How to handle Dry ice?

Question

I want to try making some witchs brew . I know it is not halloween. So, anyways my halloween book said i have to put some beer and vokda with dry ice. but how am i supposed to handle it. and do i put the dry ice or the beer first. and how do i prevent the dry ice from exploding

Answer 1

I work in a lab and regularly handle liquid nitrogen and dry ice and I can honestly say the horror stories in regards to both are greatly exaggerated.  Dry ice is cold as h**l no doubt but you can touch it as much as you can bear to hot potato(cold potato?) it.

Placing dry ice in ethyl alcohol(booze) amplifies the smoking effect vs. that of water but at the same time it also dissipates faster.  

You can drink a beverage containing dry ice but I personally wouldn't risk swallowing it as the previous poster mentioned.  Ice cubes work so I'd consider that a bit of don't fix what ain't broke.  I'd place the smoking effect around the drink personally.

Answer 2

VERY carefully.  Dry Ice can burn you if you touch it with you bare skin or insufficient protection.  The Dry Ice doesn't explode, it just evaporates to CO2 gas (so don't inhale the fumes).

I'm not sure what you mean by putting the dry ice in first; the only recipes I've seen don't have you mixing the alcohol and the dry-ice at all, just using it to keep the drink cold and to have steam effects.

If you REALLY want to mix the dry ice with the booze, don't use beer or anything carbonated, since the CO2 in the dry ice will just foam the **** out of it.  Use something flat, like fruit juice, lemonade, or cheap wine.

Answer 3

Dry ice won't explode as long as you don't put it in a sealed container.

You should wear eye protection when you handle it because even a small chip of dry-ice could cause serious eye damage.

Do not touch the dry ice without insulated gloves, it will freeze flesh on contact causing an injury similar to a burn. If you don't have the correct gloves you can improvise by using woollen or acrylic gloves with rubber or PVC gloves over the top of them.

Mix your drinks first and put the dry-ice in it just before serving for best effect. The ice should go in the punch bowl or whatever you are using. Do not serve anyone a cup or glass with dry-ice in it in case they accidentally swallow some. (SEE BELOW!!!)

Make sure, when you serve your brew, that there is no possibility of anyone swallowing even the smallest quantity of dry-ice. This could have VERY SERIOUS consequences.

Answer 4

Ditto to the above.

Gloves and skin protection is very important. If you need to break it, use googles to protect your eyes. If it does pop into your eyes enough of it may freeze your eyes that way and your mom will say, "see I told you your face would freeze like that." It is really more funny in my head.

It is safe for food and the effects on your drinks are carbonation-fizzy. Place it in a puchbowl but not in individual glasses.

The process of dry ice (solid CO2) making 'fog' (condensation) is called sublimation. That is going from a solid to a gas without entering the liquid phase-real cool.