Consumers Choice

  The most recent snow storm to grace the Midwest had me thinking, I super need to defrost my fridge. Not something that’s difficult, but not the worlds most fun after school activity either. The exceptional lack of amusement that comes with defrosting ones refrigerator had caused me to put it of slightly past the manufactures recommended time. Its safe to say there was more ice in my fridge then at the Sochi Winter Olympics. Zing!

  While reaching for my trusty pot of boiling water I remembered a semi-recent thrift store find. A still in the box, lightly used, Davis Infra-Red Freezer Refrigerator Defroster. With only an estimated 50/50 chase of it killing me I decided it was high time to use the little rascal.

  No instructions where in the box, presumably lost to time and space. Not really an issue though, it’s a pretty dead simple gadget. Plug it in, it gets hot, ice melts. The product tag line is pretty much spot on. “works so fast that frozen foods cant thaw!”

  What took 30 to 40 minutes the old fashion way was only 10 to 15 min with this fancy piece of modern living. How I ever lived without such a marvel I will never know. If you are a weirdo like me and using a vintage fridge I highly recommend tracking one of these or similar device down. 

Friends call me Snow Miser

It may come as a surprise but our modern day internet doesn't have much information about how to defrost a 70-some-odd-year old fridge. There are no webpages, blogs, or DIY YouTube videos dedicated to the subject. Apparently that’s not something people have to deal with much these days. 

Damn kids and their fancy self-defrosting refrigerators!! They don't know how good they've got it.

While most wouldn't consider this too life-threatening, I have to dissagr... Actually I have to agree. On a list of full blow home emergencies I don't think frosty freezer is even on said list. 

It was a tad daunting considering it’s probably months past whatever the manufacturer suggests, and you might even say, I had never defrosted it. Because I hadn’t...ever...defrosted it. The time had come. Not for any of these reasons, though; for something far more important: it was getting difficult to fit in my ice cube trays. I need ice.

With a lack of instructional videos to stream at a whim from my smartphone, I turned to the next best thing: my mother. A woman of many talents, who just so happens to be a top notch research librarian. If she couldn't help, I was doomed. When I called her in a panic, she just chuckled and said, “ I wondered when you would ask about that. Just do what Grandma always did. Boil some water in a pot and stick it in the freezer. The heat and steam will melt it in a jiffy.” 

Could it really be that simple? Was steam all I needed to defeat the icy arctic sarcophagus entombing my pizza rolls? There was really only one way to find out. I thanked my mom for her advice, told her I loved her (like a good son should) and hung up the phone with as much dramatic force as one can hangup a touch screen phone; for this was not a time for dilly dallying: this was a time for ACTION.

After chiseling out any still edible food items from the freezer cube, I boiled the water as instructed and placed the dangerously hot pot into the icy tundra. Immediately the temperature difference caused a reaction and steam began to rise. I threw my hands up into the air like a mad genius and screamed, “IT’S ALIVE!!” (Okay, I have a weird mad scientist appreciation but that’s another story.)

 To my surprise, it did work. The steam and heat loosened up the bricks of ice clinging to the freezer panels. It didn't come off as easy as I hoped but with a little extra love they broke free. The process took roughly 20 minutes. I did, however, have to reheat the water pot 3 times to keep it nice and toasty. If I’m a bit more vigilant about how long I go between defrosting this will be, as they say, “easy as a cake walk.” 

The General and Me

The GE

I’m coming to discover a difficulty with writing a blog about one’s house is that, from time to time, nothing interesting is going on. Seriously, not a thing has broken and nothing is in dire need of change. Hopefully I don't curse myself by saying this, but my house is great. 

And there’s more to this great house than the things I fix and acquire. Lets talk about some of the wonders I’ve already surrounded myself with. For instance, anybody know what it’s like to live with a late 40’s GE refrigerator? I do and let me tell you, its not for everyone. 

Cons

Size. I get the distinct feeling people in the 40‘s ate much more fresh food than I do. This GE, a gleaming white beacon of times past, is barely large enough for a child to trap himself in. Distasteful jokes aside, it is really small. Only about 5 feet in height and 3 feet in width. It’s not bad for just me and my girlfriend but if I had a family of any size I would need something much bigger. 

Freezer. As it is I’ve picked up a cheapo deep freeze to compensate for the world’s most adorable freezer cube thats nestled in the corner of the GE. It’s perfect if all you need to freeze is two ice cube trays and one bag of pizza rolls. Don't even consider fitting a frozen pizza in there. The GE strictly forbids it. 

Pros

Strangely Efficient. Honestly though, size seems to be the only draw back. Everything else is great. It looks incredible, it keeps my food super cold, it’s surprisingly quiet and really not that expensive to run. 

Sweet Sci-Fi Noises. When you open and close the door it makes some of the coolest noises ever heard. It’s like something out of an old sci-fi movie, right when the frosty horrors are sealed safely shut with a WHOOMP and a CLACK of the door.

Party Pleaser.  It's always a good time when someone sees it in your house, too. My favorite experience so far was from when I first moved in. The HVAC guy stopped dead in his tracks and stared at it. After mumbling an unidentifiable curse word, he turned around, looked at me, and said “don’t tell me that thing actually still works. I just had to throw out a 6-year old fridge and you have one older than my father.”