be “very interesting” and “boring” at the same time.
Thanks, this is just what I’m looking for, I’m going to photograph drinks with ice so I want some nice looking cubes… going to try it right now
I have recently installed a simple 3 stage RO system under the sink and have teed it into the water delivery system to the fridge ice maker. Water quality is great but would love to have it dispense clear cubes. It has definitely helped but the disolved gas, I believed, is the culprit. Anyone know of a residential degassifier or simliar to get me my cleear cubes? Thanks all
Steve
zero water filters will give you Clear Ice… their filtration is so good that all you have to do is pour it in the trays and freeze it. Mine comes out clear everytime…
Love it Mr. Hobo!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love it Mr Hobo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for posting your experimental results. I can start with your technique and see if that is sufficient.
I like clear ice, especially when I drink whisky in crystal old fashioned tumbler.
I’ve tried all the techniques listed here and elsewhere on the web and have finally come to what for me is the easiest solution, since there’s no way I’m going to boil water and wait for it to cool once, let alone twice.
I put about a gallon of filtered water in a stainless steel pail and put it in my freezer. Depending on when I ‘catch’ it, the ice may be frozen solid, in which case I simply chip the ice, saving the clear ice; or if I open the freezer at the right time, almost all the ice is clear and the rest is still water.
In that case I save the ice and refreeze the remaining water.
This method works even using tap water.
It is also better for my purposes than using an ice maker or buying commercial ice because I want chunks of ice about 2″ in diameter so they chill my drink without adding too much water to dilute the flavor.
And you put that ice cube on Conan of Aquilonia? That’s one of my favorite books!