Wow, that's cold - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

denim · 06-19-2003, 01:47 PM

Let's make ice cream with liquid nitrogen! Link

Quote:

Behold the smooth, sweet powers of liquid N.

by Theodore Gray

July 2003

Liquid nitrogen is cold. Very cold. So cold that if a drop falls on your hand, it feels like fire. So cold that it can turn a fresh flower into a thousand shards of broken glass. So cold that it can make half a gallon of ice cream in 30 seconds flat.

I first heard about liquid nitrogen ice cream from my friend Tryggvi, an Icelandic chemist working in the Midwest (these things happen). He suggested we make it for dessert at a dinner party I was planning. Yes, he said, he had a recipe, something he'd seen in Chemical and Engineering News.

Now, right off the bat you have to worry about a recipe found in Chemical and Engineering News, the principal trade publication for the sort of people who build oil refineries, shampoo factories and large-scale plants for the fractional distillation of liquefied air (which is where liquid nitrogen comes from). But for the party I was planning, it was perfect: The well-known author Oliver Sacks was coming to visit with my collection of chemical elements; I needed some after-dinner entertainment.

My first concern was whether we would survive the ice cream. That and, if it didn't kill the cook, whether it would be any good. I had visions of hard, crusty stuff that caused frostbite of the throat. It turned out nothing could be further from the truth.

We mixed up a standard ice cream recipe calling for two quarts of cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla and flavoring. (Just about any ice cream recipe and flavor will work.) Then, working in a well-ventilated area (lest the nitrogen displace oxygen from the air) and with due regard for the ability of liquid nitrogen to freeze body parts solid, we gently folded about two liters of nitrogen syrup directly into the cream, much as you would fold in egg whites.

The result, literally 30 seconds later, was a half-gallon of the best ice cream I'd ever tasted. The secret is in the rapid freezing. When cream is frozen by liquid nitrogen at –196°C, the ice crystals that give bad ice cream its grainy texture have no chance to form. Instead you get microcrystalline ice cream that is supremely smooth, creamy and light in texture. Martha Stewart, eat your heart out.

The kids were amused by the clouds of water vapor, though being kids they didn't find anything out of the ordinary in the procedure. They probably think everyone makes ice cream this way. Boy, will they be in for a shock the first time they see it done the old-fashioned way at camp: You want me to do what for a half hour?

A word of caution: Liquid nitrogen can be dangerous in careless hands. Tryggvi and I are both trained chemists, and he actually knows what he's doing. Don't try anything like this unless you do too.

The article has pictures.

Cynthetiq · 06-19-2003, 02:15 PM

that's cool!

Look there's someone from Iceland!!!! Cool!

Somenosuke · 06-19-2003, 02:45 PM

Dude, that is so cool! It'd be really cool to get to try ice cream made with liquid nitrogen.. Hmm. Learn somethin new everyday!

bundy · 06-19-2003, 03:39 PM

thats incredible.
thanks for sharing.

MrFlux · 06-19-2003, 03:51 PM

As far as I know (after having been on a tour of an icecream factory for an Economics field trip in highschool) that's pretty much the industrial process they use to make icecream.

YourNeverThere · 06-19-2003, 04:34 PM

thats the coolest thing ever, i want to try it at home!

krwlz · 06-19-2003, 04:39 PM

Where does one get a hold of liquid nitrogen syrup???

cchris · 06-19-2003, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by krwlz
Where does one get a hold of liquid nitrogen syrup???

From the liquid nitrogen syrup shop of course.
Don't you have these shops over there?

MacGnG · 06-19-2003, 10:03 PM

i wanna try some of that ice cream before i give in to this "science" stuff.

lol goo idea, i think thats how dippin dots are made, or similar to it

CatchTwentyFour · 06-20-2003, 01:14 AM

Well, that is the ice cream of the future...

Mr. Mojo · 06-20-2003, 02:59 AM

I love Popular Science Magazine - its so worth every penny.
the article on Burt Rutan (Voyager that flew non-stop around the world) and his space ship made me excited fir the soace program again. That man is a genius!

denim · 06-20-2003, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by cchris
From the liquid nitrogen syrup shop of course.

I wonder if it would work with liquid CO2. Of course, you'd have to do it under a bit higher pressure to get CO2 to liquify...

Troublebot · 06-20-2003, 06:35 AM

I'd love to try it, but I just know I'd end up losing an appendage at some point.

scarebearjinx · 06-20-2003, 07:27 PM

whoa... weird. i would love to try some of that and learn how to make it.

06-19-2003, 02:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	that's cool! Look there's someone from Iceland!!!! Cool! __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

06-19-2003, 02:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
Somenosuke Insane Location: The 7th Level..	Dude, that is so cool! It'd be really cool to get to try ice cream made with liquid nitrogen.. Hmm. Learn somethin new everyday! __________________ Sex is not the answer. Sex is the question. Yes is the answer.

06-19-2003, 03:39 PM	#4 (permalink)
bundy . Location: Tokyo	thats incredible. thanks for sharing. __________________ Ohayo!!!

06-19-2003, 03:51 PM	#5 (permalink)
MrFlux Fluxing wildly... Location: Auckland, New Zealand	As far as I know (after having been on a tour of an icecream factory for an Economics field trip in highschool) that's pretty much the industrial process they use to make icecream. __________________ flux (n.) Medicine. The discharge of large quantities of fluid material from the body, especially the discharge of watery feces from the intestines.

06-19-2003, 04:34 PM	#6 (permalink)
YourNeverThere Practical Anarchist Location: Yesterday i woke up stuck in hollywood	thats the coolest thing ever, i want to try it at home! __________________ The Above post is a direct quote from Shakespeare

06-19-2003, 04:39 PM	#7 (permalink)
krwlz Fledgling Dead Head Location: Clarkson U.	Where does one get a hold of liquid nitrogen syrup???

06-19-2003, 10:03 PM	#9 (permalink)
MacGnG Know Where!	i wanna try some of that ice cream before i give in to this "science" stuff. lol goo idea, i think thats how dippin dots are made, or similar to it

06-20-2003, 01:14 AM	#10 (permalink)
CatchTwentyFour Upright	Well, that is the ice cream of the future...

06-20-2003, 02:59 AM	#11 (permalink)
Mr. Mojo Addict Location: NYC	I love Popular Science Magazine - its so worth every penny. the article on Burt Rutan (Voyager that flew non-stop around the world) and his space ship made me excited fir the soace program again. That man is a genius! __________________ When I jerk off I feel good for about twenty seconds and then WHAM it's right back into suicidal depression

06-20-2003, 06:35 AM	#13 (permalink)
Troublebot Intently Rocking Location: Davey's	I'd love to try it, but I just know I'd end up losing an appendage at some point. __________________ Howard Moon: The wind is my only friend. Wind: [whistling] I hate you.

06-20-2003, 07:27 PM	#14 (permalink)
scarebearjinx Psycho Location: in a deep, dark hole where rainbow creatures attack me to eat my fingernails.	whoa... weird. i would love to try some of that and learn how to make it.