How Do you make clear ice cubes?

Answer 1

Using good quality water free of imprefections is a good start. Also heating the water before freezing DOES strangely enough (and I'm not sure why, but it's related to physics) cause the water to cool and freeze faster. FOR PERFECTLY Clear ice cubes, you unfortunately need to aerate the water with a bubbler or other light current. This is kind of impractical to make small cubes, but for large Blocks like those used in Ice Carvings/Sculpture, this is how we get perfectly clear ice. Hope this helps some... if you REALLY need clear ice, I would suggest a fish tank bubbler with a dimmer switch added (by someone qualified) to control the strength of the device.

Answer 2

Clear Ice Cube Tray

Answer 3

How do you make clear ice cubes?

A large number of people have become interested in clear ice. The best way to answer the clear ice question is to think about icicles.

If you live in an area where icicles form in the winter, you know that icicles are normally clear and beautiful. There are two things that make icicles so perfect:

* Icicles are made from pure water in the form of melted snow.
* Icicles are created in layers. Water drips down the icicle and freezes in progressive layers rather than freezing all at once. This approach avoids entrapped bubbles.

If you ever look inside a restaurant ice maker, you will find that it makes ice in layers. Cold water runs continuously over a plate or a grid where the ice is forming, and the ice cubes (or ice disks in some machines) grow in layers.

If you would like to try creating clear ice at home, start with distilled water (to eliminate the minerals) and boil it (to eliminate air dissolved in the water). Make the cubes small or thin to get closer to the way that icicles are formed.

Robert Fulghum adds the following:

A technique used in most ice manufacturing plants that make large blocks of ice is to put a tube in the center of the container of water that is to be frozen. Through the tube they bubble a very low pressure stream of air. Before the tube becomes ice-bound, they remove it, and they pour or suction the water that is left in the center of the ice block away. All of the impurities -- dirt, dissolved air and minerals -- are forced into this water by the crystallizing ice. They fill the void with fresh water (or not) and continue freezing. The core of the block is clouded but the rest of the block is clear. If the core is not refilled and frozen, the entire block is clear.

Here are some interesting links:

* How Icemakers Work
* How Ice Rinks Work
* Answers To Common Questions About Ice Makers
* Cloudy ice cubes

Answer 4

I would use purified water (like aquafina or Dasani). The purified water will reduce any interaction with the cold that produces bubbles. I would go and boil it before freezing it also. That reduces more inpurities. Good luck. Also, the Mythbusters (show on Discovery channel) tried to make clear ice cubes by vibrating the ice cube trays (i forgot why).

Answer 5

Cloudy ice cubes result when water is frozen quickly. When water is cooled slowly (or very close to its freezing point), dissolved gases and microscopic bubbles have a chance to exit the water. However, when water is cooled quickly (further below its freezing point, a situation found in most home freezers), those small bubbles are simply frozen in place.

So boil your water first, let cool a bit (but not too much) before filling your ice trays, then freeze. You should get nice crystal ice cubes.

Answer 6

I use either spring water, or I make Ice Cubes with hot water instead of cold! Not sure why, but they come out clear!

Answer 7

i find plastic ice cubes taste the best.

Answer 8

put hot water on them and the frost will come off