Ice is naturally antimicrobial because North Face doesn’t make any coats small enough for bacteria and whatever so they get too cold and drive their little RVs down to Little Florida
I got tired of wondering what the random particles were that ended up in my ice, plus that smell and taste, so I tried getting a metal ice cube tray and now my ice is just ice. Dunno what but something was leeching from the plastic tray into the ice. It was old, so maybe that had something to do with it.
But yeah, I agree that there’s not much difference from drinking from a plastic cup, which is why most of my cups are glass and my water bottles are metal. I still have a few plastic cooking utensils but have been transitioning to wooden and metal. I stopped using non stick pans, too. Dunno how much of a difference it’s making in my life but I make an effort to minimize all plastic use.
The steel cubes have liquid inside too? I figured that solid steel would have enough mass and thermal… dynamics? to act as an ice cube, but maybe water is still better. Actually, do they sink or float?
I’m actually not joking, if you rinse an ice cube. Superficial ice immediately melts and is rinsed away. You could have dipped it in engine oil and it would be immediately pure ice after rinsing.
You’re assuming that all the contamination is on the surface, but there is hair, lint, and other particles under your fridge that will stick into the ice.
Also, your example of motor oil was a poor choice. Oil is probably not going to stick to your ice, unless it is in contact long enough to freeze, or get viscous enough to cling to it, and oil will not rinse away cleanly.
Hair and lint can stick to the ice, but try it for yourself, ice isn’t a sponge. The only way for anything on the surface to work it’s way in is to melt it’s way in, and then freeze the outer shell again. Akin to dropping the ice, kicking it under the fridge, fishing it back out, tossing it back into the ice tray. In which case, you deserve all the hair in your cocktail.
Ooh ooh, I want to escalate this thread into entirely new levels of unrealistic pedantry by talking about both hydrogen atoms and our own neurology and perceptions.
I have metal versions. I don’t really use em, but they’re for stuff like alcoholic drinks or whiskey on ice but for if you don’t want it to get watered down, just cold. I have two that look like metal golf balls and 6 that are small cubes,and they generally just sit somewhere atm.
I’ve used em to cool booze before, but I haven’t drank any high percentage alcohol in a while.
Don’t put ice in your whisky. It’s supposed to be enjoyed at room temperature optionally with a splash of water. If you chill it the aromatic flavours are muted and it tastes bland.
Rinse the ice and then keep using it. It’s literally pristine again.
Something tells me we can trust this user on their knowledge of ice and its limits.
Between the 5 second rule and rinsing, the ice is probably cleaner than it was from the tray.
Ice is naturally antimicrobial because North Face doesn’t make any coats small enough for bacteria and whatever so they get too cold and drive their little RVs down to Little Florida
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you are joking, but lately i’ve been seeing reusable ice cubes made of a plastic cube with water inside…
just… eww
Why? Just clean them after every use. How is a plastic cube different than drinking from a plastic cup?
I have steel cubes with liquid inside (not sure if water) and I love them. I can put ice cubes into beer and other drinks without watering them down.
Metal ones seem nice. I agree with the plastic ones being shitty though. It just seems like more waste and microplastics being added to my brain fork.
I got tired of wondering what the random particles were that ended up in my ice, plus that smell and taste, so I tried getting a metal ice cube tray and now my ice is just ice. Dunno what but something was leeching from the plastic tray into the ice. It was old, so maybe that had something to do with it.
But yeah, I agree that there’s not much difference from drinking from a plastic cup, which is why most of my cups are glass and my water bottles are metal. I still have a few plastic cooking utensils but have been transitioning to wooden and metal. I stopped using non stick pans, too. Dunno how much of a difference it’s making in my life but I make an effort to minimize all plastic use.
The steel cubes have liquid inside too? I figured that solid steel would have enough mass and thermal… dynamics? to act as an ice cube, but maybe water is still better. Actually, do they sink or float?
solid metal cubes are probably too expensive and could break the glass
although liquid filled would break or bow out if the liquid freezes
the plastic cup is made to be thrown away, otherwise you’d be drinking out of a nice glass/ceramic cup if you were gonna wash it anyways
the plastic cubes would shred more and more microplastics as you wash them-and inevitably scuff the surface even more
My partner went through a period where she dropped so many cups and glasses that I got a set of reusable plastic tumblers.
I’m actually not joking, if you rinse an ice cube. Superficial ice immediately melts and is rinsed away. You could have dipped it in engine oil and it would be immediately pure ice after rinsing.
You’re assuming that all the contamination is on the surface, but there is hair, lint, and other particles under your fridge that will stick into the ice.
Also, your example of motor oil was a poor choice. Oil is probably not going to stick to your ice, unless it is in contact long enough to freeze, or get viscous enough to cling to it, and oil will not rinse away cleanly.
Also, how bad to you need to save one ice cube?
Hair and lint can stick to the ice, but try it for yourself, ice isn’t a sponge. The only way for anything on the surface to work it’s way in is to melt it’s way in, and then freeze the outer shell again. Akin to dropping the ice, kicking it under the fridge, fishing it back out, tossing it back into the ice tray. In which case, you deserve all the hair in your cocktail.
Ooh ooh, I want to escalate this thread into entirely new levels of unrealistic pedantry by talking about both hydrogen atoms and our own neurology and perceptions.
Yeah, it’s probably fine… but still, it’s just an ice cube. Maybe if it’s like… the last one or something.
My ice cubes are small enough that rinsing them would waste more water than just tossing the very few that fall. I toss em in the sink.
I have metal versions. I don’t really use em, but they’re for stuff like alcoholic drinks or whiskey on ice but for if you don’t want it to get watered down, just cold. I have two that look like metal golf balls and 6 that are small cubes,and they generally just sit somewhere atm.
I’ve used em to cool booze before, but I haven’t drank any high percentage alcohol in a while.
Don’t put ice in your whisky. It’s supposed to be enjoyed at room temperature optionally with a splash of water. If you chill it the aromatic flavours are muted and it tastes bland.
It’s generally not just water inside
maybe some antibacterial agent but they can’t straight up put car coolant or it would kill people if accidentally ingested
Propylene glycol/water mix would be my guess; they noticeably don’t crystalize the same way pure water does
Melt the ice cube, boil the resulting water to evaporate it, collect the vapour in a condenser, refreeze it… boom!