ABOUT
BRAIN₂FREEZE
What is it?
EXTREME ICE CREAM
Noticed the "N2" in BRAIN₂FREEZE?
That's actually a sneaky giveaway about what this project is all about, namely: Ice cream made with liquid nitrogen (chemical formula: N2). Calling this way of ice cream making "extreme" is in no way a lie though. Liquid nitrogen is so cold (-196°C) that, when added to an ice cream mixture, it instantly freezes the ice cream base while the liquid nitrogen itself evaporates quickly, resulting in a volcano like gas eruption… Spectacular!
But that isn't the only thing this way of ice cream making has to offer. You see, science teaches us that the faster you freeze an ice cream base, the smaller the ice cream molecules become and that in turn results in that velvety smooth and super creamy textured ice cream that will leave you mouth-watering for more.
Michelin star chefs like Ferran Adrià (El Bulli) and Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck) pioneered this technique and called it flash-freezing. Later on this technique was adopted by high-end chefs all over the world and now BRAIN₂FREEZE aims to bring this technique to the people with its signature extreme ice cream creations!
Oh, and did we tell you it's all vegan? Yeah, you can't really have revolutionary ice cream without revolutionary vision right! For BRAIN₂FREEZE inclusivity has always been key and by going 100% plant-based we can cater to almost anyone, no matter the dietary needs, all whilst maintaining a clean conscience.
Extreme ice cream, made with a warm heart for our planet and everything on it!
EXTREME HOW?
Liquid nitrogen
Nitrogen is a natural element that makes up approximately 78% of our atmosphere. Remember those periodic tables from chemistry class?? Blast from the past: nitrogen is the 7th element in that table and by forming a triple bond with another nitrogen atom, it becomes a very stable diatomic molecule called “nitrogen gas (N2)”. In our atmosphere that gas regulates the growth of all plants on earth (boring! ;p), but in its liquid state, nitrogen has an extraordinarily low boiling point of -196°C aka it’s pretty darn cold
By using that liquid nitrogen in our production process we are able to freeze our ice cream base on the spot in a few seconds which in turn results in much smaller ice crystals and less air incorporation than in traditional ice cream. This all leads to a richer tasting, creamier and denser ice cream that doesn’t require stabilizers, fillers, etc…
PS: A lot of people might think that, with the ongoing nitrogen emission debate in our country, this process could be problematic. But it’s not, because we are taking nitrogen gas out of the air to produce liquid nitrogen and when we add that to our ice cream base it evaporates and becomes nitrogen gas again. So the net production of nitrogen in this process is roughly zero.
UNIQUE FLAVOURS
Break with the conventions
At BRAIN₂FREEZE we believe that there’s enough boring vanilla in the world already. That’s why we decided to aim for unique flavour combinations and to rotate them based on season, demand and our own wild imagination... In fact, we never planned to solely make ice cream, we wanted to rethink the way traditional ice cream is created and take this world renowned dessert to a whole new level. So we ditched the conventional, added in some science, sourced the best ingredients we could find and got to work. The result is an unmatched silky smooth, rich and creamy textured ice cream and a spectacular, almost performance like production process that makes our concept into an eyecatcher at every event!
Delicious and indulgent luxury for all your senses!
VEGAN
COMPLETELY
Our extreme ice cream is made with pure, natural products and with love for our planet and all living creatures on it. That means: no artificial additives, no powders, no readymade pastes,... but also no dairy and no eggs.
When we started this adventure we used to produce our vegan ice cream with a cashew based cream. Although rich, we soon found this cream to be limiting in both the flavour and inclusiveness department. Fruity flavours often don’t do well with a nutty undertone and the use of nuts prohibited us to cater to people with nut allergies. So we went back to the drawing board and reinvented ourselves. Today we use a plant based cream made from lentils! This cream has a very neutral taste, allowing us to get as creative as we want. It’s very rich, less ethically problematic and it allows us to cater to almost anyone, including people with nut allergies.
Aside from that we usually aim to make sure that at least one of the 2 flavours we offer at every event is gluten free and tubs of ice cream without refined sugars or with low glycemic index sugar substitutes can be ordered on demand. This way even diabetes patients can have their indulgent moment.
EXTREME ICE CREAM BIKE
Extremely efficient in the city
When BRAIN₂FREEZE was born, the world was still under the spell of covid. Starting a traditional ice cream salon in those difficult times was never an option and considering the conservative attitude of most Belgian people, a mobile unit just felt far more logical. This approach would enable us to bring our innovative concept to the people…
That being said, we still live in a city and unless you want to spend your whole life in a traffic jam, adding another car to this already problematic situation (especially an older one you would want to convert to a food truck) just felt like an absolute no-go for short distance events. That’s why we decided that we wanted to put our concept in a cargo bike instead of a truck. The only problem was: there wasn’t a bike in existence that fitted the needs of our concept. So we decided to contact our good friend Gertjan from “Brakfiets” in order to design and built one ourselves. Brakfiets makes cargobikes from recycled bicycle frames and materials... aka the perfect fit for us!
After months of designing, welding and puzzling,… our extreme ice cream bike was born. A fully electrical powered cargo bike with loads of convenient storage space, a big fridge, running water,... that pops open into a functional inox kitchen, allowing us to create our extreme ice cream compliant to all food safety regulations.
We are very proud of this creation and although it will always be an ongoing optimisation project, our food bike is unique and a great representation of our creative and environmental vision. Perfect for events in and around our hometown of Antwerp