– To make ice balls, we offer an
ice ball with funnelso you can easily make ice balls.
Make ice balls with a hole in a more affordable way?
Making ice balls with a hole It doesn’t necessarily have to be done with this wooden ice ball maker, but can also be done with stainless steel or wooden bowls. See below for how to proceed.
If you want to make an ice ball with a hole
Then take:
- 2 stainless steel bowls to make the ice ball with for 700 ml of compressed ice (this corresponds to half a liter of water)
- use 1 measuring cup
Step-by-step plan:
- Place the measuring cup in the bottom bowl
- Put the crushed ice in one bowl and in the other, and place the two bowls on top of each other
- Done
- Great result, no extra costs, and very stable.
How the scent distributes himself?
After that, Henk Weijers looked at how much difference it made if there was no hole in the ice ball.
Additionally, he wanted to know where the fragrance distributed itself in the ice ball by adding food coloring to the fragrance, and this is the result:
Ice ball for the sauna with a hole
For the experiment, Henk added some red food coloring to 20 ml of Mint infusion base to see how the scent distributed itself in the ice ball.
In this example, the ice ball is equivalent to half a liter of water.
In this image, there was a hole in the ice ball, and the scent is well distributed throughout the ice ball.
Ice ball for the sauna without a hole
In the second image, no hole was used in the ice ball, and here too, the scent has passed all the way through the ice ball.
1 minute after making the ice ball, Henk gave the ice ball a tap with the sauna spoon.
As you can see, the ice ball is completely infused with the scent and color, even without a hole. So the scent doesn’t just settle on the edge of the ice ball.
How do you ensure the scent ends up on the heater and not on the counter?
Henk was quite shocked by the amount of fragrance that ran across the counter almost immediately.
That is why it is handy to leave the ice ball in one bowl or in the sauna bucket until the ice ball is placed on the sauna heater. If you use multiple ice balls, it is important to have multiple bowls as well. Then you can turn the bowl or sauna bucket upside down on the heater, and all the scent will end up on the sauna heater and thus in the sauna.
Smaller ice balls of 350 ml water
Henk also conducted a test with smaller ice balls of 350 ml water. Because these are smaller ice balls, he now uses 5 ice balls instead of 3 in his session.
Method for making ice balls
First, put crushed ice in a bucket and form it into balls. Pour approximately 25 ml of sauna infusion basic over the ice balls. Leave the ice balls in the container and take them into the sauna.
Next, place the ice ball on the sauna heater and pour water next to the ice ball so that the scent inside the ice ball is gradually released.
Next, the second ice ball is placed on the sauna heater. By now, the first ice ball has almost completely melted and has therefore disappeared. The first scent has already been released effectively as a result. The second ice ball is quietly melting and spreading the scent while you fan it.
Next, the third ice ball is placed on the sauna heater, and water is poured again next to the ice ball where needed.
The fourth ice ball goes on the heater, and you continue fanning.
Finally, the fifth ice ball with the melted water is placed on the sauna heater.
When the last ice ball has disappeared, we are about 7 to 8 minutes into the infusion session.
If you want the scent inside the ice ball to dissipate sooner, tap the ice ball to break it so the scent is released faster.
Benefits
The advantage of these ice balls is that the scent is released gradually, thus avoiding a sudden peak in fragrance. Because you use smaller ice balls, you can also use multiple scents during the infusion session.
Because the ice balls are still melting while Henk is fanning, the temperature drops less between two infusions, resulting in a very calm and even build-up.
Henk makes the ice balls 20 minutes before infusion in the sauna, next to the ice machine, using a few small bowls so that he only needs one set. Then he places them in the infusion bucket and pours the basic sauna infusion over the ice balls.
Because Henk has placed all the ice balls in the sauna bucket, all the fragrance ends up on the sauna heater. Once the last ball is on the heater, the ice water, which also contains fragrance, is poured from the bottom of the bucket onto the sauna heater.
Henk uses more water than the 1.5 liters for the ice balls. This “more” is done by feel. As a result, there is no waste of fragrance.
He performs the second part with a second scent in a different way (without ice balls).
Smaller wooden or metal bowls can be used for this infusion session.
Conclusion on making ice balls
Making an ice ball with or without a hole doesn’t make much difference. However, making an ice ball without a hole is easier, so it is best to choose to make an ice ball without a hole. With multiple ice balls, you can manage the build-up well and use multiple scents in your sauna session. Add the scent to the ice balls before entering the sauna, but keep the ice ball in the container or in the sauna bucket so that all the scent ends up on the sauna heater and thus in the sauna.
