The Tip To Prevent Your Ice Cream From Being Ruined By Freezer Burn
Once you open your favorite pint of Ben & Jerry's, it can be hard to put it back in the freezer. What's worse is that this moderation doesn't seem to offer any benefits besides freezer burn.
In the general sense, freezer burn is damage to frozen foods. The scientific reason for this is the evaporation of moisture over time. We all learn in school that evaporation is what happens when a liquid turns into a gas, and while this usually occurs at high heat, it also happens slowly over time in your freezer. In most foods, this is a signal that the food has lost too much moisture, and has undergone serious texture or flavor changes that make it less appetizing.
Even though ice cream is a treat that is always frozen, it can still suffer the same effects of freezer burn. Thankfully, there are a few easy ways to prevent it from occurring and save that last bite of ice cream.
What causes freezer burn on ice cream
Freezer burns on ice cream are caused by the same forces that create them on other foods. The moisture in the ice cream evaporates over time. More accurately, these tiny water molecules are going through a process called sublimation. This happens when the faster-moving water molecules propel themselves away from the rest of the frozen mass. This is the same type of interaction that occurs during evaporation but is caused by most of the molecules slowing down rather than some of them speeding up.
So if this process is all about losing moisture, then why does ice form on the surface of the ice cream? This is because those fast-moving molecules can't keep moving forever in such a cold environment. As the moisture builds up over time, these molecules eventually refreeze into solids and then settle on the surface of your ice cream.
While it's still safe to eat this overly frozen ice cream, it isn't the most enjoyable experience. If enough ice has formed, then even your favorite brand will taste crunchy and watery instead of smooth and creamy. Luckily, there's an easy fix to this problem.
How to prevent ice cream freezer burn
The easiest way to prevent freezer burn on your ice cream is to give it a little bit of extra protection. As a bonus, it can also help you to avoid wasting extra wax paper at the same time.
The next time you cut out some wax paper to fit a certain size pan or dish and you don't know what to do with the extra, just take it to your freezer. Take off the ice cream container's lid, place the extra square of wax paper on top, and then put the lid back in place with bits of wax paper sticking out to make sure it's sealed. This extra bit of protection should help to prevent water from evaporating from your ice cream and prevent the excess moisture from refreezing on its surface.
This trick works because the wax paper is treated with a type of wax on both sides. This makes it a non-permeable surface that those tiny water molecules can't penetrate. While you can also try freezer or parchment paper as well, they don't have the same seals, and may not work quite as well.