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How to Make Carbonated Fruit

by noahw on May 8, 2007

Table of Contents

intro: How to Make Carbonated Fruit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 1: Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

step 2: Cut the fruit and put it into the bottles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

step 3: Add the dry ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

step 4: Wait a day or two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

step 5: Open, eat and burp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/
intro: How to Make Carbonated Fruit
Using dry ice, cut up fruit and a strong plastic bottle you can make carbonated fruit. It's refreshing, bubbly, and totally unique.

Many thanks to Instructables user Argon for coming up with this idea and giving me necessary tips on how to make it.

**Warning, dry ice is cold to the touch and can hurt you if used inappropriately. Please exercise caution when working with it, wear proper safety protection, and use it
responsibly.**

Now on Know How! Click on the steps above for more details.

Video

Do you like this Instructable? Digg it!. Then check episodes one, two, three, five, six, and
seven!

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/
step 1: Materials
To make carbonated fruit you only need to gather a few things:

Fruit

When making carbonated fruit it's best to use firm fruits, like oranges, apples and pears. I tried doing it with softer fruits like kiwis, strawberries and bananas and it just
doesn't work as well. Apples in particular seem to work the best.

Bottle or Container

You will need a plastic bottle or a container to put the fruit into. I have found that a wide mouth Nalgene works best. You can use an empty 2 liter soda bottle however,
just be careful not to add in too much dry ice, more on that later. DO NOT use a glass jar. The bottle will be under pressure and broken plastic is safer than broken glass.
If you have a vessel that is designed to take pressure, like a beer keg for example, than by all means try using that.

Dry Ice

The final thing you will need is a block of dry ice. You will only need a tiny tiny amount of dry ice to make the carbonated fruit, but its hard to buy less than a large block of
the stuff. Now, chances are that you have never seen dry ice for sale. You can't make it on your own and you might not be able to find so easily.

I used the Dry Ice Directory to find out where it was being sold locally - they have listings for all over the world. I live in the east bay of California. I was surprised that In all
of Oakland there was only one distributor - the AM PM Gas Station on Market and Grand in West Oakland. They oddly enough had a ton of the stuff for sale, and they are
open 24/7! I was very impressed that I could buy dry ice anytime I wanted even if it was only for sale at that one place.

**Before you go to buy the dry ice please refer to this

Dry Ice Safety Info website. I am not going to go through all of the safety precautions that should be taken in this instructable, so take a minute to familiarize yourself with
its possible safety hazards.**

step 2: Cut the fruit and put it into the bottles

The first step is to cut up the fruit and put it into the bottle(s). Cut the fruit as if you were making fruit salad - no seeds or orange peels are wanted here.

I cut smaller pieces to fit through the narrow neck of the soda bottle and bigger ones for the wide mouth of the nalgene. I highly recommend using a nalgene to make
carbonated fruit.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/
step 3: Add the dry ice
The next step is to cut off a small chunk of dry ice from the block. You only need about 2 grams, or a piece about half the size of your thumb. There is no harm to putting
in too little dry ice - you will simply end up with only slightly fizzy fruit. However, putting in too much dry ice IS dangerous and could make a really big mess.

Dry ice is constantly sublimating (not melting) from its solid form of CO2 to CO2 gas. Unlike regular ice made from water, it goes directly from its solid phase to its
gaseous phase - no liquid phase in between. That is why it sublimates, rather than melts.

As a result, the dry ice block will produce gaseous CO2 until there is nothing left of the solid block. The bottles are going to be sealed tightly with their caps, so if too much
CO2 gas is built up inside of the bottle they might explode (the soda bottle bursts at around 115 psi). We are looking for only a little bit of pressure (30 psi) and so there is
no need to add in a big hunk of dry ice.

The dry ice in the picture below was enough for both of my bottles of fruit, so each one got about half of the small chips you see below.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/
step 4: Wait a day or two
As soon as I put the dry ice into the bottles and sealed the top I could see it turning into its gaseous phase. Most of the dry ice will sublimate in an hour, so thats all the
time it will take for the bottles to become fully pressurized. Waiting overnight is a good idea to let the CO2 gas work its way into the fruit.

I put the bottles into an empty drawer and closed it for the first hour - I have to be honest, it was the first time I was doing this and I didn't know what would happen. After
an hour I could see that the bottles were under pressure, but not in any danger of exploding, and so I transfered them to the refrigerator for the night.

You can only carbonate things that have water in them. I thought about doing fizzy meat, but I don't think there is enough water in it to dissolve the CO2 into.

