Fizzy Fruit

Hello again! After a relaxing week off, I am back with more food than before! I am well into designing the menu for my dinners that will be the final product of my presentation, and will be continuing to perfect those recipes as time goes on. But for now, I have a very fun and simple experiment that most people can do at home!

Ever had sparkling cider? Or perhaps a different fruit flavored soda? We like the sweetness of the fruit combined with the carbonation of the liquid. What if we could do that...but inside the fruit?

Carbonation is the process of putting Carbon Dioxide bubbles into a liquid under pressure. When the pressure is released, the Carbon Dioxide leaves the liquid over time in the form of small bubbles, which we perceive as fizziness. That's why we can have drinks like sodas stay carbonated for long periods of time when they're unopened; they're still under pressure.

But back to the fruit. It's pretty obvious that most kinds of fruit are full of juice. We often drink it from a concentrated form with breakfast. But how could we carbonate the juice inside of an orange? The pretty simple answer involves using a form of Carbon Dioxide that most people are familiar with: dry ice.

Dry ice is a relatively easily obtained ingredient and is available at many regular grocery stores if you just ask the cashier when you check out. At only a few dollars a pound, it is also very reasonably priced. But how does one go about actually carbonating fruit with a chunk of dry ice?

Here's a step by step process that I've come up with:

1. Cut whatever fruit you wish to carbonate into pieces so that the flesh is exposed. The gas can only penetrate the skin of some fruits. The peel and pith of an orange is too think for example. Grapes do not need any preparation. Experiment with different types of fruit!

2. Get a small ice chest and put a block of dry ice in the bottom (you really don't need more than a pound or two). Fill the ice chest with water so that the dry ice is about covered to ensure that it sublimates correctly. IMPORTANT If you don't put enough water in the bottom, the "fog" that is characteristic of dry ice will not be produced, and the fruit will not carbonate.

3. Put the tray of fruit into the ice chest so that it is above the water level. (Use a bowl turned upside down or something that will make sure that the fruit doesn't fall in the water. Nobody likes soggy fruit. Ew.)

4. With the water and the fruit in the ice chest, close the lid but do not latch the ice chest closed.

5. For an hour check the chest periodically and make sure the lid is closed, if it pops open, just close it again. This is just a way of allowing excess pressure to vent.

6. An hour later, pull out your fruit and enjoy some very exotic fizziness to your fruit immediately!

What happens in the ice chest during that hour is that as the dry ice sublimates (turns from a solid into a gas) the pressure inside builds, forcing carbon dioxide into the fruit. Think of this like an unopened soda can. When you take the fruit out of the ice chest, it's like opening the can of soda. The difference in pressure means that the Carbon Dioxide bubbles in the fruit are being pulled out by the pressure differential. For this reason, eating the fruit right after you take it out of the ice chest is the best way to ensure maximum carbonation. Just like any fizzy drink, the fruit will go flat after a few minutes of sitting out.

This is a very easy and fun thing to do! Give it a try and let me know in the comments how it goes! Don't hesitate with any questions!