Ice Cubes or Chicken Wings?

It’s funny how the natural progression of things usually works out fine and we often learn something in the process. I have also found that true stories are usually more interesting than fiction. That is why I wrote my Ice cubes or chicken wings story.

I just recently removed and cleaned my ice bin/augur on my residential refrigerator. We use the crushed ice mode most of the time and the chute gets clogged up with shaved ice, (another topic for a future blog). I usually grind a cup or two of ice down the garbage disposer. The rest gets stored in the freezer and poured back into the bin when I’m done. Choosing to dispose of all the cubes, I dumped all of it into garbage disposer. I had been told (by who I don’t remember) that grinding ice sharpens the blades and cleans the disposer. I figured more is always better, right

My wife and I came home from dinner that evening and found water on the floor next to the sink cabinet. I traced the leak to the bottom of the garbage disposal and that’s when I remembered the sizeable amount of ice I ground up earlier that day. I was slightly irritated at having possibly caused the issue, but, since the unit was 10 years old it probably needed replacing anyway (at least that’s what I told myself).Since it was late, I unplugged the disposer, put a bucket under and would repair it the next day.

Being the type of person who wants to know how mechanical things fail, I naturally “Googled” the problem and learned that this leak wasn’t uncommon. I also learned that I should use cold water while using the disposer. That’s “strange” I have always used hot water to break down any grease, and that was logical. This “DYI” video also recommended putting a cup of ice down the disposer once a week to help keep it clean. At least I was only half wrong.

I installed the new disposer the following morning, and it operated fine with no leaks. That cold water is better than hot didn’t sound right, so I searched for the “Insinkerator” website to find out what the manufacturer had to say. It so happens that cold water works better because it hardens up any oil or grease and that goes down your drain better. It surprised me to see a video where the host was putting chicken bones and peach pits into the disposer and claiming that these sharp fragments would do the cleaning. They also claim that ice melts too fast and doesn’t work very well. And, since disposers don’t have blades how can they get sharpened. I was feeling pretty foolish since I could have just looked inside the disposer and seen that for myself. Yes, they are just spinning impellers.

So, if I use this alternative method of cleaning, will I still get another 10 years of life from my new garbage disposer. Oh, since I am on a roll and correcting myself, the proper term used by the manufacturer is “garbage disposer” not “garbage disposal”

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A world of applications… Hotels, restaurants, bars, supermarkets, fast-food outlets and numerous other types of businesses rely on Scotsman for ice: cubes, flake, superflake, scale, nugget, dice, contour, gourmet ice, in quantities from cube-at-a- time dispensers to ten tons of ice a day. And each one of these businesses is special, because they are Scotsman customers.

A world of experience… It’s only by listening to their customers, and then acting on what they hear, that Scotsman have become as big as they are. It is because their customers require it that they have built up a global distribution and service network. Scotsman have built up their range of products, and continue to strive for excellence in all the things they do.

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By the late 1800’s, ice making for commercial use was being perfected and developed for the growing beef, fish and food markets. During 1867 Andrew Muhl built an ice machine in Waco for the growing beef transportation industry. His patent was later contracted by the Columbus Iron Works which produced the world’s first commercial clear ice machine.

Large city populations were increasing dramatically which also increased the demand for artificial ice products. Despite this new technology the natural ice harvesting remained vital and would not decline till the turn of the century. At its peak the United States “natural ice trade” employed an estimated 90,000 people in an industry capitalized at approximately $28 million dollars per year.

During the 1920s, ice consumers purchased ice boxes lined with zinc or lead to preserve their foods. There were magical, icy cold drinks, ice box cookies, cakes, and pies that could be consumed at one’s leisure. Around 1927 Southland Ice Company started selling ice along with staples such as eggs, bread and milk at 16 storefronts in Dallas TX. This was the beginning of the modern grocery and convenience stores that started popping up on a lot of street corners.

