Dry Ice in Ice and Salt Ice Cream Maker?

[Perry Holbrook]

I'm in the market for a new Ice Cream Maker (old one died this week end). Think I have found a replacement, but it made we think of something. If I put a couple of pieces of dry ice in the ice/salt mix, what can I expect? I'm not sure what happens when you put dry ice in water or in this case salt water. I hope it will make the ice cream freeze harder and/or faster.

Inquiring mind wants to know.

Thanks, Perry

[paul cottingham]

I believe when you put dry ice into water it just sublimates into a gas. It will lose heat, but I'm not sure it will cool as well as ice and salt.

[Jim Neeley]

If you put dry ice into a salt / ice bath in an old-fashioned icecream maker it will cool the salt/ice mixture down below its freezing point and the ice will no longer melt until the ice cream mixture warms it up to the freezing point of the salt/ice mixture. If there's a fair amount of dry ice, it will then accelerate the freezing of the mixture. Now as to whether or not you will be able to continue stirring the mixture until it all turns slushy and then firm before a layer of frozen cream builds up on the side of the maker, stopping the turning, that's anybody's guess.. <g>

[Dan Friedrichs]

Well, dry ice is ~ -100F, and an ice-cream-making-ish mixture of ice/salt is going to be ~0F.

Some people have reported excellent results making ice cream using liquid nitrogen directly in the mixture!

[Bill Huber]

I have been thinking about this and I know if I put to much salt and it the mix to cold the ice cream will freeze to fast and make ice crystals and the ice cream will not be smooth.
So I would say don't do it.

[Larry Frank]

Bill has it right. If you freeze the ice cream too fast, it changes the texture and can make it coarser with larger crystals. I think you just have to take your time and the result is well worth it.

[Perry Holbrook]

Thanks, I've never seen the texture change thing before.

Perry

[Bruce Pratt]

Google "dry ice" and "ice cream" - lots of information and and instructions.

[Lee Schierer]

Dry ice in water will bubble like crazy and turn to gas fairly quickly. Unless you have a cheap source of dry ice, I'm not sure the time saved (if any) would be worth the added cost. Not to mention the ice crystal problem mentioned earlier.