One hour until your child's birthday party begins. Yummy little cakes had been prepared, as were the plates of French fries and chicken steaks that were neatly arranged on the table. When you're about to change clothes, you realize that you haven't taken the canned soda and bottled milk that are best served cold yet! Cooling it in the refrigerator certainly takes a long time, even though in half an hour the guests will start arriving. If this emergency situation happens to you, don't worry. Read this article to find an easy, fast, and sure-fire solution that will free you from the guilt of having to serve hot sodas.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Cooling Drinks Using a Cold Brine Solution
Step 1. Prepare a large glass bowl, fill the bowl with water and ice cubes
Use the thickest glass bowl you have; the thicker the glass, the better the bowl's ability to withstand cold temperatures inside. Add enough ice cubes, but make sure the portion of ice cubes is not more than the portion of water because cans and drink bottles must be completely submerged in the ice water solution. If you add too much ice, it is feared that the cold temperature will only touch certain points and will prolong the cooling. The right amount of water and ice cubes is 50:50. If you only need to cool a small amount of the drink, use a bowl. But if you need to refrigerate dozens or dozens of drinks, it's a good idea to use a cooler box/bag or even a bathtub.
Step 2. Add a handful of salt to the iced water, or adjust the amount according to the size of the container you are using
When dissolved in water, salt will decompose into its component ions, namely sodium and chloride. These components are able to break the bonds of water particles in the solid phase (when still in the form of ice) and transfer them to the liquid phase. The process of melting ice certainly requires energy, and water contains thermal energy that can help this process occur. The result of this process: the addition of salt is able to lower the temperature of the ice water so it will cool (even freeze) the drink very quickly.
Step 3. Place the drink can or bottle into the brine solution, then stir quickly
Stirring a drink can speed up the process of transferring heat from the drink to the brine solution.
Step 4. Wait for two minutes
The temperature of the drink should drop drastically in no time. If after two minutes the results are not what you expected, stir again for another minute or two.
Step 5. Pour the drink into a glass
After reaching the desired temperature, the drink is ready to be served. Be careful, if you apply this process to carbonated drinks, let the drink sit for a while before pouring it into the glass.
Method 2 of 2: Cooling Drinks Using Wet Paper Towels
Step 1. Wet a wide-sized kitchen paper towel (the tissue should be able to cover the entire can or bottle)
Cut up kitchen paper towels if your drink cans or bottles are small, or use them entirely if your drink cans or bottles are large.
Step 2. Wrap the drink with a wet paper towel, making sure the kitchen tissue is able to stick well
Step 3. Store the drink that has been wrapped in kitchen paper in the freezer for 15 minutes
Step 4. Remove the drink from the freezer, the cold drink is ready to be served and enjoyed
When removed, some of the paper towels may freeze. Leave the tissue on your drink until it's time to serve.
Tips
- Before serving, make sure you clean off any salt that might be left on the surface of the can or bottle. Surely you don't want to serve salty soda to guests, do you?
- Small drink cans or bottles can cool faster than large ones. In addition to containing less liquid, their small size allows them to be completely submerged in cold salt water.
- The method above is much better than just putting ice cubes into a glass of warm soda. Drinks containing ice cubes will taste bland over time and lose their taste as the ice cubes melt.
- If you don't have salt, you can soak the drink in a bowl or cooler filled with water and ice cubes (don't just fill the container with ice cubes!). In addition to speeding up the cooling process because the drink can be completely submerged, water is also a better conductor of heat than air.
- If you don't have clean water available at home, put the drink in a bowl or cooler filled with ice cubes and stir quickly. Instead of simply storing it in the refrigerator or cooler filled with ice, stirring it with ice is much more effective at speeding up the cooling process.
- Air, which is inherently “less dense” does not perform as well as water in “absorbing and conducting” heat. To allow cooler air to circulate between the pieces of ice, try putting a bowl of ice cubes and a drink in a cooler box/bag, then sealing the box/bag tightly. Every 15 or 30 seconds, turn the box/bag slowly so that the bowl inside rotates with it and the drink is stirred.
- The above method is not efficient when applied to wine bottles, considering that wine bottles are usually quite thick and large in size. Try first pouring the wine into a plastic clip, tape the ends, then place it in a bowl of ice cubes.
