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How to make ice cream with no freezer, just ice and salt

By Sam Wong

2 June 2021

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Anutr Yossundara/Alamy

MOST foods are pretty challenging to eat when they are frozen, but ice cream manages to be soft and creamy when it has just come out of the freezer. It seems magical, but there are some easy ways to make delicious ice cream at home, without any special equipment.

A basic ice cream is made from cream, milk and plenty of sugar. The sugar doesn’t just provide sweetness, it lowers the freezing point of the cream. To solidify into ice, water molecules must arrange themselves into a framework. Sugar molecules are big and don’t fit into the framework very…

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