I went to bed and brought the bottles with me to Instructables HQ the next morning.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/
step 5: Open, eat and burp
Once the bottles have sat overnight you are ready to open, eat and burp.

Bleed the pressure from the bottle buy opening the cap like you would open a soda bottle that had been shaken.

I cut the top of the plastic soda bottle off with a sharp knife and poured it out into a bowl. You can simply pour the fruit out of the nalgene bottle through the wide mouth of
the bottle.

Now that the fruit is out of the bottles it's ready to eat! It loses its fizzyness pretty quickly, so make sure you chow down in the first 15 minutes after opening the bottles.

Carbonated fruit tastes like regular fruit, but it tingles on your tongue. It's a totally unique experience to eat, and makes you burp a whole lot if you have done it right.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/
 Related Instructables

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Magnesium Chocolate with The Cheap and Quarters in Dry the Cheap. by Smoke/Fog by
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Ice (video) by Kiteman
Ice (video) by Cream by strawberries by Big Batch of egreen767 kentchemistry.com
kentchemistry.com caitlinsdad Dr. D Kombucha by
TimAnderson

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Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 151 comments

beyondimagination says: Mar 14, 2009. 12:03 PM REPLY

Lol *Steam comes out* "don't do any of this it's dumb"
*runs away* "retreat!"
I love that!

svfox69 says: Jul 18, 2009. 11:17 PM REPLY

would have been hilarious if it blew up with fruit inside of it.
Doctors would be pulling out pineapple, apple, strawberries, wondering what the heck happened.

Steven
http://scrabblecheat.com never lose a game again

manonfire285 says: Jul 18, 2009. 2:47 PM REPLY

I too live in East Bay! I'm currently situated in San Leandro.

shuboyje says: May 24, 2009. 7:54 AM REPLY

Just wanted to point out that this will produce ethanol via carbonic maceration. It's a fairly common wine making technique. It shouldn't be enough to worry
about if you only leave the fruit in there for a little while, but with enough time it is possible it will hit 4%. If you want a good container to do it in, go to a local
homebrew store and pick up a used cornelius keg for $20-30. They are made for holding the pressure of carbonating things and can handle up to 120 psi.

Father Christmas says: Jul 17, 2009. 2:01 PM REPLY

If, as stated in this instructable, the failure point of a typical 2litre bottle is 115psi, why would someone purchase something that holds scarcely more? I
just don't understand that step of logic.

shuboyje says: Jul 18, 2009. 11:19 AM REPLY

Many reasons, mainly a corny keg is made to be re-used, it is cleanable and has a large opening which makes it much easier to put larger pieces of
fruit in.

volquete says: Jul 18, 2009. 10:50 AM REPLY

thats awesome!

555mst555 says: Jul 18, 2009. 3:26 AM REPLY

can i use grapes and watermelons?

volquete says: Jul 18, 2009. 10:50 AM REPLY

probly

seabeepirate says: Jul 18, 2009. 10:07 AM REPLY

My family and I accidentally discovered this a few years ago when we put dry ice in a cooler with our lunch for the drag strip. It was a crazy surprise to bite
into an orange and have it fizzle in your mouth.

I've been working on coming up with a pressure box to make larger amounts of carbonated fruit. I was thinking that an adjustable blow off valve would be a
plus. I don't want to try to make fizz fruit and send shrapnel flying through the kitchen. And I was also thinking that being able to adjust the max pressure
would give you control over how "fizzy" your fruit actually gets.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/
 We've always thought this would be a good business venture. Never tried to make it happen though.... anyway it's good to see I'm not crazy. People always
laughed when I said carbonated fruit.

hoyahoyaman says: Jun 3, 2007. 12:05 AM REPLY

actually, you can make dry ice. if you get a CO2 fire extinguisher, and blow it into a pillow case, little peices of dry ice will form because of the
decompression of CO2 it super cools it and it make the dry ice. So you know, if you in the middle of the ocean and you want some carbonated fruit...

guitarman63mm says: Jul 17, 2009. 7:44 PM REPLY

Yes, I suppose in an emergency carbonated fruit situation, that may be appropriate. But for something like this, I think I'll stick to my local supermarket's
stuff.

noahw says: Jun 3, 2007. 1:32 PM REPLY

I wonder if CO2 fire extinguisher dry ice is food safe...

:)

hoyahoyaman says: Jun 3, 2007. 2:32 PM REPLY

yup, it is. i think i read a instructable on how to use it to make instant ice cream or something.

