Friday, January 22, 2010

Flavored Icicles


I grew up in Breckenridge, Colorado. I have many memories of grabbing large icicles off of the roofs as I walked to school. The ice was so clear and clean. I have always thought about how I can use nature in my cooking. I have made pine needle caramel and buried potatoes in the earth to cook them. What about a flavored icicle. My kids eat flavor pops, a kind of man made icicle. How could I make one in nature. My own Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls?

An icicle forms when snow or ice melts and continuously drips off something sloped, such as a roof or a bridge. The thin layer of water draws heat away from the ice inside, through diffusion, and transfers it to the air next to the icicle. This thin blanket of slightly warmer air, called the boundary layer, rises and is replaced with colder air. The cold air further cools the icicle and turns some of the liquid water into a layer of ice, and the icicle becomes thicker and longer.

If I take a flavored liquid and put in a large 20 gallon bucket with a small hole in the bottom, I can mimic a natural thaw. I will have to make a heat source towards where the liquid comes out so the hole does not freeze shut. What if you could walk out of the Inventing Room and pick your favorite flavor off our candy roof for the ride home.

2 comments:

Term papers said...

The ice was so clear and clean. You have always thought about how You can use nature in Your cooking. You have made pine needle caramel and buried potatoes in the earth to cook them.

Ed Schenk said...

Very cool Idea!