# Clear Ice Cubes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973 "2013-11-28T00:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/1 "2013-11-28T00:56:41Z")
Ice cubes in most bars are clear; at home they’re always somewhat “frosted.” Can clear cubes be made at home? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/2 "2013-11-28T01:05:00Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > Ice cubes in most bars are clear; at home they’re always somewhat “frosted.” Can clear cubes be made at home? Boil the water first. You might also need distilled water. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/3 "2013-11-28T02:48:46Z")
A water-filter may also help. Also let the trays sit out either on the counter or the fridge for a while (5 minutes or so) before sticking them in the freezer. Reasons behind advice: Tap water has airbubbles and little itty bits of particulate matter in it (that also catch the air) that make them cloudy. Using distilled or boiled water gets rid of those little imperfections, and letting the water sit either lets them settle down, or bubble out, before the water is frozen. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/4 "2013-11-28T02:52:15Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > A water-filter may also help. Also let the trays sit out either on the counter or the fridge for a while (5 minutes or so) before sticking them in the freezer. Not guaranteed to work. All my ice is made from filtered water (Brita filter) which has been sitting on the counter for hours. I just looked at the ice cubes in my drink, and they are far from clear. There must be some other factors involved. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/5 "2013-11-28T03:07:15Z")
This sounds easy enough to try. > **[How to Make Crystal Clear Ice Cubes](https://www.thoughtco.com/crystal-clear-ice-cubes-3980638)** > > There is a 'trick' to making clear ice cubes, but it isn't complicated and doesn't require special equipment. Here's what you need to do. > [@](#): > > There is a ‘trick’ to making clear ice cubes, but it isn’t complicated and doesn’t require an expensive restaurant ice machine. You need pure water and you need to control how it cools. The icemaker in my freezer has a water filter, but the ice cubes that it makes are opaque. My filter is relatively new, so I think that water doesn’t cool at the right rate to produce clear ice or else there is a lot of air in the water. The clear ice cube in this photo was made using bottled water that had been purified using reverse osmosis (distilled water would be fine). I boiled the water to remove most of the dissolved air. I have heard that ideally you want to boil the water, let it cool, then boil it again. I got good results just boiling the water once. I let the water cool slightly so that I wouldn’t burn myself spilling it, then poured it into an icecube tray and put it in my freezer. My unscientific investigation confirms that you can make clear ice by boiling and freezing purified water. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/6 "2013-11-28T03:27:21Z")
Shockingly, this is one area in which I am a minor “expert”. I made a [short video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CboJJ5pu910) on the subject. Boiling is absolutely not sufficient. The trick is fairly simple but it does take a bit of effort. The goal of the clear ice was to have good feedstock for another project of mine; an [ice ball maker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ey3t5dewDg). ---
**Author:** ![Two\_cents](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Two\_cents](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_cents)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/7 "2013-11-28T03:29:30Z")
This is the explanation I have heard, somewhere: Commercial ice makers freeze the water from the bottom up, by flowing water over a cold surface. Dissolved gases in the freezing water can then escape as the ice is forming. Your freezer probably freezes the cubes “quiescently”, so that a layer of ice forms first on top, trapping the gases as they try to escape from the freezing water below. The gas bubbles leave little trails as they try to force their way out of the solidifying water. The cloudy ice that results is no dirtier than clear ice, assuming that the water was equally clean to begin with. But the clear ice looks better, and frankly, I prefer it too. All water contains dissolved gases, by the way. (I think) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/8 "2013-11-28T03:35:59Z")
> [@Two\_cents](#): > > This is the explanation I have heard, somewhere: Commercial ice makers freeze the water from the bottom up, by flowing water over a cold surface. Dissolved gases in the freezing water can then escape as the ice is forming. Your freezer probably freezes the cubes “quiescently”, so that a layer of ice forms first on top, trapping the gases as they try to escape from the freezing water below. This is pretty close to the right answer. A small correction: the real problem is that household ice is frozen _from the outside in_. As I showed in my video above, it works equally well to freeze from the top down. As long as there is a region of liquid water to push the bubbles to, you’ll get clear ice. My technique uses a partially insulated container to achieve the effect. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/9 "2013-11-28T03:40:08Z")
The other thing the commercial units do is have an insulated but non refrigerated bin so that frost cannot collect. