When most people think of dry ice, it conjures up images of punch at Halloween parties or making ice cream in an ice cream maker. Dry ice can also be used to preserve food during shipping, in your cooler when camping, and to save frozen goods during a power outage.

But did you know that dry ice can also be used in the cooking process? Preparing food with dry ice is a form of cryogenic cooking.

Cryogenic cooking transforms the food with cold instead of heat. Just as you can burn your skin with ice, extreme cold can sear just as well as a flame. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. It has a temperature of -109 degrees Fahrenheit.

There are some foods that lend themselves more to being cooked with dry ice than others. Dry ice works very quickly, either searing the food or flash freezing it. The following types of food can be prepared by using dry ice:

Seafood

Dry ice can be used to lightly sear tuna steaks and to quickly cook shrimp. You coat your cooking sheet with oil or butter, as you normally would, then put the sheet on top of the dry ice in a container. You can also place the seafood directly on top of the dry ice to cook it.

Red Meat

Steaks and hamburgers can be seared and cooked by using the same cooking method utilized for cooking seafood.

Fruit

Fruit can either be flash frozen for later use or carbonated. Fruit can be flash frozen by placing fresh fruit in a bowel with dry ice. The dry ice will evaporate and leave behind perfectly frozen berries, grapes, etc. Fruit can be carbonated by placing the dry ice and fruit in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes.

Ice Cream

Dry ice can be used to make ice cream outside of an ice cream maker as well. Stir the dry ice into your bowel of prepared ingredients until ice cream forms.

Herbs

Fresh herbs can be stirred together with dry ice to create a powder that can be stirred into salad dressing and sauces. The flash freezing of the herbs creates a burst of flavor.

To try this for your next meal, contact a dry ice provider like Chilly Willy & Cool Carl's Ice.

**Dry ice must be handled properly to avoid burns on the skin. Wear gloves when handling and only use in a well-ventilated area. Make sure that you use cooking utensils, pans, or bowels that do not shatter easily**