Beer is a delicious and adaptable ingredient in cooking, although it can be challenging to use. For instance, if a recipe requires a small quantity of beer, it might not justify opening a full bottle, particularly if you don’t fancy a drink. In such an instance, a simple ice tray can be your solution, allowing you to freeze the ideal amount of beer. All you need to do is fill each slot with your preferred beer and then freeze it. When needed, simply take out the required number of cubes and include them in your dish.

Beer is a fantastic addition to various recipes. It can give a fish or chicken batter a rich, savory flavor, while also adding a touch of brightness and acidity to soups and stews. Dark beers can also add an extra layer of flavor to rich, chocolatey baked goods. You may be questioning why you can’t just freeze a bunch of bottles or cans for future use, and the answer is quite dramatic.

Read more: 10 Of The Healthiest Beers You Can Drink

Storing beer in your freezer might lead to a huge mess and leave you without any beer for your culinary endeavors. The water in the beer expands as it freezes, posing a significant problem with cans. As the water has no place to expand, it could burst through the metal and spill all over the freezer. Bottles face the same dilemma, with the risk of the stopper popping off or even the glass breaking.

Adding brews to ice cube trays is clearly the better option, as you won’t need to worry about busted cans and broken glass and lids. The only potential downside is that freezing beer causes it to lose its bubbles, which will pose an issue with certain recipes. For instance, the carbonation in beer is key to making airy beer bread, so you may want to use a fresh can or bottle in place of frozen for those recipes. Otherwise, you can easily make beer cubes in your freezer with just a few simple steps.

When beer has an alcohol by volume percentage somewhere between 4% and 6%, it will most likely freeze at 28 degrees Fahrenheit. Fortunately, most home freezers are set to 0 degrees Fahrenheit, which means you should have no issue creating your beer cubes.

When choosing an ice cube tray to store your beer, keep in mind that most standard trays hold between ½ and 1 fluid ounce, so you may want to get a couple if you plan on making an abundance of cubes. You can also try making larger square beer cubes that hold four times the volume. When pouring, slow and steady is your best bet. If you slosh the beer into the trays too quickly, the cubes could foam up. Once they’re filled evenly, it will take about six hours for them to fully freeze before you can remove them. You can also leave the cubes in the freezer overnight, but consider covering them if you plan on keeping them in there for an extended period so that they’re less exposed to air and any circulating odors. With these tips, you can enjoy easy access to beer to boost your cooking.

Read the original article on Daily Meal.