Clear Ice Cubes

DrScaryGuy said:
yeah, it seems like this clear ice thing is just a way to be fancy for no real gain or purpose. very NYC.
I'm fine with neat, stones, metal spheres, or just plain drinking my booze with regular ice if i need it
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Just the tip of the iceberg, and maybe that’s as far as it goes with bourbon, but for scotch you want water from, or at least consistent with, the water used in the fermentation process.
 
This really isn’t just an esthetic thing.

Using boiled water with an ice tray I get clear on top and cloudy on the bottom. This is typical.

The outside gets a little hazy until the drink hits it but you should be able to see the difference.

IMG_3861.jpeg

This is after a glass of bourbon. Notice what is left of the clearer top portion vs what is left of the cloudy bottom part of the cube.

The clear ice melts significantly slower.

IMG_3860.jpeg
 
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Chdamn said:
This really isn’t just an esthetic thing.

Using boiled water with an ice tray I get clear on top and cloudy on the bottom. This is typical.

The outside gets a little hazy until the drink hits it but you should be able to see the difference.

View attachment 705781

This is after a glass of bourbon. Notice what is left of the clearer top portion vs what is left of the cloudy bottom part of the cube.

The clear ice melts significantly slower.

View attachment 705784
Click to expand...

Try turning the ice trays over so the lighter portion is on top of the cube.
 
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Chdamn said:
Using boiled water with an ice tray I get clear on top and cloudy on the bottom. This is typical.

The outside gets a little hazy until the drink hits it but you should be able to see the difference.
Click to expand...

This is because the ice is freezing faster from the top and driving any air and impurities down as it forms.

You could make a homemade clear ice maker which takes advantage of what's happening, just by further slowing down the freezing process from the sides and the bottom. But honestly, they already make them at prices that would probably be less than what you'd put into making one yourself.

Here are a couple...one which makes cubes, the other spheres. The cube tray rests on top of an insulated base which you fill with warm water. Then you fill the cube tray with water and stick it in the freezer. The insulated water bath keeps the bottom of the cube tray above freezing as the water in the tray slowly freezes from the top down. The end result is clear ice.

These trays make 10 at a time...the cubes being 2 inches square, the spheres 1.7 inches in diameter. The footprint in your freezer wouldn't be much more than that of a regular ice cube tray (about 13" x 6"), but it would be about 5" or so tall. And while it would take longer to make the cubes using this, most people fill and forget their icecube trays anyway...at least over night. So you're not really losing any time making them, in my opinion.

(Sorry...I think the work computer is blocking the shorter share links.)

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Damn this is one gay thread, but I should have seen that coming! Put it in a glass and drink it or turn the bottle up. However, Channel 2 (WFMY) had a segment yesterday morning on just this topic and had the guy that makes one of the fancy clear ice machines on. You may want to see if they have it online. He had some pretty cool designs. On a side note, for a new drinking game, get a bottle of whiskey and watch Deadwood. Try doing a shot every time Al Swearengen does one. Damn near killed a buddy and me last year doing it.:cool:
 
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Sooooo. I decided to try the advice of refrigerating the trays overnight.

So I boiled the water, filled the trays and let them cool overnight on the counter.

Then I put them in the refrigerator overnight and decided to put one in the freezer and then I would put the other one in the next morning.

But I forgot. Then we went out of town for a couple of days.

When we got back the tray in the fridge was partially frozen and clear. So I put it in the freezer this morning.

The result was pretty amazing. Well to a clear ice freak.

Here we have the refirgerated overnight cubes. Almost clear. Better than anything else I’ve seen.

IMG_4032.jpeg

And here is the tray that was slowly half frozen over a 3 day period in the fridge and moved to the freezer. They are completely clear.

IMG_4037.jpeg
 
I fill a small tumbler with ice from the ice maker. Fill it halfway with middle shelf whisky. By the time I finish that, the clear ice melts off and I only have cloudy ice left that was in the middle of the clear ice.

I throw those out.

Rinse, repeat.

Only clear ice touches my booze.
 
Ok, one jelly jar of distilled water, one of purified.

Both stuck in the vac master until they boiled for a few seconds. Pulled out, wrapped in dish towels, stuck in an insulated lunchbox, and tossed into the deep freezer.

Science yo!

@Chdamn text me in three days if I forget about this. 😂
 
@Chdamn are you boiling the water to make distilled water? If so, I wonder how well store bought distilled water would work? Going to try leaving them in the fridge for a couple days. Looks like you had great results!
 
Average Joe said:
@Chdamn are you boiling the water to make distilled water? If so, I wonder how well store bought distilled water would work? Going to try leaving them in the fridge for a couple days. Looks like you had great results!
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My crude test mentioned above is being done using the finest purified and distilled water food lion can provide… which was left over from my last radiator flush. 😂
 
hp468 said:
My crude test mentioned above is being done using the finest purified and distilled water food lion can provide… which was left over from my last radiator flush. 😂
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Awesome! Post up some pictures with the results.
 
