Understanding Ingredients and Cooking Techniques

If you purchased dry ice to keep food cold and have a lot of dry ice left over, do no throw it away. Instead, you can use the dry ice for many different things. Below are two of these things so your ice will be put to good use.

Help Plants Start Out Healthy

If you like to plant seeds in pots or cups to get an early start of the spring season, and keep your plants in an enclosed building, such as a garage or shed, you can use dry ice to help the plants grow and be healthy. Dry ice can do this because it has CO₂ .

In order to do this, place a block of dry ice close to the plants and leave the ice there for approximately 15 minutes. During this time the dry ice releases the CO2 into the air. You should close the door to the room the plants are in and shut all windows. Roll up a towel and place at the bottom of doors if there are any gaps there. This will keep the CO2 in the room instead of leaking out of it.

Do this once a day or every few days until you notice your plants start growing faster and be healthier. After this time, you can use the dry ice in this way once or two times a week to keep the plants healthy.

Flash Freeze Fish and Sushi

If you like to eat fish and sushi, you can use dry ice to flash freeze these foods. This will help the fish and sushi to stay fresh much longer. For example, flash freezing may help preserve this food for approximately eight to 10 days while in your refrigerator.

To do this, place the fish or sushi in a cooler and then place some type of insulating materials over the fish. This can be packing paper or a few layers of newspaper. Once the insulating material is in place, pour a few inches of dry ice on top of the insulating material. This will help prevent freezer burn to the seafood. Remove the fish in 24 hours and store it as you normally wood.

These are just some of the ways you can use left over dry ice. Research other things you can do so you do not waste any of it. No matter what you choose, however, you need to protect your hands by wearing thick gloves as dry ice will burn your skin quickly.