FoodNet

Experimental cookery

1932

Page 69

Presented as published in 1932. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Per Cent NaCl Fig. 13. — The freezing point of solutions containing different percentages of sodium chloride and the solubility of sodium chloride below 0°C. ings. If the heat is taken from the brine the temperature of the brine is lowered. When salt is added to ice, one of three things may happen, depending upon the proportion of ice and salt, and the surrounding temperature or insulation. All the salt may be dissolved. When this happens the melting of the ice lessens the concentration of the salt solution and the tempera- ture is not lowered beyond the point obtained when the solution con- tains the highest concentration of salt. All the ice may melt. When the ice is melted the temperature cannot be lowered to a greater extent, for there is no more ice to melt to absorb the heat. The cryohydric point may be reached. At this point the solution becomes solid and separates into ice and salt. Ice-cream freezers. An ice-and-salt mixture is used to lower the temperature of other substances. An ice-cream freezer is a utensil made to freeze a substance placed in a center metal container. Outside this metal TWO PROCEDURES USED IN FREEZING 87 container there is a space in which the cooling medium is placed. The outer wall of the ice-cream freezer is often of wood, which is a poor conductor of heat. Since it conducts heat slowly it partially insulates the ice and salt from the surrounding air. The freezing mixture absorbs heat. In doing this it lowers the temperature of the brine and removes heat from the contents of the center can. In order to freeze the contents of the can the temperature of the brine formed must be lower than the freezing point of the mixture to be frozen. To freeze the contents of the ice-cream can, considerable heat must be removed from it. As a result, a corresponding amount of ice must melt to absorb the heat. Therefore, the contents of the can do not begin to freeze until considerable brine has formed. Conduction of heat is more rapid by water than by air. Before the brine forms and replaces the air spaces around the ice, conduction of heat from the can is slow. After all the salt is dis- solved or all the ice is melted, the temperature of the brine cannot be lowered, unless the temperature of the surrounding air is lower than the temperature of the brine. In ice-cream making the temperature of the sur- roundings is usually much higher than the temperature of the brine. When the quantity of ice left in the freezer is small the temperature of the surrounding air may heat the brine more than the melting of the small amount of ice cools it. Before this stage is reached the freezer needs fresh ice and salt packed around it. The lowest temperature obtainable for a brine from a salt and ice mix- ture is about — 22°C. (Walker reports —21° and Bigelow — 22.4°C.) This temperature is called the cryohydric point. If calcium chloride is used with ice the lowest temperature obtainable is — 55 °C. At the cryohydric point 29 parts of salt are soluble in 71 parts of water. No more salt can be dissolved at this temperature. This proportion of salt to ice is about 1 to 3 and is often used in freezing mixtures.