Should a Punch Bowl Be Chilled Before Adding Cold Liquid?
- When you mix your punch, combine any non-carbonated items, including fruit punch or powdered drink mix. Then add the carbonated ingredients, such as ginger ale, sparkling wine, club soda or soda water. Stir the ingredients lightly to keep the carbonated bubbles from breaking or bursting. Just before your guests arrive, add sliced fruit or ice cubes made from the punch or fruit juice.
- Punch-Recipe.com recommends chilling all the ingredients before mixing your punch. Place all of the liquid ingredients into the refrigerator for several hours, preferably overnight. Make room in the refrigerator for the punch bowl and chill that as well. If you cannot set the punch bowl in the refrigerator because of lack of space, then set the bowl on your table. Fill the bowl with crushed ice, letting the ice chill the inside and outside of the bowl. Just before adding the punch, empty the ice.
- Chilling the punch bowl keeps your punch cold longer than ice alone. If your bowl does not fit in the refrigerator and you opt for the ice-chilling method, then use an ice mold. An ice mold gives you one large block or piece of ice that keeps the punch cold. Unlike ice cubes, which melt quickly and dilute the flavor of the punch, the ice mold slowly dissolves over time. Use a Bundt or loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with sliced fruit, like oranges or strawberries. Cover the pan with your punch mixture and freeze it overnight. Run the bottom of the pan under warm water to loosen the ice mold and empty it into the bowl. Make removal easier by lining the bottom of the pan with plastic wrap or using cooking spray before adding the ingredients.
- Chill both the inside and the outside of the punch bowl quickly. Fill a cooler with cubed or crushed ice and bury the punch bowl in the middle, making sure that ice covers the outside of the bowl. Fill the inside with more ice and let the bowl sit for at least one hour. Remove the bowl from the ice and fill it with punch.
