Scientist shares clever hack to stop your ice cream melting

Figuring out how to stop your ice cream melting is one of the most stressful parts of summer. Now that May is well on the way, ice cream is close to being back on the menu.

After a miserable winter spent stuck indoors, we could all be forgiven for craving something sweet and frozen. However, as delicious as ice cream undoubtedly is, we still have to deal with the slowly liquefying elephant in the room.

Even if you’re a self-professed ice cream obsessive, tackling a melting tub on a hot day is nobody’s idea of a good time. Fortunately, there might actually be a solution to the problem.

Someone has finally figured out how to stop your ice cream melting (Credit: Pixabay)

How to stop your ice cream melting

In an article for Sciencing, a clever cold dessert lover shared a cunning trick to preventing your ice cream from becoming a puddle.

According to the hack, it is perfectly possible to create a DIY icebox using materials from around the house that will keep ice cubes solid for around four hours. Naturally, this same logic also applies to ice cream.

In the article, the author explains that the only things you’ll need to create your portable freezer are a cardboard or plastic box, aluminium foil, glue, foam or fabric, and, of course, ice.

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The first step is to glue the foil, shiny side out, to the exterior of your box. This will help reflect more sunlight than the dull side.

Second, the box should be lined with foam or fabric such as nylon. The thicker the better, as this is what helps to prevent the cold from leaching out.

Finally, place the ice inside and seal the box completely, wrapping more foil around the exterior to fill any cracks. If kept out of direct sunlight as much as possible, the author claims that the ice won’t melt for at least four hours – good news for ice cream fans everywhere.

The icebox hack can prevent melting for up to four hours (Credit: Pixabay)

Does the ice cream hack work?

It’s important to note that there a few caveats to the icebox technique.

For example, one of the major flaws in the system seems to be that it can’t be reused. Once the icebox has been opened, you’ll have to eat all your ice cream in one go.

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On the other hand, there’s no way that the DIY icebox technique can be more demoralising than having to drink your Ben & Jerry’s.

Frankly, if there’s even a slim chance that we can eat solid ice cream this summer, we’ll take it.