DPTR says: Oct 3, 2007. 4:04 PM REPLY

I know that under vaccum meat marinades well, and actually accepts more of the marinade deeper inside.

I wonder what happens with the inverse of adding pressure. Perhaps have dry ice with a marinade and see what happens?

RichardBronosky says: May 25, 2009. 8:06 AM REPLY

Marinading in a vacuum is actually highly INEFFECTIVE. What produces the desirable results is when the pressure is restored and the marinade is
forced into the meat. For this reason, you don't have to leave the meat in the vacuum to marinade. You only need to expose it to the vacuum for the time
it takes to evacuate all the air. If you were to marinade under high pressure, you would have to leave it under pressure while it marinades. The pressure
would force the marinade in. I suspect that when the pressure is released the marinade* would be forced back out as pressure equilibrium is achieved.
For this reason, you would want to leave it under pressure long enough for the favor to be absorbed.

( * ) What will actually be force back out is a mixture of marinade and the meat's natural juices. Some of the marinade will replace the natural juices and
remain in the meat. You may be able to exploit this effect by repeating the pressurization cycle over and over again. This is not a cost efficient use of dry
ice or CO2 (which is what I carbonate with), but a cheap air compressor could do the job.

aznjoker says: Jul 17, 2009. 5:31 PM REPLY

What happens is that the vacuum sucks the air out of the meat, then the marinade is pulled into the meat due to a partial vacuum in the meat when
the pressure is released.

When pressurizing the container, you aren't forcing marinade in, there's nowhere for it to go. Assuming you're getting enough pressure, you'd
increase the rate of diffusion of the marinade into the meat.

noahw says: Oct 10, 2007. 10:19 AM REPLY

This is a great idea!
Can you test this hypothesis?

DPTR says: Oct 10, 2007. 3:28 PM REPLY

I will likely try it sometime next week.. forgot to do it on this batch, figured I would try just fruits and veggies to get the hang of it.

A few more that I'm interested in trying - carbonated jelly/jam, ice cream (even in the freezer the CO2 would distribute), see it's effect on cooked
bread and cookies.

wingbatwu says: Oct 25, 2007. 9:49 AM REPLY

I think the vacuum would simply suck out the CO2, and you would get vacuum bagged fruits.

Or if the vacuum bagger is quick enough, you would get vacuum bagged fruits for a couple of seconds, which would then become fruits in a CO2
balloon.

papermaster says: Jun 25, 2009. 9:16 PM REPLY

great this is awsome i luv carbonated things.....and my parents r always telling me to eat my fruit

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/
 supersith22 says: May 24, 2009. 6:58 AM REPLY
Really cool use of dry ice. I'm gonna try it when I get some. I usually get my dry ice from Omaha Steaks, they ship it in their packages to keep the meat cold.
Delicious steak and dry ice it's a two for one deal! =P They are a good source of dry ice if you want steak to go with it =)

tankguy says: Mar 15, 2009. 3:57 AM REPLY

My dad is in charge of co2 sales in his company (he sells to soda companies and stuff) and i'm pretty sure he could get me some dry ice. I'll see.

pyroelfears says: Mar 21, 2009. 6:38 PM REPLY

you can get dry ice from safeway ( im in the bay area) for $00.99 a pound

tubbychick3n says: May 24, 2009. 6:04 AM REPLY

I'm in the bay area too. I'll have to get some and try this.

ebording says: Mar 29, 2009. 8:24 PM REPLY

I just did this but i took it up a knotch, I used my 20 pound co2 system and a keg
I bumped it up to 60 psi and within 2 hours I tried the fruit and it was fairly fizzi. Ill try it again and leave it overnight
Great idea
thanks a bunch

bowmaster says: Mar 25, 2009. 9:33 PM REPLY

Could you use a 3 inch id steel pipe with 1/2 thick walls for this?

Thundertydus says: Mar 25, 2009. 8:26 PM REPLY

Marinate the meat, then dry ice it
Lemme know your results

nibbler125 says: Aug 21, 2008. 8:12 AM REPLY

i heard if you buy frozen meat online then they include dry ice free

kathynv says: Dec 21, 2008. 3:39 AM REPLY

The dry ice will likely be gone by the time the package gets to your house. I buy items from a grocer who ships everything with dry ice. When I get the
package, there is an empty canister saying "contains dry ice" inside the cooler with the very cold groceries, but the canister is always empty by the time
the package arrives. I asked the grocery place and they say that they put in just enough (and no more) to get your stuff to you without the food going off.
Dry Ice isn't as cheap as regular ice, and they aren't going to send extra, just so you can play with it. Sorry.

