Surprising trick to make your ice cubes freeze much quicker

Changing this one thing means you can enjoy your ice cold drink a lot sooner

Making ice cubes is possibly the easiest task in the kitchen.

Just fill up the tray then balance it in the freezer on top of your frozen peas and chicken dippers. Simple.

But apparently lots of us are making a big mistake when we're doing this and a simple change could make the ice cubes freeze far quicker.

That's right - you can have that ice cold gin and tonic even sooner.

Ice and lime are a must for a good gin and tonic

This is because hot water actually freezes faster than cold water.

Scientists have known this for centuries but nobody has ever been able to work out why.

It's known as the Mpemba effect, and there have been several theories behind it over the years.

The most recent focuses on the chemical bonds which hold water together.

Scientists believe that when the hydrogen bonds bring individual water molecules into close contact it triggers natural repulsion.

This causes the covalent bonds between oxygen and hydrogen bonds to stretch as well as store energy.

Ice cooling quicker is all about the molecules

This means the water molecules sit further apart as the hydrogen bonds stretch.

As they shrink again they give up this energy, causing it to cool quicker than cold water.

So in a nutshell, just pop hot water in your ice cube trays and you can have your ice much quicker.