You’re storing your ice cream wrong: Ben & Jerry’s says how to do it right
Just as you’re planning to happily plunge your spoon or ice cream scoop díep into that pint of Ben & Jerry’s, you hit an unpleasant layer of large ice crystals. Damn! The company’s ice cream gurus explain how this happens and, more importantly, how to prevent it.
Gurus? Yes, following the example of the founders, this company still exudes a cozy hippie vibe, but at the same time they sell 150 million little tubs (pints) a year in America alone, so they know what they’re talking about! This is how the ice crystals (their lovely term: freezer burn) form, and these are the crucial tips they say everyone needs to live their best ice cream life:
What is freezer burn, anyway?
Ice cream evaporates over time. When moisture leaves the ice cream and encounters the humid air inside the freezer, it freezes again on top of the ice cream. The ice cream itself doesn’t necessarily have gone bad; you’re simply left with an icy, crunchy, unappetizing layer. You can eat that layer, but you probably won’t want to.
Store your ice cream upside down
Especially if you’ve taken your pint out well ahead of time and the ice cream has softened, melted ice can run downward when you put it back in the freezer, ruining the consistency (and taste) of the still-hard ice cream. Not okay. Make sure the lid is really secured tightly, and put the pint back in the freezer upside down. That way, the lid can catch any potentially liquid ice cream.
Hide it well
It’s also important to store your ice cream really deep inside the freezer, far away. Right at the back, where it may also be safer from the grabbing hands of housemates. This makes it less easy for warm air to reach your ice cream every time you open the door to grab something else from the freezer. You know, your frozen green beans or something.
Get rid of the ice cream scoop
Not forever, of course, because when your ice cream is soft enough, it’s obviously great fun to form beautiful scoops. But if you want to tackle your ice cream straight from the freezer, you can also carefully cut the entire container, ice cream and all, in half with a sharp knife. Then simply peel off the cardboard and divide the ice cream into pieces before putting it in a bowl. This method is also perfect for cutting off a top layer of crystals.
Put a roof on it
Your ice cream also loves being extra well protected from contact with air. Place a piece or circle of baking paper or plastic wrap over the ice cream and under the lid to let even less air in.
Nom nom nom
And the best solution? EAT IT ALL. Don’t store it and put it back; just go ahead and finish that whole pint. You can do it. Or be nice and share…
Also read:
- Think of this badass woman next time you eat ice cream
- Stop the presses: HEMA hot dog ice cream is here
- We need to talk about people who chew ice cream
Source: Ben & Jerry’s
