There’s nothing better than having the crystal-clear ice balls for whiskey. This is the best way to present the signature cocktail at parties.
The crystal-clear ice balls are the quickest way to chill the drinks, and more than that it melts slower than the regular ice cubes and thereby retains the flavor for longer.
But the question is, how can you prepare the clear ice balls at home?
In this blog, I’ll discuss how you can make clear ice balls for whiskey at home. Let’s read further.
Check This– Best Clear Ice Maker
Table of Contents
How To Make Clear Ice Balls For Whiskey
The crystal clear ice cubes add great taste to a glass of whiskey. The clear ice balls are free from impurities and it doesn’t melt quickly. Hence, it can keep your drink cold for a longer duration.
Let’s have a look at some secret tips to make crystal clear ice cubes for whiskey-
1. Understand the Key Factors and Freezing Method
When making the crystal-clear ice balls, you need to consider the first water quality, and the second is the freezing method. Understand that water traps impurities and gaseous particles which makes it cloudy.
Therefore, it is crucial to remove the impurities from the water. If not, then you can use distilled water. Choose the appropriate freezing method.
The sphere ice cubes will freeze from all directions and then to the center. At the same time, the ball ice can get more transparent.
2. Consider the Silicon Mold
To make the crystal-clear ice balls, you can get the silicon mode of ball size with a small hole. You can also get the mold that can break into the two halves so that you can easily fill the water and remove the ice balls after freezing.
3. Make the rack With the Help of a Popsicle
When you place the rack in the freezer and keep the mold on the rack, then ice will freeze equally from all directions.
To make the rack, you can attach the wooden sticks and adhere them over one another. If you don’t have wooden sticks, then you can also use the wires.
This will help to give a suitable shape to the rack and help to hold the mold easily. While making the rack, ensure that the silicon mold doesn’t pass through the rack net but stays hanging on the rack.
Also, check the ideal length of the sticks, and it should be smaller than the size of the mold. When you are done with the rock formation, then hang this in the horizontal direction. This will help to fill the water into the pot ideally.
4. Boil the Water to Avoid Impurities
Whether you use bottled water or filter water, some impurities persist in the water, creating fogginess in the ice. Therefore, always double boil the water and let it cool at room temperature. This step is really crucial to remove the impurities and make water-free clean.
The double-boiled water doesn’t have any impurities and has no minerals. Moreover, the double-boiled water is also helpful in removing the trapped gas vacuoles present in the water. This, in turn, helps to provide crystal-clear water, which is ideal for making the ice balls.
After boiling the water, do ensure to cool it down naturally at room temperature. Avoid cooling in the freezer and under the fan as it may trap the air bubbles.
5. Fill the Ice Mold
Once the water cools down, start filling the water into the silicon mold. When filling the water into the mold, try to fill it until it starts overflowing. Also, place the thumb on the filling point so that the air will not enter the ice mold.
Repeat the process with another silicon mold and once you’re done with the filling, place the mold in an upside-down position so that the fill hole side will remain on the downside into the stand.
6. Prepare The Freezer to Freeze Ice Balls
When you are done with the above-mentioned steps, start preparing the freezer to freeze the ice balls.
- Set the temperature of the freezer to 0-degree F.
- Now remove the extra water from the mold with the help of pointed needles.
- Make sure to fill the silicon mold to the point of the fill hole. Along with this so ensure that no air bubble will trap under the mold.
- Shake the mold so that if there is any bubble, it will be removed automatically by shaking.
You can also wrap the silicone mold with a towel, and this will slow down the freezing and allow the water to freeze normally. Wrapping around also ensures that no air bubbles enter into the mold and make perfect ice balls.
6. Overnight Freezing
Last but not least, settle the temperature. Keep the mold on the rack and place the entire rack into the freezer. Wrap the container with the towel as it prevents the entry of the air into the molds. Keep it overnight or a maximum of 18 hours.
This will ensure that the ice balls freeze completely. Or you can freeze it until the top of the reservoir is completely frozen. The overnight freezing also helps to provide enough time to freeze completely. Also, use directional cooling to freeze the ice.
Once it is done, you can de-mold the ice mold and start serving it in the drinks. For later use, you can transfer the ice into the freezer and ice cooler, which helps to prevent the ice balls from melting.
Conclusion
Creating the crystal-clear ice balls is not that challenging as it seems. But following these steps will help you create crystal-clear ice balls easily. But when you create the stand, ensure that the stand can hold the mold snuggly and doesn’t slip from the stand.
Always use double boil water to prepare the ice balls. If you cannot boil water, you can use double distilled water to make the ice balls.