Refrigerator Desiccant

[sailorboy1]

Anyone using a desiccant in their refrigerator/freezer like silica, rice, etc. If so:

1- what do you use
2 - does it seem to work in reducing icing
3 - is it worth the trouble of dealing with the desiccant over dealing with defrosting instead

[Sailmonkey]

Good question!! I just played the block of ice game Friday.

[model 10]

Perhaps you should not keep your beer so cold?

[AnchorageGuy]

If your trying to keep the moisture and humidity out of the fridge, it ain't gonna happen. You introduce warm air into the box every time you open it and it creates the environment for frost. Just set aside a regular schedule for defrosting. Anything that will introduce air around the ice in the freezer will loosen it enough to pull large chunks out. Don't use hot air or hot water and don't defrost with an ice pick. Chuck

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Guy

Perhaps you should not keep your beer so cold?

Blasphemy!!!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Waterwayguy

Don't use hot air or hot water and don't defrost with an ice pick. Chuck

Definitely not water as that just puts more water in the box, but why not hot air (hair dryer)?

[foggysail]

NO!!! Our fridge unlike Nevercolds has a self defrost

[skipmac]

The problem isn't that the beer is too cold. The problem is opening the fridge too often to take out another beer.

[thinwater]

I did some testing of silica gel units for PS magazine.

• The water was attracted to the cold plate so much faster than to the gel that there was no reduction in icing.
• Once the ice formed, the gel could not remove it; the vapor pressure of ice is too low.
• The gel removed only ~ 5% of its weight in a 6 month period. Not even an ice cube worth.

Would it work in a home deep-freeze, not opened for weeks at a time? Yes. Does it work in a boat, opened 15 times per day? Not at all.

Periodic defrost seems to be the answer. I use hot water sealed in a container (not poured). And I don't mind drinking stout warm, not the good stuff anyways.

[sailorboy1]

another hopeful bubble popped

[AnchorageGuy]

Originally Posted by Don L

Definitely not water as that just puts more water in the box, but why not hot air (hair dryer)?

All your doing is raising the temperature in the box and heating the metal or plastic in the freezer. Try a little experiment the next time you defrost. Use the hairdryer on the air only setting, no heat. Then do it the following time using the heat setting. It will amaze you have fast the ice falls out in large chunks using just air rather than melted dripping water all over the place. Once you heat up the inside of the box that much, it will take a lot longer to get the box down to temperature. And we have found it takes longer using heat that just air. Chuck

[daddle]

Here in the steaming tropics the fridge makes plenty of frost. About once a week I turn off the fridge, which has a holding plate, when I go to bed. In the morning the ice has mostly melted or can be pulled off in a chunk. A sponge mops up the melt. Then I turn it back on. Saves energy too. The contents remain reasonably cold as indicated by bits of ice in places. Easy!