Lemon Water Ice (Italian Ice, Philadelphia Style, Smooth Texture)

Lemon water ice is one of those things that seems simple, but getting the texture right is the hard part. In this video I make it for the first time and try to dial in that smooth, scoopable, small business-style texture instead of the usual icy homemade version. ⸻ 🍋 LEMON WATER ICE INGREDIENTS Base: -Water: 500g (2 cups) -Sugar: 170g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) -Light corn syrup: 40g (2 tbsp) (60g if not using stabilizers) -Salt: 1g Kosher salt: pinch OR Table salt: small pinch Flavor: -Lemon juice (fresh): 200g (3/4 cup + 1 tbsp) -Lemon zest: from 2 lemons -Vodka: 10–15g (2–3 tsp) Stabilizers: -Locust bean gum: 0.45g (~1/4 tsp lightly packed) -Guar gum: 0.20g (~1/8 tsp) OR -Xanthan gum: 0.4g (~1/8 tsp) Optional: -Yellow food coloring: 1 drop (diluted) ⸻ 📝Steps 1. Mix sugar, salt, and stabilizers (if using) 2. Add water and corn syrup 3. Heat until dissolved (or until 185°F / 85°C if using stabilizers) 4. Let cool ~10 minutes 5. Add lemon juice, zest, vodka, and optional color 6. Chill in fridge(4 hours minimum, overnight preferred) 7. Churn 10–25 minutes until smooth and fluffy 8. Transfer to container and press plastic wrap onto surface 9. Freeze 1–2 hours to firm up ⸻ 🧊 STORAGE -Best texture: 1–3 days -Very good: up to 1 week -Usable: up to 2–3 weeks Let sit 2–5 minutes before scooping if firm ⸻ This was my first time making water ice and it actually came out exactly how I wanted. More flavors coming soon. ⸻ ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:00 Ingredients 1:35 Mixing base 1:48 Stabilizers 2:35 Corn Syrup 3:10 Heating 4:25 Remove from Heat 5:35 Vodka 6:15 Lemon 8:05 Adding Lemon and Vodka Mixture 8:25 Chilling 8:40 Straining 9:10 Churning 10:20 Loading into container 11:15 Scoop & taste test ⸻ If you try this or tweak it, drop it in the comments. 🎶 LoopTest13 - Big Pee 📍 Instagram: @big.pee_licious.danger.kitchen 📍 TikTok: @bigpeelicious #lemonwaterice #italianice #dessert #foodscience #bigpeelicious