Don't Stick Cans Of Coke In The Freezer — There's A Faster Method To Chill Your Drink

A lukewarm Coke is just as disappointing as a perfectly chilled one is refreshing and crisp. To avoid settling for a sad soda, you might think to stick it in the freezer for rapid chilling, but instead, you should put it in a bowl full of water, ice, and salt. This combo can put a frosty Coca-Cola in your hand in as little as two to five minutes.

To try this cooling hack, grab a bowl or container large enough to fit however many Cokes you want to chill. Fill the vessel with ice cubes and cold water. Mix in a handful of fine salt and stick in the sodas, then stir the drinks around in the water to agitate the mixture. They should get chilly in no time.

This phenomenon results from a scientific process known as "supercooling," which pushes water below its freezing point of 32 degrees Fahrenheit. While this trick can chill a bottle of wine fast (as well as juice, water, and so on), it's even wiser to use for Coke and other sodas, since letting pop sit in the freezer too long can lead to accidental freezing. If you freeze carbonated drinks, they can explode, creating a mess or even injuring you. The liquid expands in the form of ice, and dissolved carbon dioxide is released as gas, increasing pressure inside the can or bottle until it breaks open. The ice water method is much quicker and safer — just make sure to remove the soda from the bath as soon as it's cold.

In this soda-chilling trick, the salt crystals lower the freezing point of the water by disrupting water molecules and preventing them from coming together and solidifying into ice, even at below-freezing temperatures. At the same time, salt speeds up the melting of the ice cubes in the bowl of water. This creates an ice-salt mixture that's even colder than ice itself.

The process of melting ice also requires energy, and the ice cubes get some of that energy by absorbing heat from your lukewarm soda, cooling it down rapidly. Plus, submerging the can in the frigid water applies a freezing cold temperature on all sides, whereas ice cubes are more irregular and don't make even contact with the vessel. Thanks to the laws of thermodynamics, this chilling method cools your Coke so much faster than a plain bowl of ice cubes. It's also a great party trick to quickly chill beers, which can be just as risky to keep in the freezer.

Notably, purified or distilled water is better for this trick if you have it. The impurities found in tap water encourage ice crystals to form, which somewhat inhibits water's ability to achieve a supercooled state without solidifying. However, any type of water should do in a pinch. And if you want to intentionally freeze soda for icy cocktails or other purposes safely, just use an ice cube tray.