Average Joe said:
I was wondering how you planned on getting the ice out 🤣
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That’s easy. The opening in the jar is equal to the rest of the jars interior. You just set the jar into some warm water for a bit. The ice around the sides should melt and the plug of ice just slides out.. provided the jars don’t break of course.
 
Just watch a video on this. Pour water in a cooler, freeze it. The minerals that give the cloudness will settle to the bottom. Once frozen cut bad part of ice off and cut up the good ice.
 
Average Joe said:
@Chdamn are you boiling the water to make distilled water? If so, I wonder how well store bought distilled water would work? Going to try leaving them in the fridge for a couple days. Looks like you had great results!
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No. And I’m not sure why the hell I’m doing it.

The old man told me when I was kid that boiled water freezes faster and clearer because it releases trapped air.
 
I usually prefer dive type bars, but was at a midscale whiskey bar yesterday. While waiting on a friend I ordered a beer and a pour (think it was 4ozs) of Blantons. Came with one square ice cube. Not completely clear but probably 3/4s so. I immediately thought of this thread. Well friend was running late so I sat outside nursing both of them while waiting. Took about 1 1/2 hours for him to show. When I finished the Blantons, I still had more than half of the ice cube left. So, you fellas may be onto something with this fancy ice. Too much trouble for me but interesting experiment.
 
Chdamn said:
Dammit. Give me a simpler and less expensive option.
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Tequila straight from the freezer to a chilled glass.

Good sipping Tequila, not that crap you have to do shots of to get down.
 
Gentlemen,
Huddle up and listen…..The recipe for clear ice is filtered water.
Filtered water will help make the ice taste and smell better.
If your going to water down your expensive spirits, use the best water you can.
It IS an old wives tale that hot water freezes faster, Or makes clearer ice.
Clear ice is made by circulating water. The dissolved solids ( minerals ) in the water will tend
to accumulate in the sump ( bottom ) to be flushed away before making another batch of ice.

The old ice plants that made block ice generally made 300 lb. blocks.
The ice was made in a big brine tank. The refrigerated brine would circulated around “ice cans”.
They would pump air into the center of the block as it was freezing to agitate the dissolved solids in the center of the freezing block. Then just before the center of the 300 lb. block froze, they would suck out the
heavy mineral laden water and add more fresh water that would hopefully freeze clear.
It took at least 24 hours to make a 300 lb. block
The carved ice displays used at the nicer places, use or try to use the clearest of the 300 lb. blocks,
if they are available. Most of the block ice plants are out of business.

The Hoshizaki brand of ice machines tend to make the clearest ice that I’m aware of.
Attached are some spec sheets that you can send to Santa for your Christmas wish List.
Cheers
 

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Chdamn said:
No. And I’m not sure why the hell I’m doing it.

The old man told me when I was kid that boiled water freezes faster and clearer because it releases trapped air.
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If it freezes faster (and thermodynamically, it does not), the ONLY reason it would is because it would make your freezer compressor kick on because you heated up the freezer enough to trip it.
 
FWIW, I think the notion that dissolved solids collect in the last area to freeze is a myth. I imagine it comes from an understanding that the freezing point of water drops as the level of dissolved solids increases, but unless we’re talking about water with such high levels that they precipitate out at or above the freezing point, not what we’re working with here, then they just stay in solution.

This is demonstrated by freezing distilled water, which produces the same cloudy center as tap water even though it has zero dissolved solids.

Dissolved gasses are a different thing and I’m really curious about the test that @hp468 has running.
 
Chdamn said:
Sooooo. I decided to try the advice of refrigerating the trays overnight.

So I boiled the water, filled the trays and let them cool overnight on the counter.

Then I put them in the refrigerator overnight and decided to put one in the freezer and then I would put the other one in the next morning.

But I forgot. Then we went out of town for a couple of days.

When we got back the tray in the fridge was partially frozen and clear. So I put it in the freezer this morning.

The result was pretty amazing. Well to a clear ice freak.

Here we have the refirgerated overnight cubes. Almost clear. Better than anything else I’ve seen.

View attachment 710604

And here is the tray that was slowly half frozen over a 3 day period in the fridge and moved to the freezer. They are completely clear.

View attachment 710605
Click to expand...

YOU BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE!!!
!Science!.jpg
 
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Try distilled water.

Wife and I did a hike of a ice cave system in a glacier and the tour guide was speaking of layers of volcanic ash (this glacier was over a volcano) with layers of ice. He spoke of pure water having less air bubbles when frozen. Said to use distilled water as a party trick. We just got back a couple days ago and haven't tried it yet.

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