Tip of the Day: Chill a soda in two minutes

by Emily Matchar, Posted May 15th 2008 @ 6:00AM

Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?

Did you know that you can chill a soda in 120 seconds flat, using nothing but salt and ice? You may have seen this on Mythbusters, but here's a recap: basically, just dump a bunch of rock salt and ice water in a bucket and plunk in your Coke (or white wine, or the beer that's been sitting in your car's trunk for a week in the August heat).

The salt lowers the freezing point of the water, meaning it gets colder than it normally could. A soda that would take half an hour to chill in the refrigerator is now icy cold in the time it takes you to pop open a bag of pretzels. This salt trick used to be crucial for ice cream making - the outside compartment of old-fashioned ice cream machines was filled with a salt-ice slush, which was colder than 32 degrees, quickly freezing the cream mixture inside. These days ice cream maker bowls are filled with a chemical coolant instead.

Filed Under: Science, Tip of the Day, How To
Tags: ice, salt, science, soda