Tip of the Day: How to make clear ice cubes

by Bob Sassone, Posted Mar 17th 2008 @ 3:33PM

Looking for a way to make your ice cubes crystal clear instead of cloudy?

ice cubes

You ever notice that when you make ice cubes in your freezer they usually come out all cloudy? The reason? You're using cold water.

That's right, according to James Peterson's excellent book What's A Cook To Do?, if you want your ice cubes to come out more clear, use hot water from the tap. Most of the cloudiness comes from air that's in the water. If you use hot water, there's less air in there. Not sure why this is, it has to do with "science."

Now, about the way those ice cubes sometimes smell...well, that has to do with what you store in the freezer.

Filed Under: Science, Tip of the Day, Drink Recipes, How To
Tags: clear ice cubes, clear water, cold water, hot water, ice cube, water

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Reader comments (Page 5 of 5)

3-18-2008 @7:57PM cathryn said... Alas why we would do all this so our ice can be clear?

Becuase it looks flippin' awesome, thats why!
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3-19-2008 @8:20AM Roger Veon said... We always have crystal clear icecubes as we exclusevely use glacial ice. It also has the advantage of having that satsfying crack as it melts.I believe it was also probably frozen prior to modern pollutants.
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3-18-2008 @8:33PM John C. Gilbert said... I'm sorry, did I miss the reality train ? Don't you folks have anything to do, at all, that just might be just a tad more constructive use of your time ?
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3-18-2008 @8:28PM whatevess said... ive known about this for like ever but i would rather buy a bag of ice its quicker
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3-18-2008 @8:40PM Laurie Ellen said... older building may have lead pipes so it is a bad idea if you live in an old building to use hot water for anything other than bathing or washing dishes.
Newer building have PVC pipes so using hot water is OK to use.
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3-18-2008 @9:21PM Jim said... Dont you people keep up with the news? There are enough drugs in the water to kill any bacteria. The water is safe .
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3-18-2008 @9:32PM Sarah said... I prefer cloudy ice cubes. They add an air of mystery to my beverages.
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3-18-2008 @9:55PM Marianmack said... Um, hello? Is everyone here really that interested in freakin ice cubes? Why is there so much thought going into this? Clean water is a whole other issue, but the posting is about CLEAR ICE CUBES! WTF?!
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3-19-2008 @2:07AM BRENNY said... HA HA...I ALREADY NEW THIS INFO. MY MOM TOLD ME THIS WHEN I WAS A KID, ( A LONG LONG TIME AGO). FILLING WITH HOT WATER ALSO MAKES IT SO THE ICE DOESN'T CRUMBLE WHEN TAKING OUT OF ICE TRAY.. DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT IT JUST DOES. DAMN.. JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU THAT, MOTHER KNOWS BEST.
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