Summer is here and with it high temperatures. Faced with heat waves and tropical nights, many opt for cold drinks when it comes to cooling off, so ice cubes become an essential element in the routine. Unfortunately, it is common to get lost and find that our ice has completely disappeared without a trace.
Faced with this situation, there is a very useful trick to ensure that our ice cubes are made as quickly as possible and take longer to melt. Take note, because this simple homemade trick can save you from watered down drinks this summer.
First of all, it is worth knowing about the famous Mpemba effect, a phenomenon of the water freezing process that states that hot water freezes before cold water under certain circumstances. This fact was observed by Aristotle, Descartes and Bacon, but was finally named by Erasto B. Mpemba, who studied the phenomenon in 1970.
According to the scientist, it takes less time to freeze water that is at 80ºC than one that is at 15ºC due to three causes: In the hot container, the liquid flows more easily, so the hot water from the central area moves towards the walls or towards the surface cooling before; the higher the temperature, the faster the water evaporates; and the hotter a liquid is, the fewer dissolved gases it has, which is useful since these gases make it difficult to freeze.
How can we apply this phenomenon in the kitchen? Simple. We must boil water and let it cool down, and we repeat the process once more. After boiling the water a second time, we have to let it rest a bit, just enough to reach 70ºC (you can use a classic thermometer). Once it reaches this temperature, we fill the trays with ice and put them in the freezer.
Also, it should be known that the best option to make ice cubes is soft water, so using bottled water with weak mineralization is a better option if hard water comes out of our tap.
