Making ice blocks

J

jmas

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I have been freezing buckets of water in a chest freezer in the shop. The buckets are rectangular and slightly tapered towards the top so getting the ice out is easy.
My question is there any thing to add to the water to make the blocks last longer when they are transfered to a cooler? Not always easy to find block ice at the fuel dock.
 
I doubt it. The vast majority of the cooling of ice is from when it changes from a solid state to a liquid state. Ice will absorb 100x the energy as it goes from solid to liquid versus cooling the the ice 1* celsius. In other words you have to remove 100x the energy to cool H20 from water to ice versus cooling ice 1*. Ice at the same temperature has the exact cooling capacity whether it is a block or crushed. It's like saying what weighs more: a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers. Block ice will not keep the cooler as cold as crushed ice. Although the cooler will not be as cold, it will last longer. The choice is slightly warmer and lasting longer or colder with a reduced amount of time.
 
Good info,mandm1200, Thanks.
Never to old to learn somthing new.
We will have plenty of cubes for beverages, the blocks are for the fish.
 
It would be better to keep the fish (or beer) at a sightly wamer temperature than to have crushed ice all melted and the fish in a warm bath of water. I cannot think of anything to add to the cooling power of ice. Adding salt to the water prior to freezing will not add cooling capacity but will lower the temperature of water once it starts to melt. By that I mean the residual water/ice solution will be lower in temperature but it is not significant.
 
A big mistake people make is draining the water out of the cooler. That invites warm air in and increases the temp. The water is still very cold, so why remove it? I use a little of each when we used a cooler. A large block or two, along with a bag of crushed ice.
 
I use quart milk jugs. Freeze the water in them and put in an ice chest.
When finished, just wipe fish slime off and put back into the freezer for the next trip.
 
My in-laws are of Polish decent. My father-in-law once told me that the family had a secret recipe for making ice back in the “old country”, but someone lost it. The weird thing about this is that whenever I make ice, my wife tells me that I do not know how to make good ice. She will proceed to spill out my trays and remake the ice her way. I don’t see any difference than the way I make it. Maybe it is hereditary?
 
i just freeze plastic water bottles 1L size and throw them in the cooler.

When they thaw i drink the water.
 
Dry Ice and water. Keeps things cold and the fog gives good ambience...lol...
 
As mentioned freeze the water in plastic containers. It reduces the Melting "time" which extends the cool time but reduces the overall temp because of the plastic.

Choose your demon.
Not "Hot" for a longer time or really cold for a shorter time??
 
Saltwater ice is colder than fresh water ice, thus keeps longer.

If you are using it for fish you are better off with saltwater ice anyway.
 
I have a friend who used big butter tubs to freeze the ice.
Then he pulls the ice out of the tubs and puts them in the ice chest.
 
I was going to mention back in when I spent plenty of hours in a surveillance van that had a wet ice air conditioner I used to layer cubed ice with rock salt repeating the process. The unit would put out cold air for about 5 to 6 hours. Dry ice units were deemed too dangerous after 2 FBI agents died from lack of Oxygen in the back of a surveillance van in the early 80's.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by Robyns Nest

Saltwater ice is colder than fresh water ice, thus keeps longer.

If you are using it for fish you are better off with saltwater ice anyway.

Click to expand...


Will saltwater freeze in a chest freezer, do you need lower temps than when freezing fresh water?. My containers are about 4 gal and it takes 2-3 days to freeze solid with fresh water.
 
Saltwater ice will not last longer than fresh water ice. In fact, since saltwater ice melts at a lower temperature and since you absorb more heat through the walls of the ice chest if the interior is colder the ice will melt faster. While it is melting the contents of the cooler will be colder, but it won't last as long.

Mike
 
Saltwater freezes at ~ 28.5*F +/- depending on salt content.
 
IQF boxes use 8 lbs. per gallon salt to freeze shrimp.
That water turns to slush, but never freezes at -20 degrees.
 
if your goal is to keep fish iced down and at top quality. You want to ensure that the fish stay out of the water. Commercial fisherman will layer shaved ice and fish in layers so that the fish is above the melted water. A friend came up with another good way. He cut a piece of food quality starboard like material to match the bottom of his cooler, then he made some spacers about 2-1/2" high that would slide down the vertical grooves in the cooler . This kept the false floor up off the bottom. Then he made ice tubes from PVC pipe filling them about 80% full of salt water and glueing caps on both ends. These can be frozen, and refrozen, multiple times. They keep the fish cold and keep the fish out of the water.
 
I have eaten a lot of fish that were at the bottom of the cooler. No issues, no difference in taste.
My last few boats had fish boxes, so the water drains out. I can't tell any difference.
 
quote:
Originally posted by AbsoLoot

if your goal is to keep fish iced down and at top quality. You want to ensure that the fish stay out of the water. Commercial fisherman will layer shaved ice and fish in layers so that the fish is above the melted water. A friend came up with another good way. He cut a piece of food quality starboard like material to match the bottom of his cooler, then he made some spacers about 2-1/2" high that would slide down the vertical grooves in the cooler . This kept the false floor up off the bottom. Then he made ice tubes from PVC pipe filling them about 80% full of salt water and glueing caps on both ends. These can be frozen, and refrozen, multiple times. They keep the fish cold and keep the fish out of the water.

Click to expand...


If he made ice by freezing the sealed "ice tubes" then why did he need the false floor to keep the fish off the bottom?

G
 
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