Science of Food | Make Your Own Soft Serve With Dry Ice–And Sweet, Sweet Science

(uptempo percussion music)

[Narrator] You might think that you could only get

soft serve at the ice cream parlor.

Not true, with a little science,

you can make it at home.

Here's how to use dry ice to pretty much

instantly make your own soft serve.

Yeah, dry ice.

You can probably get it at your local supermarket.

And no, this recipe will not kill you.

But first things first.

Combine these ingredients.

(uptempo acoustic music)

Blend for one minute.

(blender grinding)

Now wrap those chunks of dry ice in a towel

and bash the hell out of 'em.

You wanna end up with a fine powder.

Fun fact, dry ice isn't water ice at all.

It's the solid state of carbon dioxide

and it's about negative 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Touch it too long,

and you'll get frostbite

unless you're a White Walker.

Next we churn.

Pour those ingredients into a mixer

with a paddle attachment

and start mixing on low.

Take that dry ice powder

and add it slowly by the spoonful, like so.

When everything starts to thicken,

pump up the mixing speed

and keep adding the dry ice slowly.

Once its got the consistency

of soft serve, you're done.

What's happening here

is the carbon dioxide dry ice

is transitioning from solid

back to gas form.

You know, the state we're used to seeing it in

here on Earth.

It's called sublimation

and it leaves you with some fluffy,

seriously delicious ice cream.

All that's left to do

is transfer the ice cream into a piping bag and serve.

Sprinkles are optional

if you're some kinda monster.