# Dry ice



## gthorpe2 (Jan 20, 2010)

Just wondering how everyone makes the dry ice "smoke" out of a cauldron while serving drinks out of it. I was thinking of making toxic ooze. Any ideas?


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Safety first, dry ice will "burn" skin if it comes in contact. What it really does is give you a super fast case of frost bite. So wear gloves or use tongs. Never but dry ice in a sealed or tight container. Dry ice sublimates, that mean goes from a solid to a gas unless keep well below zero. If you put into a cooler for storage cover with some thick towels an leave the top open a bit, other wise it will pressure up the cooler and pop the top off.
Now if all you want to do is make a smoking cauldron. Place the dry ice in a Crock Pot ( a slow cooker) with hot water. The crock pot will keep the water warm and cause the dry ice to go into a gas. If you want, you can place dry ice into your serving bowl and it will "smoke". DO NOT put it into the drinking glasses, at least not for children or stupid adults. Swallowing dry ice is very bad. Use dry ice in small chunks. One large chunk will freeze the water around it an form a ice covering and stop the dry ice from smoking, until such time as the pressure builds up enough to explode the the water ice off the chunk. It does this with some force. I have done that in a metal pot and it sounded like someone hit the pot with a hammer. Dry ice will sink to the bottom of the punch bowl as it is heavier then water ice.
Get a small amount an experiment with it before the party so you know what it will do. In my area dry ice is $1.39 a pound. Properly stored 5 to 7 pounds will last 18 to 24 hours..


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## craigfly06 (May 11, 2012)

where would you get dry ice??


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

I seen it at my local Meijers store. Walmart may have it too.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

Our local welding supply store has it...for being a rather urban area, it's hard to get.

I read about some chick in the U.K. who just had to have her stomach removed as she drank a cocktail with dry ice in it...it burnt a hole right thru her stomach & froze it so badly it was unsaveable...is that even a word??


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Get in your local phone book and look for Party Supplies in your area, you might also look for Ice Suppliers.
Debbie, I've never heard of anyone swallowing dry ice, or having the problems you listed, but I suppose it's possible. It is extraordinarily cold, and will free solid to almost any liquid it comes in contact with. It melts at such a low temperature that it turns to gas (CO2) very quickly, it does work well for punch and such, not only because it gets those things really cold and gives off the fog, but also because it doesn't water down the punch or other liquid as it melts.
If this is for a party for kids, make sure you have a responsible adult with the dry ice at all times. Kids are fascinated with it, and it seems to call to them like the Pied Piper.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

I would also add a note about high alcoholic beverages. I think this might be what happened to the 'stomach girl' but dry ice can chill an alcohol/water mix down to those super cold -100F temperatures and it will still be liquid...or a bit slushy. So the standard safety rules:

You can make a water based / low alcohol punch, just make sure nobody gets the frozen smoking bits of dry ice in their drink. Common sense would say not to swallow it, but what is that worth these days.

If you're doing anything with true shots / high proof alcohol, someone 'of sound mind' needs to make sure the shot isn't super cold to the point it can cause frost bite as a liquid.


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## Doc Doom (Aug 28, 2008)

Over the few hours of a party, dry ice will impart an acrid flavor to most punches. I've used it for years, picking it up at one of several large ice retailers. Some markets also carry it just for Halloween. I now do one of two things. Either have a separate "punch" bowl with dry ice just for looks or put a smaller bowl with water and dry ice inside a larger punch bowl. The fog will cover the entire thing while the small bowl will chill the punch.


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## silentskream (Sep 20, 2012)

Doc Doom said:


> Over the few hours of a party, dry ice will impart an acrid flavor to most punches. I've used it for years, picking it up at one of several large ice retailers. Some markets also carry it just for Halloween. I now do one of two things. Either have a separate "punch" bowl with dry ice just for looks or put a smaller bowl with water and dry ice inside a larger punch bowl. The fog will cover the entire thing while the small bowl will chill the punch.


this is what i was gonna say too - use the dry ice in a bowl UNDER the actual punch bowl. for one, it "melts" a little slower.. but also you don't accidentally drink it


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

craigfly06 said:


> where would you get dry ice??


Probably too late but grocery stores have them. It'll be in a square cooler near the front.


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## Irish Witch (Sep 24, 2012)

I cant be off help with the dry ice but here is the link to the story about the girl

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...drinks-industry-Teenager-stomach-removed.html


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

One other thing, don't store dry ice in your freezer. Not because it may blow the door off (not likely) but it will chill the internal temp below the setpoint and the compressor won't come on. The stuff in the refrigerator section will warm up and spoil.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Irish Witch said:


> I cant be off help with the dry ice but here is the link to the story about the girl
> 
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...drinks-industry-Teenager-stomach-removed.html


Your story is about liquid nitrogen, not dry ice. I can definitely understand the issues with consuming liquid nitrogen, that's a disaster just looking for a place to happen.
I wish I could say it's hard to believe that someone would even make these drinks much less consume them, but then I see people dropping all kinds of drugs, drinking and driving, etc., so sadly it's no surprise to see this kind of idiocy.
Dry ice/Card ice is Carbon dioxide, not Nitrogen, it's the same thing used to carbonate soft drinks, it's just in it's solid state, even if only for a little while.


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## Irish Witch (Sep 24, 2012)

Thank you for the education lesson but I was simply referring to the story Debbie5 was talking about



debbie5 said:


> I read about some chick in the U.K. who just had to have her stomach removed as she drank a cocktail with dry ice in it...it burnt a hole right thru her stomach & froze it so badly it was unsaveable...is that even a word??


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

The bottom line to this thread is, dry ice looks neat and is a easy effect to work work with. It is also dangerous and so is a "look but do not touch" item under the control of an adult that knows what the heck they are doing. If you think for even a minute that some dummy ( adult or child ) will possibly get hurt, then don't use it.


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