By the late 1920s, many improvements to the early ice machines had been made by others, but they still used toxic gasses such as ammonia, methyl chloride and sulfur dioxide as refrigerants. Unfortunately, several fatal accidents were recorded due to the ice machine systems leaking methyl chloride. These dangerous refrigerants resulted in the vast research by American companies for a much safer design that could be used throughout the commercial refrigeration industry. In 1930, General Motors and Dupont formed Kinetic Chemicals to produce “Freon” which would later be the standard refrigerant for almost all consumer and industrial refrigeration products.

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An icebox (also called a cold closet) is a compact non-mechanical refrigerator which was a common early-twentieth-century kitchen appliance before the development of safely powered refrigeration devices. Before the development of electric refrigerators, iceboxes were referred to by the public as “refrigerators”. Only after the invention of the modern-day electric refrigerator did the early non electric refrigerators become known as an icebox.

The icebox was invented by an American farmer and cabinetmaker named Thomas Moore in 1802. His first design consisted of an oval cedar tub with a tin container fitted inside with ice between them, all wrapped in rabbit fur to insulate the device Later versions would include hollow walls that were lined with metal and packed with various insulating materials such as sawdust or straw A large block of ice is held in a tray or compartment near the top of the box. Cold air circulates down and around storage compartments in the lower section. Some finer models have spigots for draining ice water from a catch pan or holding tank. In cheaper models, a drip pan is placed under the box and has to be emptied at least daily. The user has to replenish the melted ice, normally by obtaining new ice from an “iceman”.

The constant underground temperature of 54 °F has been utilized in preserving ice collected during winter months in the form of underground pits for a long time.  Prior to the convenience of having refrigeration inside the home, cold storage systems would often be located underground in the form of a pit. These pits would be deep enough to provide thorough insulation and also to deter animals from intruding on the perishable items within.

By the year 1781, personal ice pits were becoming more advanced. Advanced pits contained a drainage system for water runoff as well as the use of brick and mortar for its insulation. An octagon-shaped pit, approximately 12 ft in diameter located 15 ft underground was capable of storing ice that was obtained during the winter months to the next October or November. Ice blocks collected during winter months could later be distributed to customers. As the icebox began to make its way into homes during the early to mid-19th century, ice collection and distribution expanded and soon became a global industry.

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Dr John Gorrie who remembered as “the father of air conditioning” was a young physician working in two hospitals in Apalachicola, Florida. Dr Gorrie’s passion was researching treatments for tropical diseases like yellow fever. He believed that bad air was the cause for many of his patients diseases and ailments. His rudimentary method of treatment called for cooling the sickrooms by placing large blocks of ice in basins suspended from the ceiling. Since ice had to be transported from cold climates and large quantities were required, Gorrie began experimenting on making ice artificially. In 1845 he gave up his medical practice and focused on his inventions. In 1851 he was granted the first U.S. patent for “mechanical refrigeration”

Commercial refrigeration is believed to have been initiated by an American businessman, Alexander C. Twinning, in 1856. Shortly afterward, an Australian, James Harrison, examined the refrigerators used by Gorrie and Twinning and introduced vapor-compression refrigeration to the brewing and meat-packing industries. A somewhat more complex system was developed Ferdinand Carre’ of France in 1859. Unlike earlier vapor-compression machines, which used air as a coolant, Carré’s equipment contained rapidly expanding ammonia. (Ammonia liquefies at a much lower temperature than water and is thus able to absorb more heat.) Carré’s refrigerators were widely used, and vapour-compression refrigeration became, and still is, the most widely used method of cooling.

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In the Beginning
Before modern refrigeration and freezing technology, people around the world used a variety of resourceful ways to get, store and make ice. Persians create a marvelous facility called a yakhchal.

The conical structure with a subterranean pit was used to store and make ice as far back as 400 B.C.Egyptians used to set out clay pots filled with water to freeze on chilly nights. In colder climates natural ice was harvested and stored in underground places that would keep the ice from melting. The task of harvesting ( as a matter of fact ,all modern ice machines have a harvest cycle which drops the ice into the bin) could be very dangerous and would probably be a great show for TV today.

Demand for ice increased as people realized the importance of ice for tasks including refrigerating food to prevent illness and, cooling storage buildings and preserving medicine. In addition, people were starting to like cool treats like chilled beverages and ice cream.

Don’t Miss our next blog “The first ice machine”

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