Fool Proof Way To Ensure Your Ice Stays As Ice.

herbie · Guru

Fool Proof Way To Ensure Your Ice Stays As Ice.

03_troopy · Guru

doesn't it make your whiskey taste funny though?

chaslib · Senior Member

That brings back memories of making one cream in ziplock bags and setting it in a mixture of salt and ice blocks. It was a fun activity for kids. i must find the instructions and revisit it.

gordon_adl · Senior Member

I recently read a news article about ways to keep ice longer. they tested all the different theories. Can't recall what the results where.

gordon_adl · Senior Member

Hmm I think they were saying to freeze a block of ice in an old ice cream container and add salt. I think it was in a 4x4 magazine I read that.

brickies · Guru

I have been told ice made using ice cream containers will last longer than party ice

herbie · Guru

well you may have read it in your 4x4 mag ,well and good. But i have been useing this method for years ,with grate results.....Brickies your rite ice in blocks stay frozen longer than the bag ice we have to buy today,but i only use bagged ice as i only have access to the bag stuff a little hard trying to freeze ice in c/ van fridges/ freezes takes too much room up. Wondering if you can still buy block ice anywhere ,have not seen it in QLD.

Duh · Guru

herbie wrote:
To Stop ice from melting quickly, in the heat if you have run out of room in your fride for those happy hr drinks, in a tub or Esky put a bag of ice in then add 1 cup of salt and three cups of water (cold ) if no salt washing powder will work .This will bring the temp down to about minus 10 degress.This will keep the Molecules away from each other and stop the ice melting for a whole lot longer.

Good tip herbie, must remember that one..... smile

sandsmere · Guru

Don't need ice . We have an Engel .

smile

brickies · Guru

Could be good to know if the Engel brakes down has you could use it has an Esky

jimricho · Guru

Take care not to freeze your beer if you do this. The salt lowers the melting point temperature of the ice, something that has been known for centuries and was used to keep food longer (on ice) and to make ice cream long before the invention of refrigeration. In Europe the ice was transported from the mountains such as the Alps and the Dolomites.

I could stand to be corrected on this but I seem to recall that ice based on a saturated solution of brine has a melting point of minus 18C or zero on the farenheit scale.

-- Edited by jimricho on Tuesday 7th of May 2013 06:11:16 PM

miroku12g · Senior Member

Hmmm !
would question that ? They use salt on the roads in the Uk to "melt" the snow/ ice quicker, salt water will not freeze at 10c - otherwise the ocean / sea would freeze . As a boy i only saw once the sea freeze over, the water was very shallow & still {no tide} & it was just a very very thin crust of Ice.
My next door neighbour this week tried different levels of salt in water, no luck on any.

Still if you find it works go for it.

Miroku12g

03_troopy · Guru

OK.. just as an experiment, put some frozen peas in a saucepan of water... you will see the peas will be separate and covered in water. Sprinkle in some salt and the water will freeze slightly and the peas will be in a clump. But this contradicts the principal of putting salt on an icy road to melt the ice (which does work). In the words of the bushy eyebrowed one.. Why is it so?

jules47 · The Happy Helper

Is it that the salt is put on the snow on roads to SLOW down the melting - so as to minimise the slipperiness? Just a thought!

03_troopy · Guru

no, the salt does cause the ice to melt.

Sheba · Guru

Heaps of frozen Sea at both Poles Miroku12g.

Cheers,

Sheba.

jimricho · Guru

I thought the salt on the road was to stop the ice from melting. It's the thin sheet of water on top of the ice that causes the dangerous aquaplaning. The action of the salt re-freezes the water/ice slurry leaving it with a rough surface.

When salt is added to ice the (endothermic) chemical reaction of the salt dissolving in the ice/water (the splitting of the salt into Na+ and Cl-) absorbs heat, thus reducing the temperature of the ice.

jules47 · The Happy Helper

I'm with you, jimricho - thought I had read or heard that somewhere, which is why I posted above.

Delta18 · Guru

Think about it guys, simple really.

As Jimricho said, adding salt to ice reduces the melting point to some -18c.

This means that spreading salt on icy roads MELTS the ice when the ambient temp could be -10c! Water is not as slippery as ice on a road.

As to the esky, icy water is a better conductor than ice so having your beer in an ice/water slurry is better than just sitting on ice. Having your beer in a SALT water/ice slurry is much better still so, as said, watch you don't freeze your beer.

Cheers & (cold) beers

Neil

brickies · Guru

But what is cheaper a bag of ice or a bag of Salt

johnq · Guru

The salt on the road or walkways does cause the ice to turn to liquid.

With salt, the liquid can be colder than the original ice but remain liquid. You want liquid not ice so the tyres or boots can make direct contact with the road or pavement.

Here we go, for the big kids among us:

http://www.artfulparent.com/2012/07/melting-ice-science-experiment-with-salt-liquid-watercolors.html

Hey, we are never too old to have fun and learn. This could be a group activity for Greens. smile Half of the ice for the experiment and half for ze vodka. No, make that 1/10 of the ice for the pretty colours and 9/10 for ze vodka. biggrin

herbie · Guru

a bag of ice in Glady at moment is $3 they call this winter up here now huhu so must think not as many wanting ice but back in the summer is was over $6 go figure that out. only need 1 cup of salt to a a couple of cups of water not a bag of salt i just use the cheapo no name salt .