[Bloominglabs-announce] LN2 Ice Cream Wednesday, June 29

[Susan Sons]

Greetings, all!

Following my housewarming party last night, we have a large amount of
liquid nitrogen (aka LN2) and ice cream base left (well, a lot of dairy
base, and a very small amount of coconut base for those who can't
consume dairy).  There's also plenty of simple syrup (sugar+water) and
Splenda (non-sugar) sweetener.

I plan to bring it to public night Wednesday. BYOB (Bring Your Own
Bowl...and spoon).  Also feel free to bring flavors (see notes below) as
I'm down to almond, chocolate, and a bit of vanilla.


*** Help Wanted! ***

I'll be tied up managing ice cream making, and will need assistance with
pouring (the dewar I have is too large and heavy for one-man controlled
pours) and with cleaning utensils and containers between batches. Please
lend a hand!


*** Notes about flavoring LN2 ice cream: ***

Watch out for putting hard things (especially candies) in ice cream
before freezing. Candy especially is out -- add it after freezing, or it
will get cold enough to break teeth.

Fruit is great for flavoring ice cream, but to really get the flavor to
permeate the ice cream it is best to puree a bit of the fruit (feel free
to add chunks as well) before mixing.

Any flavor extract available at your local grocery (usually in the
baking aisle) can be an effective flavor option. Imitation vanilla is
pretty awful, though: stick with the real thing.

For brewed/steeped liquids, such as coffee and tea, you'll want to brew
them 2x-4x normal drinking strength and allow to cool before ice cream
making.  With coffee in particular, it's best to boost the flavor with a
bit of coffee extract in addition to the brewed coffee.

It is VERY easy to mix small batches, so do not be afraid to experiment
with weird flavors or things you aren't sure will turn out right. Our
minimum batch size is around two cups of ice cream, so experiment! In
the past, we've done blueberry-and-hops ice cream, squid ink ice cream,
and weirder.


*** For further entertainment... ***

Also bring interesting things to freeze for entertainment value.
Popular past frozen adventures have included:

* Freeze juice to make a sorbet, or pureed fruit for an Italian ice like
creation.

* Freeze your favorite booze (hard liquor doesn't actually freeze well,
use it as a mixer...we did wine and mead last night and they turned out
nicely) for an interesting treat.

* Freeze a flower and watch it shatter like glass when struck.  Very
fluffy flowers, such as peonies, provide the most theatrical effect.

* Freeze a banana and use it to hammer nails into wood (because you can).

* Blow up 100 or so large party balloons, put a little LN2 in a bucket,
and amaze people by how many balloons you can fit in the bucket (the air
inside them shrinks from the cold, allowing a near infinite amount of
blown-up balloons to be stuffed in...it totally blows kids' minds).


We're equipped for a few gallons of ice cream plus a bit of random
hijinks, so please bring your sweet tooth and your favorite flavors!

Susan