You may be asking yourself, “What makes the perfect root beer float?” I am going to give you my definition. Then I am going to give you the directions on how. Then you too will know the perfect RBF is within your reach. You must be patient and practice.
I have always enjoyed RBFs for as long ago as I remember. I noticed, at an early age, not all root beer floats contained the same amount of good. I began to notice a few things; warm root bear and melted ice cream, so often delivered at church youth functions, were the least acceptable. So over my teen years I realized temperature was a critical factor. Through my college years I noticed the type of ice cream and brand of root beer also played a part. But still being young I was taking what ever RBF was offered and thankful for it.
After being married for over ten years and having more time on my hands I decided to make a effort to find the Perfect RBF the PRBF. This started sometime in 2004, while living in San Antonio Texas.
Here are my findings;
First is the choice of the vanilla ice cream. It has to be the right consistency. Surprisingly Wal-mart Great Value vanilla is a great example, and my typical choice. While Hagen Daas Vanilla is devine it is too rich for the PRBF. The homemade or vanilla bean types of vanilla ice cream are not the right consistency or flavor. So take my word for it and just buy some Wal-mart Great Value vanilla, in the blue box. Once you develop the art of the PRBF, you can experiement with other ice cream. As I discovered early on, temperature is critical. Make sure the ice cream has been in the freezer sufficently long that is is hard. If it’s so hard you can’t scoop it it is cold enough. However, it can be a really frustrating shaving a little cream from the rock, so give it a couple of minutes outside the freezer. Once the Ice cream is a bit softer it will work great. You may even need to adjust the temperature of your freezer lower to make sure the ice cream is firm when you attemp the PRBF. This is one of the secrets of a PRBF.
The next step is extreemely critical and may take the most amount of practice. This step is getting the root beer to the right temperature. The average refridgerator is not cold enough to get the root bear to the right temperature so you will need to put the root beer in the freezer until it is almost to freezing. At first I tried with two liter bottles. I found that the two liter is difficult to get it to the best temperature and once it’s to the right temperature it is only good for a float or two and then it needs to go back into the freezer again. So I have found that 20 once bottles are the best. They are enough for a float or two and they take less time to get to the critical temperature. Be careful not to leave the bottles in too long so that they freeze. I a very small amount of ice, as long as the ice will flow freely out of the bottle is not a problem. If there is so much ice that the root beer will not flow freely. Abort the process and thaw the bottle before attempting again. This is probably the biggest secret and probably the most overlooked process of root beer float creation. You will know the root beer is the correct temperature when you pour the root bear over the ice cream and there is no foaming. That is right no foaming! The root beer semi freezes as it runs over the ice cream and becomes almost slushy, and there is NO foaming.
The last aspect is the glass. Glass or ceramic containers work the best. This is something I didn’t encorporate until Late 2007. place the glass or mug into the freezer about 15 minutes before you are ready to make the PRBF. This helps the root beer reach that perfect non-foaming temerature.
After all the patience and pratice you are ready to experience the perfect root beer float.
There may be some that claim you need to put the root beer in first. Everything still applies, but it is more critical that the root beer is very near freezing to eliminate the foam.
Most of you will say, the foam is part of the root beer float experience. And I say the foam is part of the less than perfect RBF experience.
Have faith and experiment for yourself and I know you too can experience the Perfect Root Beer float.
Enjoy
Dewd! I am seriously going to do it now! I’ll film it and we’ll post it! LOL! Thanks Bro! I like mine when the root beer freezes over the ice cream a little when you poor it.
I am so glad to find somebody who puts as much (or more) thought into their root beer floats as I do. My whole family mocks me and my wife gets upset because I won’t let her make my nightly RBF. And you have absolutely identified the MOST critical factor – temperature. I know my RBF is perfect when I get root beer ice crystals almost immediately upon pouring the root beer over the ice cream (don’t ever put the root beer in first! Deal with the foam!)
Anyway, thanks for a great post. Really enjoyed it!
Ken,
Thanks for the vote of support. I love the root beer crystals on the ice cream too. Good luck on your move, if you haven’t convinced yourself against it.