I ordered freeze-dried ice cream, and...

Fraulein

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If I were to tell you, then that would be cheating
the Neapolitan sandwiches were fantastic! They were like big, yummy cookies. :D

The individual scoops, on the other hand, were stale and tasted like freezer burn.


Have you ever tried freeze-dried ice cream?
 

Alphabeter

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If you're looking for individual-sized ice cream, try the Hagen Dazs (sp?) 4 oz containers. My local supermarket carries them 2/$1 and they're made with REAL ingredients (milk, eggs, cream, etc) not chemicals. They're small enough for a mini-meal topper, yet rich enough that one is good for a day. I have yet to binge on them, yet I will on a bigger size--go figure!

To answer your question though, I have tried Dipping Dots. From wikipedia: The confection is created by flash freezing ice cream mix in liquid nitrogen; consequently, Dippin' Dots contain less air than conventional ice cream. " They're as close to freeze-dried as I've had but they are delicious and just melt wonderfully (without a gas taste) in your mouth. Lots of amusement parks sell them because they carry well.
 

jennontheisland

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I had it as a kid. Tasted like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. My brother loved it. I wasn't overly impressed by the taste, and less so that my mom couldn't tell me how it was made. LOL

We're thinking of getting some for The Boy for Christmas. I'm gonna have to do some research on the freeze drying process, cause I know he's gonna ask...
 

icerose

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We had some NASA strawberry icecream when I was in 8th grade on a science field trip. And then dippin dots on another field trip to a county fair. It was so good, I love dippin dots. Unfortunately we can't get it anywhere near where I live, and icecream is depressingly expensive at the moment, not to mention my kids broke the lid to our icecream maker.
 

Fraulein

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If I were to tell you, then that would be cheating
I had it as a kid. Tasted like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. My brother loved it. I wasn't overly impressed by the taste, and less so that my mom couldn't tell me how it was made. LOL

We're thinking of getting some for The Boy for Christmas. I'm gonna have to do some research on the freeze drying process, cause I know he's gonna ask...
I ordered the sandwiches from Freeze Drying Concepts, if by chance you want to order the same ones.

To save you some trouble:
  • Basically, freeze drying works by increasing the temperature from below 32 to above 32 degrees Fahrenheit and decreasing the pressure at the same time.
  • Water will sublime (have enough energy to escape its frozen state) if the temperature is "high" enough (when compared to freezing or below) and the pressure is "low" enough.
  • The water molecules can escape, because they will have enough energy from the higher temperature to become gaseous, yet they will not be confined to a liquid form due to the low pressure.

Here's a cool diagram and a quote from HowStuffWorks.com:

freeze-drying-graph.gif


"...if you increase the temperature above 32 F while keeping the atmospheric pressure below .06 atmospheres (ATM), the water is warm enough to thaw, but there isn't enough pressure for a liquid to form. It becomes a gas."
 

Ken

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...I usually stick to frozen yogurt, and kid myself that it is healthier than ice cream. There's a brand here, in the States, called Turkey Hill which really rocks. // Neat idea, though, with the freeze-dried ice cream, and convenient too.
 

jennontheisland

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I ordered the sandwiches from Freeze Drying Concepts, if by chance you want to order the same ones.

To save you some trouble:
  • Basically, freeze drying works by increasing the temperature from below 32 to above 32 degrees Fahrenheit and decreasing the pressure at the same time.
  • Water will sublime (have enough energy to escape its frozen state) if the temperature is "high" enough (when compared to freezing or below) and the pressure is "low" enough.
  • The water molecules can escape, because they will have enough energy from the higher temperature to become gaseous, yet they will not be confined to a liquid form due to the low pressure.
Here's a cool diagram and a quote from HowStuffWorks.com:
...

"...if you increase the temperature above 32 F while keeping the atmospheric pressure below .06 atmospheres (ATM), the water is warm enough to thaw, but there isn't enough pressure for a liquid to form. It becomes a gas."



Awesome! I'll have to figure out how to explain it to a 5 year old, but at least now I know. lol

Thanks Fraulien!
 

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I've five (times something) and I got it. Now explaining it without the graphic is not something I'd relish. Oh wait, this is an ice cream thread. Nevermind. :D
 

reenkam

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I've had lots of freeze dried ice cream. The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia has it in their gift shop all the time. I used to buy it every time I went there, which was a lot.

It doesn't really taste like ice cream to me...but it isn't bad. Like Jenn said, it's kind of like a Lucky Charm marshmallow...but then it melts on your tongue.
 

Stlight

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Well, she said it tasted like a lucky charm marshmellow, I'm guessing that's what dog treats taste like. Not going to try it myself. Regular marshmellows are the things of nightmares - the ones in Lucky Charms.

But then I didn't like the freeze dried strawberries in cereals or the "just like NASA packs" space soft chewy sticks or Tang.

S
 

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They sell it in the gift shop of the Air and Space museum in DC, as well as the Liberty Science Center in NJ, and the Franklin Institute, as Reen said.
I've tried it, and I found it tastes a lot like a stale marshmallow. Lucky Charms-esque, I suppose. Not so awesome (tried it in DC), but I'll probably try it again sometime, just for the sake of comparison.
 

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Well, she said it tasted like a lucky charm marshmellow, I'm guessing that's what dog treats taste like. Not going to try it myself.
Yes, I guess it does. Not bad. But then I haven't tried the people ones yet.

Gave a piece to my son to try and he thought it was delicious until I showed him the dog treat box.
 

Fraulein

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If I were to tell you, then that would be cheating
Yes, I guess it does. Not bad. But then I haven't tried the people ones yet.

Gave a piece to my son to try and he thought it was delicious until I showed him the dog treat box.
You must have a spoiled puppy. :D

I saw the dog treats online, and I thought it was a cool idea. I didn't think that anyone would actually buy them though. :tongue

Don't people just bring their dogs to Sonic and eat ice cream cones with them in the back of their truck? I guess that could get messy. ;)
 

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was a news article about how astronauts had a Thanksgiving meal that was freeze-dried.
Thnx to this thread I knew precisely what that was ;-)