Published July 1, 2012. From Cook's Illustrated.
Have your ice cream and keep it frozen too, even in the great outdoors.
Ice cream is summer’s perfect dessert. A warm puddle of ice cream soup, not so much. The Ice Cream Tubbie from Zak! Designs ($10.12) aims to prevent this problem, keeping icy treats frozen with foam-core insulation and a gel pack–lined lid. After storing the empty container in the freezer for two hours to let the gel pack freeze completely, we filled it with homemade vanilla ice cream and left it out on a kitchen counter. Our ice cream was still fully frozen three hours later (well past the manufacturer’s promise of 90 minutes), but there was a catch: The lid formed such a tight seal with the base that we could twist it open only by running the container under warm water for 10 seconds. (We found that the lid is easier to open if you don’t screw it on super-tight to begin with.) We’ll be using the Tubbie for outdoor parties and picnics and long rides home from the supermarket in hot weather (a pint container of store-bought ice cream fits perfectly).
