# Snow Ice Cream--Anyone else find this idea disgusting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730 "2014-01-02T19:37:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/21 "2014-01-02T22:13:45Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Mmm, watered down condensed milk) Isn’t that… milk? (Admittedly with a fair amount of sugar added, but that ruins the joke.) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/22 "2014-01-02T23:42:01Z")
Used to have [Sugar on Snow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_taffy) or Maple Taffy several times per year growing up in Vermont. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/23 "2014-01-03T00:12:16Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I just found out my brother has this trait in common with me. It must be something about how we were raised. Where were you raised? We did this in New England all the time. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/24 "2014-01-03T00:38:17Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I made this when I was a kid. You use fresh snow, off the bushes. Brush a little snow into a bowl to cool it off, then dump that out. Refill with more snow and take inside. It works best when it’s colder out. I just used whole milk, some sugar, a little vanilla, and some food color to make it look good. Cream instead of milk would probably work as well. We get skim milk now, and I don’t know if that would have enough body without any fat. Exactly what we did in the 1950s. Those minute particulates won’t hurt you unless you breathe them into your lungs. Your stomach can probably handle them. I’d love to see something scientific about the bacteria angle. EDIT–the bacteria is a non-issue. From the article > [@](#): > > This uncertainty thus leaves parents wondering what to do, but experts say there is not much cause for worry. The types of bacteria found in the atmosphere, and ultimately in snow, are not human pathogens and don’t cause disease. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/25 "2014-01-03T00:48:05Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Ice can’t crystallize on nothing. A snowflake is formed on a speck of dust. That’s why, every spring, there’s a small dark mound where there used to be a big white mound before the thaw. Don’t eat it. I’ve never seen a dark mound unless the snow pile was created by a plow clearing a road or parking lot. Oh wow, the snow that lands on the dirty pavement is dirty, what a shock! Snow in the yard, never had any of this supposed dust mound left behind. Ever. It’s an even more bizarre notion than mixing milk into snow. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/26 "2014-01-03T01:17:38Z")
Precipitation is, literally, distilled water. It’s probably purer than what you get out of your tap. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/27 "2014-01-03T01:25:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Precipitation is, literally, distilled water. It’s probably purer than what you get out of your tap. I wonder if this is still true for large urban areas with lots of smog/pollution? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/28 "2014-01-03T01:46:15Z")
Top layer of snow is fine. But when I think back what makes me want to retch is about how we loved to suck on icicles. Mostly they came from water that hit the roof, came through the gutters and formed on the drainpipe. Bird poop, rotting leaf materials and mold. Yummy! Sadly, I do remember loving the taste of them. Barf. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/29 "2014-01-03T02:04:39Z")
Eat a few germs every day to keep your immune system robust! ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/30 "2014-01-03T02:09:35Z")
I remember having this a few times as a kid. It was pretty rare since it doesn’t snow much in Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/31 "2014-01-03T04:32:35Z")
We made it with cream, sugar and snow every time we got more than a few inches of accumulation. Great memory, and it tasted great. I can’t even imagine why anyone would think of it as gross. ETA: We called it snow cream. ---
**Author:** ![Streetsinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Streetsinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Streetsinger)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/32 "2014-01-03T04:58:45Z")
Laura and Mary do the sugar on snow thing in LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS, at the sugaring off party, pouring boiling maple sap on the snow. I alway wanted to try it when I was a kid, but I used maple syrup and it never worked. Judging from the Wikipedia article it has to be real maple sap, not just syrup. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/33 "2014-01-03T05:03:00Z")
I think it sounds kind of gross. The condensed milk part, not the snow part. I’m not a big fan of condensed milk. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/34 "2014-01-03T07:06:40Z")
I never heard of making snow ice cream, but I did eat snow and icicles when I was a kid, so it wouldn’t bother me. It doesn’t snow much where I live now, so I don’t have the opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/35 "2014-01-03T07:35:35Z")
I’ve never heard of snow ice cream in my life, and I live in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Willcross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Willcross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Willcross)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/36 "2014-01-03T08:41:36Z")
I’ll do you guys one better! Growing up in Tennessee it only a couple times a year, some years not at all. Whenever we made snow cream, my mom would make a few gallons and freeze it in ziplock bags! Nothing like a bowl of 6 month old snow cream to cool you down on a hot July day! ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/37 "2014-01-03T09:59:28Z")
I never made snow cream, but I scooped up some clean snow into a cup and drizzled maple syrup over it to make a sort of flavored snow-cone. Also, I once tried to make those maple syrup sticks by pouring boiled maple syrup over snow; it almost worked, but there wasn’t enough snow on the ground, and it ended up just being a huge mess. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/38 "2014-01-03T14:22:45Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Where were you raised? We did this in New England all the time. Weird. I’ve lived in New England my entire life and the only people I’ve _ever_ heard of doing this until now are the Ingalls family. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/39 "2014-01-03T14:23:09Z")
For maple sugar there needs to not only be a lot of snow on the ground (and it helps if you pack it down where you intend to pour) it needs to be COLD outside. For the sugar bush tours where they’re doing the demonstration for dozens of kids at a time they usually use troughs that they fill with snow. Saves having to rope off areas to keep their feet out of the treat. You can sort of replicate this with a large roasting pan full of snow. If it’s not cold enough outside, pour the warm syrup over the packed snow and then place the whole pan in the freezer. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730/40 "2014-01-03T16:15:36Z")
Snow ice cream sounds like a picnic compared to _akutaq_, or Eskimo ice cream. It used to be made with animal fat, but nowadays they usually just use Crisco. Add wild berries, some animal fat (if you’re being traditional), and sometimes caribou or salmon to Crisco and mix. Sometimes they will just use Crisco and berries and add some sugar, but that’s not the norm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow-ice-cream-anyone-else-find-this-idea-disgusting/677730.md?page=3)