Grabbing a pint of your favorite flavor of ice cream from the freezer and snuggling up on the couch to binge watch your favorite show is one of life’s little pleasures … right up until you open it to find it’s got freezer burn. It’s a common problem, as it can happen to any open container of ice cream, but it can change the creamy consistency and alter the flavor of the frozen treat, too.
So, what can you do to avoid it? A common hack suggests putting the open ice cream tub back in the freezer upside down, which can work because the melted ice cream freezes against the lid, sealing it to keep some of those dreaded ice crystals out. But Steve Marko, an ice cream expert as the senior director of research and development at Tillamook County Creamery Association, points out that it comes with a downside - it exposes the ice cream at the bottom of the container to freezer burn.
Since freezer burn is related to melting, the best way to prevent it is to make sure your ice cream doesn’t melt much before you get it back in the freezer. Beyond that, the Tillamook experts advise:
- Storing ice cream in the coldest part of the freezer, which is often the bottom.
- Not leaving the ice cream out on the counter to melt after getting your scoop.
- Scooping from the perimeter of the container and moving toward the center, which creates an even surface so the ice cream refreezes more consistently.
- Putting ice cream in your cart last at the grocery store and storing it in a freezer bag for the drive home.
Source: Allrecipes