How to make your ice cream last longer
With summer cranking up the heat and household freezers stocked full of ice cream tubs, here are a few tips on how to keep your frozen treat stay fresher, longer.
- You know those pesky ice crystals that form clumps on your ice cream to create an impenetrable and infuriating barrier to the good stuff? The way to avoid that is to refrain from repeatedly softening and re-freezing it. When small ice crystals melt and re-freeze, they eventually turn into what seem like mini glaciers.
- The freezer should be set at between -5°F (-21C) and 0°F (-18C). Ice cream is easy to dip into between 6°F (14C) and 10°F (12C), the ideal serving temperature range.
- Store ice cream in the main part of the freezer. Do not store in the freezer door, which is repeatedly opened and shut and where the ice cream is subject to fluctuating temperatures.
- Keep the ice cream container lid tightly closed when storing in the freezer.
- Refrain from storing ice cream alongside uncovered foods as odors may penetrate ice cream and affect its flavor.
--Source: International Ice Cream Association