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/10 "2013-11-28T03:41:27Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Shockingly, this is one area in which I am a minor “expert”. > > I made a [short video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CboJJ5pu910) on the subject. Boiling is absolutely not sufficient. The trick is fairly simple but it does take a bit of effort. > > The goal of the clear ice was to have good feedstock for another project of mine; an [ice ball maker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ey3t5dewDg). Cool - I wish I had seen that a few months ago when I was trying to do this, but I kept seeing all the recommendations for boiled, distilled, and filtered water. I tried even boiling distilled water. It may have made a difference, but we are talking say if 100 was regular - and 0 was perfectly clear - I’d rate the block you made as a - I don’t know - a 3 - due to those small bubbles, the cubes I was making never got below a 95 or so. I gave up as I had tried eight or so batches and never saw any (significant) improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/11 "2013-11-28T03:50:14Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > It may have made a difference, but we are talking say if 100 was regular - and 0 was perfectly clear - I’d rate the block you made as a - I don’t know - a 3 - due to those small bubbles, the cubes I was making never got below a 95 or so. :). I’ve made blocks that would rate a “0”–mainly it just takes a bit of extra time sitting in the open to de-aerate a bit more. However, I usually don’t try very hard since I think the level of bubbles you see gives it a bit of character, like you might see in a glass paperweight. I’ve been meaning to experiment with an ultrasonic cleaner, which I’ve found does a good job at de-aeration. I also spent a great deal of time on boiled/distilled/etc. water and found the same thing you did. It made a small difference, but not enough to be worth it, and not enough that you could say you’ve really got clear ice. I made a quad unit so that I could prep slugs fairly quickly for a party. A week of prep is generally enough so that everyone can have one or two, and although the freezing takes a while, the actual effort is pretty small. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/12 "2013-11-28T04:01:43Z")
Yeah - I was doing this layered cocktail drink think - with a special glass - special straws - special ice cube shape - and then realized the ice was all cloudy. I started to get a little OCD about it - and really couldn’t justify the effort and say “look how clear the ice is” “Looks the same to me” “No it’s not - look at this one - clearly there is maybe 5% less cloudiness” So is used the cloudy cubes - and it was pretty impressive anyway - and the drink ended up being less clear than I had intended - so it didn’t matter as much. I had read that blowing air over the ice (while freezing) - or vibrating the ice (while freezing) - might help. I had little faith (nor an easy way to do that without spending even more time & money on this). At least you have a video - so I know your method works! I don’t think I could have gotten the shape I wanted though, but oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/13 "2013-11-28T04:11:25Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Yeah - I was doing this layered cocktail drink think - with a special glass - special straws - special ice cube shape - and then realized the ice was all cloudy. I started to get a little OCD about it I see we think alike. I also wanted my ice ball maker to have perfectly clear ice. I would see pics like [this](http://frontgate.scene7.com/is/image/frontgate/b-63342_i3?$wfih$) and think “You spent a grand on your ice ball maker to get ice balls that looked like _that_? Rubbish!” So I researched how to do it myself and found a guy that recommends using an insulating cooler in the freezer; that didn’t quite work for me since I wanted smaller blocks, and a cooler wouldn’t have fit anyway, so I came up with this system. In fact, normal, non-OCD people do appreciate the difference. We’re used to having cloudy ice at home and the clear stuff really stands out. The ice balls are actually pretty cool looking in opaque drinks, since you can peer into them like a hole. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/14 "2013-11-28T04:27:53Z")
Not to be a spoil-sport, but this is really simple. Filters, distilling, boiling etc. = waste of time. This is not how commercial ice machines make clear ice. They do it by using constantly flowing water which allows for regular, clear ice crystals to form. Simple as that. You want to have consistently clear ice cubes? Either buy commercially made ice or invest in a commercial ice machine. Given how expensive they are this is not a practical option for anybody. Just get used to your cloudy ice… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/15 "2013-11-28T04:51:30Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Given how expensive they are this is not a practical option for anybody. Just get used to your cloudy ice… 😃 Nope. See post 6. About $4 in materials. The technique works better for larger blocks than cubes. That’s ok; smash the blocks with a hammer and you get elegant, irregular ice chunks. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/16 "2013-11-28T05:22:53Z")
Yeah, people who make ice for professional ice sculptures say they get it clear by keeping the water moving, while it’s freezing. I know because I used to work a lot of corporate events with huge ice sculptures, though I was mostly using the Martini luge! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/17 "2013-11-28T05:56:15Z")
Sparge the water with argon prior to freezing. Or try several freeze-pump-thaw cycles prior to freezing. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/18 "2013-11-29T02:50:16Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Sparge the water with argon prior to freezing. Spoken like a true Old Money elitist who has their own private sparge sitting around. I MAY have a neighbor who I can borrow some argon from; he borrowed some brown sugar from me last summer, so he owes me, but I can assure you that us 99%ers don’t have the means to keep and maintain our own personal sparge, if we even wanted to. Snob. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/19 "2013-11-29T04:45:00Z")
If the problem is air bubbles, wouldn’t a cheap vacuum pump do the job? [Amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/GSC-Vacuum-Pump-Hand-Operated/dp/B001DBOUOC) > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Shockingly, this is one area in which I am a minor “expert”. > > I made a [short video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CboJJ5pu910) on the subject. Boiling is absolutely not sufficient. The trick is fairly simple but it does take a bit of effort. Your video is confusing because you show a plastic glass and a pitcher, you make a mold around the pitcher, but later you switch the pitcher and its mold without comment for the plastic glass and its mold. An annotation, at least, would seem to be a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-ice-cubes/674973/20 "2013-11-29T14:46:43Z")
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