I scream, you scream we all scream – because freezer burned ice cream sucks!

I love eating ice cream.  Not ice milk, not the low-fat crap, but real, pure ice cream.  It’s frickin’ delicious.  In my opinion, there’s only a few ways to ruin ice cream. Firstly, anything with coconut (it's a texture thing) in it is barf.  Same with anything coffee flavored.  Nasty! Lastly, and most importantly – freezer burn ruins my day!

I was on the hunt for some ice cream the other day in the freezer and found a half-eaten carton of ice cream I had forgotten about.  Score!  But when I opened it – it looked like the Carlsbad Caverns with crystals all over it, covering it like a cave.  Who knows how long it was hiding in there?  Talk about a letdown when I opened it!

So what did I do? Well duh, I ate it of course.  It was moderately palatable but left a lot to be desired.  It had a weird crunchy/sandy feel and just didn’t scratch the itch. I then set out to do some research for the best way to prevent freezer burn on ice cream.  After reading a bunch of guides, I jotted down the best few methods to adhere to which I will share for your eating pleasure.

Freezer burn is most commonly associated with melting.  So, whatever you do, don’t let the carton of ice cream melt on the counter or else you’re asking for trouble.  Instead, immediately scoop it with a warm spoon or ice cream scooper and put the carton back in the freezer asap.  You should scoop from the outside along the edges and towards the middle to allow the ice cream to move more uniformly and not be uneven. 

If you see any melting, get in the habit of flipping the ice cream upside down, as the melted ice cream will act as a sealant on the lid and reduce the likelihood of ice crystals forming. 

Where you put it in the freezer also matters  - so you want to put it as far towards the bottom as you can to get it back freezing asap. 

To summarize:

•          Buy your ice cream last when shopping
•          Store ice cream upside down in the coldest (bottom) part of the freezer
•          Don’t let your carton sit out to melt – scoop immediately with a warm spoon or scooper
•          Scoop from the outer edges to the middle
•          Buy full fat ice cream and skip ice milk or low-fat varieties with higher water content

Now let's all scream for ice cream!