What could be better at a sizzling hot Fourth of July cookout than an icy cold Sparkling CBD Soda? It’s delicious, refreshing, and perfect to pair with BBQ’d chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, and anything else you or your guests bring to the festivities.
But what if you were so busy with food prep and setting up LED lights on the deck that you forgot to put a stash of our Sparkling CBD waters or sodas in the fridge, and now guests are starting to arrive? Is there any way that you can cool your soda down in a hurry that won’t produce some kind of embarrassing outcome? That’s what we’re going to investigate, so keep reading.
The Freezer: The Obvious Alternative
Fridge cold, freezer colder. Right? That should be enough to convince anyone that if you're in a pinch all you really have to do is cram the freezer full of soda and in a few minutes you'll have icy-cold refreshments for everyone. But is that really the case?
What Happens if You Put CBD Sparkling Soda in the Freezer?
The ideal temperature for a refrigerator is 40° Fahrenheit or slightly below. This temperature is cold enough to inhibit the growth of bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella, and listeria but not so cold that your food will need to be thawed before it can be cooked, eaten, or drank.
The freezer is a whole different story. The very name indicates that the temperature in there is going to be below the freezing point of water (32° F or 0° C). As such you need to be careful what you put in the freezer for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that water expands by approximately 9% when it freezes. That expansion is true for both tap water and carbonated water, but with carbonated water, there's another complicating factor.
When you put carbonated drinks like our CBD Soda into the freezer the CO2 that puts the fizz in the soda begins to battle for space with the H2O as the water expands. Because there’s more H2O than CO2 the CO2 is going to lose that battle every time and when it does it’s ejected from the H2O which increases the pressure on the inside of the can or bottle making an explosion virtually inevitable.
How Long Before a Soda Explodes in the Freezer?
So now we know that the freezer is not an ideal way to chill soda in a hurry and we know what makes putting carbonated beverages in the freezer such an iffy proposition. The next logical question seems to be just how long can you leave a soda in the freezer before it explodes?
The answer is: it depends.
There are a number of factors that go into determining how long our carbonated CBD beverages will last in the freezer before they blow their top including the type of soda (diet or regular), whether it’s in a can or a bottle, the size of the can or bottle and the temperature the freezer is set to.
As a general rule, you can expect a regular 12 oz soda, whether in a can or bottle, to explode after four to six hours. Now if we're talking about one of those fashionable 7.5 oz cans you can expect it to blow in three to four hours - or maybe a little less. And if we're talking about a huge plastic 2-liter bottle then expect it to blow at the upper end of that time scale, or about six hours, give or take. In addition, placing a standard soda into a slightly warmer freezer, one that is set close to freezing, will cause the can to explode sooner than if the freezer were set to 25° or even 20° Fahrenheit.
How Long Does it Take to Chill Soda in the Freezer?
We’ve looked at freezer soda from a bunch of different angles but it’s time to answer the following questions:
Can you use the freezer to chill soda?
Yes, you can use the freezer to chill soda quickly if you find yourself in a pinch. If you do, we’d recommend not placing the soda on top of other items in the freezer because it might affect the cooling time.
How long does it take?
Research carried out by various consumer advocates suggests that 20 or so minutes in the freezer should be enough to turn it from room temperature to frosty cold and refreshing.
So there you have it. If guests are about to start arriving and you suddenly realize you haven't chilled any CBD Sparkling Soda yet, just place some in the freezer, set an alarm on your phone for 20 minutes, and relax. Once that first batch is cool enough you can transfer them to the fridge to keep them cold and put some more in the freezer.
Is There a Way to Freeze Soda for the Long Term?
What if someone wants to freeze their soda for the long haul as they might do with surplus chicken? Is there a way to freeze soda long-term?
Perhaps surprisingly, yes. The key is to remove it from its can or bottle, place it into one of those airtight plastic containers and leave enough room for the soda to expand once it's frozen. In this way, you can keep the soda frozen for six months with no loss of quality.
Does Soda Become a Frozen Block in the Freezer?
Unlikely (unless you pour it into one of those airtight plastic containers we just mentioned). If the soda is sealed into a can or bottle the sugar or high fructose corn syrup used to sweeten the soda will often prevent it from freezing into a solid block of ice.
An Alternative Way to Cool Your Soda
If placing your CBD drinks into the freezer is not an option that appeals to you try this method of cooling it down.
Fill a bucket with ice and put your sodas into the icy bucket. They should be cold enough to be enjoyed in about 10-12 minutes. If you want to speed things up even more, put water in with the ice. In that case, your soda will be chilled and ready to drink in about five minutes. And get this, if you put salt into that bucket of water and ice your sodas it will only take about two minutes to go from room temperature to frosty cold. two minutes!
How Can a Bucket of Ice Work So Fast?
When you place a warm soda into a bucket of water and ice the heat will quickly transfer to the water and the temperature difference between the soda and the ice water will quickly equalize.
Ice itself sucks the heat right out of a warm soda, and if you add water to the ice the surface contact with the can of soda will be 100% making the heat transfer even faster. The only downer is that before too long you'll have a bucket of lukewarm water and half-melted ice cubes and you'll need to start over.
The Bottom Line
When you put soda in the freezer it’s going to freeze. How fast it freezes and whether the can or bottle explodes will depend on a number of factors including the temperature of the freezer, the type of soda, and how long you leave it in there. A better idea if you want to chill your sodas fast is to fill a bucket with ice and put your sodas in it. In 10 minutes you’ll have icy cold Sparkling CBD Soda for your guests to enjoy.