The main finding
Normal ice cubes cooled substantially more in the natural-stone study. Stainless steel can transfer cold quickly, but it is not automatically superior in every construction.
Scientific context
What does science say about whisky stones?
Only a small number of published studies have examined reusable chilling stones. They show that solid chilling objects can cool a drink, but their performance depends strongly on material and experimental conditions.
Chemical Teacher International, 6(1), 93–102 · 2024
Everyday referenced use of a digital temperature sensor – how well do alternative ice cubes really cool a drink?
Timo Fleischer, Julia Feichtner, Isabella Strauß, Alexander Strahl
Chilling objects examined
- Granite
- Soapstone
- Ceramic
- Ice cubes
Publication status
Peer-reviewed status verified
Method
Comparison of different solid chilling objects and an ice cube using a digital temperature sensor.
Finding
Under the tested conditions, the ice cube produced by far the strongest cooling effect. Granite, soapstone and ceramic also cooled the drink, but substantially less.
Jurnal Polimesin, 23(1), 1–10 · 2025
Thermal behavior of reusable ice cubes: Cooling efficiency and performance analysis
Luthfi Luthfi
Chilling objects examined
- Stainless steel chilling cubes
- Plastic chilling cubes
- Ice cubes
Publication status
Published in a journal with a documented peer-review process
Method
Measurement of minimum temperature and cooling time using a DS18B20 temperature sensor, an Arduino microcontroller and a HIKMICRO B20 thermal camera.
Finding
The stainless steel cubes transferred cold more quickly at first. In the tested setup, the plastic cubes sometimes reached lower minimum temperatures. The number of cubes, water volume and glass diameter also influenced the result.