Non-Costly Cryogenic Liquids?

March 8, 2011 8:48 AM

How do I buy liquid nitrogen in New York City, or otherwize perform food-grade flash-freezing on a budget?

So I have some flash-freezing that I would like to do, but I need an affordable source of liquid Nitrogen. I've read the previous AskMe threads and followed up on them but:

- There aren't many welding supply stores in New York! The ones I've found will only sell me LN2 in very large quantites -- 50L or more -- and won't rent a Dewar. The local Praxair outlet won't either.

- I'm not currently affiliated with any university or hospital, so I'm not sure they'd lend me some.

- I've thought of using dry ice and one of ethanol or acetone, but I want to flash-freeze edibles and neither methanol nor denatonium benzoate sound that appetizing. But a food-grade liquid with a low freezing point would totally work, if I could get such a thing...I suppose I could try just using some aquavit?

I'm happy to shell out for a small Dewar if I knew I could fill it somewhere accessible. Anyone have any connections?

posted by goingonit to Science & Nature (13 answers total)

Best answer: If you need food grade ethanol, get some everclear. Your source of dry ice though, may or may not be suspect. If you take the ice-cream maker approach- everclear in inner container with dry-ice ethanol slurry in outer container, you would probably be good.
posted by rockindata at 8:59 AM on March 8, 2011

Response by poster: ...and of course 190-proof grain alcohol is illegal to sell in NY state. Wonderful.
posted by goingonit at 9:04 AM on March 8, 2011

...and of course 190-proof grain alcohol is illegal to sell in NY state. Wonderful.

As far as I know it's available in New Jersey and Connecticut, for what that's worth.
posted by jedicus at 9:06 AM on March 8, 2011

I'm on my phone in rural Illinois, so can't do too much internetting, but you should probably give these folks a call. In NY, selling small dewars an other n2 tools to chefs.

Yay cryogenic food
posted by rockindata at 9:09 AM on March 8, 2011

URL: grr iPhone...

http://www.willequipped.com/products.html
posted by rockindata at 9:12 AM on March 8, 2011

Have you tried Airgas? There's one at 3934 43rd Street, [phone]. They might be willing to rent a dewar or sell a small quantity of liquid nitrogen.
posted by jedicus at 9:30 AM on March 8, 2011

Best answer: ...and of course 190-proof grain alcohol is illegal to sell in NY state. Wonderful.

Nope, you're in luck! 192 proof was made available last year, I've used it for tinctures and perfume-making. I've seen it in various places in Brooklyn, but the only one I definitely remember is the liquor store at the corner of Metropolitan and Leonard. It'll be called Spirytus Wesoły, and it'll look like this.
posted by soma lkzx at 9:35 AM on March 8, 2011 [2 favorites]

I use a cheap styrofoam box with a lid loosely on as my "dewar" for liquid nitrogen. However, I would not recommend this method if you were going to put it in a vehicle to transport it, as the box does not seal securely at all. It also will not keep for days in the box -- you would have to use it the same day, but cheap styrofoam will hold the liquid just fine. Remember too, always use cryoprotective gloves and eye protection when handling liquid nitrogen!
posted by ohohcyte at 9:48 AM on March 8, 2011

Response by poster: jedicus: That one shows up on Google Maps but seems to be closed -- their phone doesn't pick up and they aren't on airgas.com. There's one in the Bronx, but I called it and they said they don't fill on-site, they just store the large Dewars and send them out to be filled.

rockindata: yes, willequipped definitely sells what I need...but have you looked at the prices??? I'm not willing to buy a 10L dewar at normal prices, much less bizarrely-inflated molecular gastronomy prices. I have better uses for a grand.

ohohcyte: That would be great if I could find anyone to fill it for me. :-) I also don't think I can find any LN2 in any event.

I think my route to frozen awesomeness will be the alcoholic one, since I can do it for 50 bucks without leaving the neighborhood. Thanks, soma!
posted by goingonit at 9:53 AM on March 8, 2011

The prices are insane, yes. But if you give them a call, they may be able to give you the number/location of a place that you can get 10 L of n2 pit into a styrofoam cooler. Airgas is a good bet. I have purchased small quantities of both co2 and n2 from them in other parts of the country. YMMV
posted by rockindata at 9:58 AM on March 8, 2011

Response by poster: I really think there's something weird about gas suppliers in New York City, given that I called three separate places and none of them would supply me with anything under 50L. I tried phoning up willequipped but got their voice mail to ask for leads; I'll certainly try again though.

I suppose I could always get a Zipcar and drive out to (shudder) Long Island...
posted by goingonit at 11:18 AM on March 8, 2011

They use those huge tanks of (I think) liquid nitrogen to keep certain parts of the...electric? gas? subway? system cool. Anyway, they are usually locked up, but I don't think they do anything about keeping the actual taps secure, perhaps you could borrow some from one of those tanks.

Seriously though, it's probably best to just go with the alcohol thing. Good luck!
posted by Grither at 11:25 AM on March 8, 2011

University people are usually quite friendly even if you're not associated with them. LN2 costs them less than 1USD/liter, and their main concern is probably that you will run away with their dewar never to come back. Offer to give a deposit, and ask a grad student rather than a professor.

Lots (most?) of the research in experimental condensed matter physics requires low temperatures, so look for that. I googled for you quickly, and this looks like a place to call. Good luck!
posted by springload at 2:08 PM on March 9, 2011