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How to make ice cream with dry ice

Dry Ice in the Stand Mixer
Homemade ice cream is a wonderful treat, but you really do need an ice cream maker for the best and most consistent results. There are many affordable ice cream makers out there (and plenty of more expensive ones!) that will pay for themselves if you make ice cream yourself regularly. If you don’t make ice cream on a regular basis, however, you probably don’t want another appliance taking up valuable room in your kitchen. So, is it possible to make great ice cream at home without an ice cream maker? Yes, and the secret is to use dry ice.

Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide and it has a temperature of -109.3F (78.5C). It is primarily used for preserving ice cream and other frozen foods at very cold temperatures. For instance, it may be used to chill the interior of an ice cream cart on a hot day at the park so the popsicles don’t melt before they’re sold. It is also often added to Halloween punch because of the fog-like clouds that it generates when put into water or other liquids.

But how can you make ice cream with it?

Dy ice ice cream is made by crushing dry ice into as fine a powder as you can get it and then pouring the crushed ice into your ice cream base while vigorously stirring it. The crushed dry ice will disperse throughout the ice cream base very quickly, freezing the mixture as it is added. When you churn the mixture, it prevents the mixture from freezing solid and instead turns it into very creamy ice cream. Since dry ice is so cold, it can freeze an ice cream mixture rapidly and without forming any ice crystals, so the finished product has a very smooth texture. Dry ice also sublimates – meaning that it turns from a solid to a gas – very quickly when added to a liquid, so all of the dry ice used making the ice cream will sublimate into a cloud of fog while the ice cream churns and none will be left behind when your mixture is ready to eat.

Crushing Dry Ice

The reason I recommend using dry ice is that it is inexpensive and very easy to find. It is easy to handle (although its extremely cold temperature can cause skin damage after prolonged exposure) and it makes amazing ice cream. Many of the grocery stores in my area stock it and you will probably use less than a couple of dollars’ worth of dry ice for each batch of ice cream. You may have heard of using liquid nitrogen to freeze ice cream on TV or even on some other blogs. What most of these shows don’t mention is that, while liquid nitrogen itself is inexpensive, the specially designed containers required to transport it can be incredibly expensive. It simply isn’t a practical thing for home chefs to use unless they have a friend with easy access to liquid nitrogen and the means to transport and store it safely.

The dry ice technique can be made using any flavor of ice cream. Follow the recipe of your choosing and, instead of pouring the mixture into an ice cream maker, break out your dry ice! If your recipe has mix-ins, such as chocolate chips, stir them in after churning the base. The easiest way to churn the ice cream is to mix everything in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on, but you can stir by hand without any problems (still takes about the same amount of time) if you have someone to help pour in the crushed dry ice. Once made, the dry ice ice cream will taste as though it has been slightly carbonated, but this passes very quickly as the gas leaves the ice cream. It can be served immediately or stored in an airtight container in the freezer as you would with other ice creams.

Dry Ice Ice Cream

How to Make Ice Cream with Dry Ice
approx 1/2 lb dry ice*
base for 1 1/2 – 2 qts ice cream (any flavor), chilled

Place your dry ice in a large ziploc bag. Do not zip the bag completely shut. Cover bag with a dish towel and use a rolling pin (or meat mallet) to crush the ice into a fine, sandy powder. This requires a little muscle. All pieces should be smaller than a small pea.
Pour chilled ice cream base into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn mixer onto medium-low and gradually pour in the crushed dry ice.
Dry ice will “fog” and ice cream will begin to freeze. Pour in the dry ice slowly, and stop adding it as the ice cream freezes. Churn for 2-3 minutes.
Serve right away, or transfer to a freezer-safe container (let it sit out for 5-10 minutes to allow excess carbon dioxide to dissipate) with a lid and store.

*Note: The exact amount of dry ice you will need will vary. Most stores sell it by weight, but in large, oddly shaped chunks so it is difficult to get a very exact amount. You don’t really need an exact amount because a little too much dry ice isn’t going to matter in the long run. Watch the mixture as your ice cream churns and it will be easy to tell when it has reached the appropriate consistency and no longer needs additional ice.

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10 Comments
  • Heidi
    August 30, 2011

    This also works well with liquid nitrogen, if you can get it!

  • Joe
    August 30, 2011

    Brilliant, Nicole! Love this idea.

    Just a note to others – be very careful while handling dry ice! Use an oven mitt or sturdy towel so your skin doesn’t touch it.

  • Sarah
    May 31, 2012

    Can you pour the milk, cream and flavoring straight into the mixing bowl and then add the dry ice, or do you need to heat the milk/cream with the beaten egg yolks and sugar as you would normally (like making a custard mixture?

  • Nicole
    May 31, 2012

    Sarah – You need to mix you ice cream base first. If you are using a recipe that calls for eggs, you will need to cook the mixture before adding the dry ice. If you are using a recipe that does not call for eggs, you will still need to incorporate the sugar and flavorings (usually by cooking) so that they are completely dissolved in the milk/cream of your recipe. This will give you the best finished product.

  • Ellie@Fit for the Soul
    July 28, 2012

    dang this sounds so cool! And so much chemistry going on my brain hurts…lol. But I’ve never thought of using dry ice! It’s kind of scary thinking about it. I didn’t know one could make food by using it~

  • anne boulley
    January 25, 2015

    I took small chunks of dry ice and put them into the food processor to make a powder. It worked nicely and helps it dissipate more quickly from the ice cream

  • rogel
    May 14, 2017

    I actuallly love your post. I read you site fairly regularly and you are constantly coming out with
    somme great items. I discussed this on my FB and my followers merely adored it.
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