Ice balls are great for your drinks and cocktails. They add more attraction to your drinks and give a luxurious feel when you enjoy them.
Interestingly, you can make clear ice balls at home without needing any special equipment. You only need some water, an ice maker, or a freezer to prepare ice balls.
But how do you make spherical ice cubes at home? This post will look at some simple techniques to prepare clear ice balls.
Why Do Ice Balls Last Longer?
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If you’re using ice in other forms, i.e., cubes or bars, it tends to melt down quickly. That’s why it doesn’t last in your drinks for too long, meaning the icy experience will wear down earlier.
Thanks to its spherical shape, the ice balls tend to maintain their temperature for longer, so they don’t melt down soon. That’s due to more surface area that keeps the sphere cool naturally.
What’s Essential to Make Perfect Clear Ice Balls
While learning how to make perfect clear ice balls, knowing the right ingredients for the job is important. While any type of water will produce ice, only the purest water will produce clean and clear ice balls.
Pure water has fewer impurities, meaning the ice has a less frosty effect. Hence, you will need warm or boiling water to produce crystal clear ice balls. You can also use distilled or filtered water to clear the ice balls. Another option is to use reverse-osmosis (RO) water to prepare clear ice balls.
How to Make Perfectly Clear Ice Balls
Here are a few simple ways to make clear round ice cubes.
Making Carved Ice Balls
Carved ice balls are prepared using a Japanese technique. It’s more of a craft and usually involves expert carvers. However, the carving technique is a good place to start if you want to learn how to make large round ice cubes.
You will need an ice block or a large cube and a carving tool to shape the perfect clear ice cube. However, it’s not a recommended technique if you want to create more ice balls in a limited time.
How to Make Round Ball Ice Cubes using an Ice Ball Press
You can use a metallic ice ball press for the job to create the perfect round ice balls. The press breaks down a large chunk of ice into a round shape, taking less than a minute to create the perfectly rounded ice ball.
It’s almost an effortless way to create ice balls, allowing you to quickly create the bulk of them. Ice ball presses are pretty expensive, but they’re good enough to produce consistent shapes every time.
Using a Plastic Ice Ball Mold for Round Ice Cubes
Plastic ice cubes are commercially viable and produce consistently round ice balls. Plastic ice ball molds are the perfect starting option if you’re a beginner at making ice balls. Fill the ice mold with water and let it freeze.
Conclusion
Creating perfectly rounded ice balls requires an ice ball mold and some water. It’s perhaps the simplest way to create several ice balls to add more attraction to your party drinks. You can also add variation by adding dry ice to the ice balls to give your drinks a smoky look. Moreover, using a high-quality ice maker makes producing perfectly shaped ice balls more efficient.
