[mhking]

LIKE ICE CREAM FROM TRITON [1] Besides the liquid nitrogen, no special ingredients were used in this experiment. [2] The non-cryogenic ingredients were combined in a mixing bowl. [3] The nitrogen was added a cup at a time. Note the use of heavy cryo gloves—this was not an occasion for oven mitts. [4] The concoction was stirred thoroughly and continuously to keep an unbreakable crust from forming. [5] The ice cream was ready to eat when smooth and free of lumps.

(Bottom right)Theodore Gray is a co-founder of Wolfram Research, Inc., maker of the software program Mathematica. In his spare time he plays with elements at periodictabletable.com.

Photographs by Jeff Sciortino. Styling by Kelly McKaig.

[mhking]

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....

If you want on or off this list, please let me know!

[Sokol]

cool...

[Drew68]

Great post! Thanks!

[not_apathetic_anymore]

VERY cool. I'm just geeky enough to want to try this!

[Drango]

Note to self: Do not try when drunk.

[wafflehouse]

cool!

[Ruth A.]

They did a demo of this as a shop that deals in propane and other gases, etc. They used cream, milk and jam. It was so good. Plus, the temperature dropped in the area they were making it.

[supercat]

I wonder if these guys use lox as a barbecue starter?

[Reeses]

To make an excellent low carb ice cream replace the sugar with a Davinci sugar-free syrup. It's sweetened with Splenda which freezes like regular sugar. I recommend. It makes a professional quality ice cream.

[drlevy88]

Pedantic point: it isn't N, it's N2.

I wonder how well pulverized dry ice would work. Not as cold as liquid nitrogen, but much easier to get. Pulverize it in a blender or food processor. (With very, very good ventilation such as a large fan blowing full blast from a window into the kitchen.)

[ffusco]

How about steaks cooked with sodium?

[Paleo Conservative]

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.

But how much does it cost to make ice cream this way?

[coloradan]

-196 C is about -320 F, in case anyone is interested.

[rmh47]

Many years ago, when I was a technician in a lab that designed and tested air conditioners for a major appliance manufacturer, we used liquid nitrogen for pulling the charge out of units to measure the amount of freon in them.

The stuff was neat to work with. You could plunge your hand into the dewar flask without any problem as long as you pulled it right back out. You could cup your hand as you brought it out and hold a small amount of it in your hand as long as you kept tilting your hand back and forth to keep the liquid nitrogen from sitting in one place.

Apparently, the temperature differential between your body and the liquid nitrogen is so great that the radiant heat from you hand causes the stuff to instantly boil and forms an insulating layer of gas between them.

[RippleFire]

bump

[nightdriver]

Interesting. I've seen an experimental commercial venture to make ice cream this way. The process was continuous with the ingredients mixed with liquid nitrogen in a high-pressure nozzle and sprayed out into a container.

What landed in the container was ice cream dust - microscopic particles of very well frozen ice cream. It tasted great and had a very unique texture.

[AnalogReigns]

Where does a layman buy liquid nitrogen???

[fightinJAG]

Very cool post, king! Thanks.

[sauropod]

Pretty cool story!

[Chemist_Geek]

THIS I have got to try!