monkey666 says: Mar 22, 2009. 8:34 PM REPLY

I've gotten meet and frozen stuff online, and you still get a pretty good amount of dry ice.

dodo91 says: Mar 2, 2009. 5:16 PM REPLY

i noticed you were wearing your jackhammer headphone you made in episode one.

dodo91 says: Mar 1, 2009. 9:09 PM REPLY

if you think thats cool, see this...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carbonating%3a-The-Cheap-and-Easy-Way/

its a carbonation machine. to shorten what it does, you can make soda, easy! all you do is put your favorite flaor kool-aid in it, carbonate it, and drink. Yum!

purefusion says: Jan 1, 2009. 3:48 PM REPLY

My local Meijer (supermarket) has dry ice all the time. If you've got one around (www.meijer.com) it may be worth checking into.

Bluemini says: Feb 28, 2009. 6:21 PM REPLY

Yeah, ,mine in ALgonquin, IL does. and it is awesome!! Since last month, I've been getting a pound a week, just for fun. The greatest thing about it t
Meijer is its price, 1.38 per pound

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/
 JeffB says: Sep 9, 2008. 11:02 PM REPLY
What would happen if I used a pressure cooker and upped the amount of dry ice added?

NobodyInParticular says: Feb 1, 2009. 8:29 PM REPLY

As far as I can tell, even "high pressure" cookers only go up to 20psi. This does have the advantage of maintaining the pressure at a constant safe level.
Is it enough pressure for fizzing fruit?

Doctor What says: Oct 12, 2007. 1:57 PM REPLY

This is definitely a strange idea. My question is, is it carbonated, or did the water in the fruit freeze, causing the tingly feeling.

Mario2007 says: Dec 8, 2007. 11:06 AM REPLY

It carbonates , unplug your fridge stick in a chunk of dry ice . Everything will be carbonated . Milk , water , juice , yogurt and even the spaghetti sauce , try
it . Well everything in an open container anyways .

Shadowfury says: Dec 16, 2008. 8:12 PM REPLY

If you could get the fridge to stay closed.

noahw says: Oct 12, 2007. 2:12 PM REPLY

The water in the fruit gets infused with CO2 gas. It's definitely not frozen because you can eat the fruit even after the dry ice is long gone and the bottle is
at room temperature...assuming you have kept it pressurized of course.

egriff says: Nov 21, 2008. 9:28 AM REPLY

sooooo gonna make some of this. ever try vinegar/baking soda to do this?

Winphreak says: Aug 18, 2008. 5:40 AM REPLY

For this step, I had a question I was hoping someone could help with. If I refigerate the contents (while still in the bottle, unopened), would it stay fizzy for up
to a week, or would the CO2 leak out of the bottle due to pressure?

emuman4evr says: Aug 3, 2008. 12:07 PM REPLY

Our school had carbonated grapes one friday morning. Very awesome and now I can make my own.

dunnos says: Aug 3, 2008. 11:33 AM REPLY

cool makes me think of pop rocks
i have 2 questions

i could do this with the slushy i make (by hand) right?

2. i cant get dry ice, could i use the vinager soda reaction? il come up with something, just, would it (in theory) work?

great job on the ible hope to hear from you soon.

kerosene-soaked-clothes-arent-fun says: Aug 31, 2007. 4:39 AM REPLY

where are you supposed to get dry ice anyway?

Steeltowndude says: Jul 31, 2008. 10:17 PM REPLY

Yeah there is an age limit on buying that stuff; it depends on the state/area you live in.
And to answer your question: Just to go any large retail business, like Giant Eagle (If that's in your area) or any other kind of grocery store. They should
have some or be able to get you some. :3

darc says: Oct 10, 2007. 12:49 PM REPLY

Around here (Arkansas, US) I can get it in most large grocery stores like Kroger and Wal-Mart. If I remember correctly it's $1.50 a pound.

As someone else mentioned, I think you have to be 18 to buy it.

Shadowfury says: Dec 16, 2008. 8:09 PM REPLY

Usually there's a law in place that states you have to be a certain age to buy dry ice. From 16 to 21 most places. It's that way mainly because dry ice
can be used to make bombs.

Also, dry ice is sold in some grocery stores, most commonly SaveMart. Sometimes convenience stores will sell it as well.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/
 rptbandgeek1707 says: Jun 16, 2008. 8:42 AM REPLY
I live in texas, and here you only have to be 16.

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http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Carbonated-Fruit/