Refrigeration.

[jansman]

So today is hotter than Hades.Our fridge at home ain't cutting it,at least 8 degrees higher than legal limits ( I work in the food industry so am VERY aware).I cannot do anything about it til Friday PM. Anyhow,a year or two ?back,one of our members here had problems with her fridge,( I forget who) and I suggested frozen pop bottles full of water at the top ( cold air sinks) and it worked.

Keeping chest freezers as we do,we have frozen bottles so I have popped three in there on the top shelf. After an hour I checked the lower temp and it was 8 degrees ( E U limit: UK is 5).Chucked ALL the high risk foods ( we ain't spewing for the sake of about ten quid!)

Knowing what I do,I suspect it's lost gas - but its academic - I will get another tomorrow. If you have room for ice packs or frozen water etc.Its a good idea.Always handy to have frozen ( 3/4 full) bottles of water in case of the taps drying up!

Aah well,yet another problem to deal with.As we say round these parts,"There's allus summat!" Postscript: The real downside is The Duchess and her Prosecco! Me ,I drink bitter or red wine,proper Apocalypse grog!

[Deeps]

Probably your advice from that earlier thread but I keep 4 2L bottles not quite full frozen for just such occasions. Maybe a bit awkward but insulating with duvets etc can help too if a fridge/freezer is struggling.

Red wine is the booze of champions and definitely the post apocalypse beverage of choice.

[jansman]

Like^^^^
I've actually switched it off and put the ice packs into the insulated cool boxes we have.Being a tightwad,I ain't burning leccy!

We'll manage.Its what tinned food was invented for!

[Deeps]

Like^^^^
I've actually switched it off and put the ice packs into the insulated cool boxes we have.Being a tightwad,I ain't burning leccy!

We'll manage.Its what tinned food was invented for!

As for tinned food, as Gunny Highway says, "improvise, adapt and overcome".

More importantly I'm dreading the apocalypse due to the lack of red wine, I'll have to slum it and scupper other forms of 'loud mouth soup'. I guess we'll all have to make sacrifices come that day.

[jansman]

I can give you a good recipe for elderberry wine.Heady stuff! Back in the 80's when I was terrier man for the hunt , most of the lads put whisky or brandy in their hip flasks.I put my home brew elderberry in.Lovely when its pi##ing down and you've still a ton of clay to dig to get your dog and his fox!

[Deeps]

I've always wanted to like the 'proper' homebrew wines like elderberry, there's a Scottish wine producer up the back of Dundee that I'd like to like (if you follow me) that does all the fruit wine but I'm more of a shiraz kind of a cat, she's more merlot. I'd love your recipe, don't get me wrong, we're heading down that path but both me and Her Maj are into the mainstream stuff, works in progress as it were.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Look up igloo maxicold coolers

Cheaper ones are the industrial marine range in boring white. Rather than posh decorative colours aimed at tge domestic / camping market.


Not cheap but 2 1kg bags of supermarket ice. Chilled 18 cans of lager/ 4 ltrs of pop and a pile of meat 2 days later there was still ice floating ! (Last summer in a tent when it was pushing 25°c)

http://m.costco.co.uk/view/p/igloo-51-l ... mbo-727014

[Arzosah]

I don't seem to want to drink booze any more I wish I did, though its cheaper this way and since I'm vegetarian, I store lots of nuts and seeds in my freezer, to help stop them going "off" (aka rancid). The only thing I'd lose from the freezer is frozen vegetables, to be honest, plus loads of cheese from the fridge.

The large coolbox sounds good - insulation is all, of course. Maybe I need to finish off my home made haybox, thats insulated as all get out.

[Deeps]

I don't seem to want to drink booze any more I wish I did, though its cheaper this way and since I'm vegetarian, I store lots of nuts and seeds in my freezer, to help stop them going "off" (aka rancid). The only thing I'd lose from the freezer is frozen vegetables, to be honest, plus loads of cheese from the fridge.

The large coolbox sounds good - insulation is all, of course. Maybe I need to finish off my home made haybox, thats insulated as all get out.

We'd save a fortune if we cut out the booze, I hardly go to the pub now but red wine is quite 'morish'.

[jansman]

I don't seem to want to drink booze any more I wish I did, though its cheaper this way and since I'm vegetarian, I store lots of nuts and seeds in my freezer, to help stop them going "off" (aka rancid). The only thing I'd lose from the freezer is frozen vegetables, to be honest, plus loads of cheese from the fridge.

The large coolbox sounds good - insulation is all, of course. Maybe I need to finish off my home made haybox, thats insulated as all get out.

We'd save a fortune if we cut out the booze, I hardly go to the pub now but red wine is quite 'morish'.

Me and the Duchess would be the same!

Anyhow, snagged a new cooler this afternoon and sorted now. I will be honest in that I forgot totally that we could have shoved the gear into our mini - root cellar. It holds at a steady 10 degrees C. ALL year and would have sufficed. Aah well!