It’s a personal tragedy many Americans hope to erase from their memories and probably have experienced more times in their lives than anyone ever should.
After a long day of work, or finishing a delicious hot meal, they decide they need something cold, sweet, and refreshing to cap off their day. A tasty, confectionery exclamation mark to either boost their mood after things didn’t go so well or maybe a miniature celebration in a bowl or a cone, with sprinkles or candied pralines or hot fudge. Or maybe nothing at all, as they sit down and watch the latest scintillating offering from Netflix, such as Tall Girl 2, before passing out on the couch.
So one heads to the freezer and picks up a tub of their favorite ice cream to give themselves that reward they know they deserve…only to be met with the scourge that is freezer burn. Maybe you try to salvage it and scrape the ice like the hardened condensation that formed on your windshield overnight. Maybe you try to suffer through the flavor, but it’s just not the same.
Thankfully, a TikToker who goes by Canadian Traveler (@canadian_traveler) has shared an ice cream-preserving hack that’ll save anyone from ever having to deal with this type of heartache ever again.
“Do any of you guys know that if you put ice cream in a Ziploc bag, it prevents it from getting freezer burn?” he says, showing off two tubs of Breyers ice cream, both of them inside plastic sealed bags.
According to the user, there’s an added benefit to keeping ice cream tubs in Ziploc bags: “And it helps it stay soft.
“Yeah, this is news to me,” he concludes.
Food Republic echoed the efficacy of this hack as well, stating that placing ice cream tubs in these bags is a great way to help mitigate the effects of freezer burn.
The outlet breaks down the science of why this is so effective, writing, “Similar to how a winter coat can help buffer against cold air, a plastic bag acts as an insulator in the freezer. The cold must penetrate the bag, the air within it, and then the carton itself before finally affecting the ice cream. The plastic bag layer helps keep the ice cream soft and easily scoopable.”
@canadian_traveler Put your ice cream in a ziplock bag, apparently #icecream #life #lifehack ♬ original sound – Canadian Traveller
Then, it went into how this translates to a more delicious ice cream eating experience: “What’s more, plastic bags can also prevent freezer burn from affecting your ice cream. This extra sheet of protection between the ice cream and the freezer’s environment reduces exposure to oxygen, thereby minimizing ice crystal growth. Consequently, the ice cream remains smooth and creamy, instead of becoming rock-hard and crunchy.”
One person who responded to the TikToker’s post said they’ve never had a problem with freezer burn—not because they’re storing it properly, but because they’re just eating it before those crystals can form in the first place: “Ours doesn’t last long enough to worry about freezer burn.”
Another said they’ve implemented this little trick and it’s made eating their ice cream a much better overall. “Yes! Best hack ever or even cover with tin foil,” they added.
Someone else couldn’t believe that this hasn’t already been made common knowledge, writing, “That’s some important life information that I wish we all would’ve been told sooner.”
According to the USDA, the United States wastes more food than any other country in the world: About 30 to 40% of all the food our country manufactures gets tossed. In terms of retail value, that’s a whopping $161 billion of product and, to contextualize the sheer mass of sustenance that gets thrown out: It’s 133 billion pounds, or around the weight of two Empire State Buildings.
The government agency says that some of this food waste is attributed to “spoilage” that just happens during the production process of said food, but there are individual contributions many U.S. families make that help reach this turgid figure. The average American household doesn’t eat and ultimately throws away 6.2 cups of food a week, which amounts to about “360 medium-sized take-out containers,” according to the MITRE Corporation.
Proper food preservation may help ultimately reduce the risk of food waste and with how badly inflation is jacking up the cost of our grocery bills, holding onto our grub a little longer could have some meaningful implications on our wallets.
And while several TikTokers expressed their gratitude towards the Tiktoker for sharing his food hack, others were more concerned about the type of ice cream.
“Yes but Bryers isn’t icecream. just saying,” one person quipped.
Another replied, “That’s not ice cream it’s ice dessert.” Breyer’s makes the distinction between its ice cream and frozen dairy dessert products on its website.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Breyer’s via email and Canadian Traveler via TikTok comment for further information.
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