Anybody know anything about ice?

[Viper GTS]

Seriously.

We go through a LOT of ice, so we're constantly buying bags (our water makes terrible ice, & ice is cheap to buy). There are two stores reasonably close by which sell ice. One sells the tube like ice (cylinders with a relatively small hole cut through it) while one sells ice in flat cubes (maybe 1.5"x1.5"x0.5").

Ice is ice, right?

The problem is the ice that comes in cubes sticks together like crazy. It's reasonably loose when we first get it, but within a day or two it's forming large chunks & we usually end up tossing the last 1/4 of the bag because it's solidified into one impenetrable ball.

It also has a tendency to grow frost.

The cylinder ice, however, doesn't stick together. It stays loose, which makes it very easy to grab a handful when you need it. And it doesn't grow frost.

What the heck makes the difference? Both are kept in the same freezer, so there isn't a temperature difference. If one company was adding something to their ice they would have to have an ingredients list, right? Unfortunately the store that sells the good ice is much further away than the other, so we usually end up with crappy ice.

But frozen water is frozen water... right?

Viper GTS

 

[Ryan]

I like ice from Sonic It's awesome

 

[MacBaine]

Probably something with surface area and air flow (due to the hole in the middle). The cube ice probably sticks together because not as much of it has the cold air flowing across it, so it's temperature increases ever so slightly as to allow moisture to gather and freeze on the surface, thus, sticking them together. Just a guess though.

 

[BKR]

I dunno maybe it has something to do with the surface of the cubes being flat on the squares and curved on the cylinders? I do know it's possible to make fire from ice though...

 

[Brutuskend]

Anybody know anything about ice

It's cold.
And if you freeze a gold fish in a ice cube when it thaws out the fish will swim around, becoming the LIFE OF THE PARTY!!

 

[PsychoAndy]

thats weird viper, and i do know what youre talking about. my family has an ice machine, you can bag the ice and throw it in a freezer and about 3 hours later the thing is solid as a rock

but i'm gonna guess that everytime the door opens, and theres a temp change a small amount of water is released and refrezzes so it all gets stuck together.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: MacBaine
Probably something with surface area and air flow (due to the hole in the middle). The cube ice probably sticks together because not as much of it has the cold air flowing across it, so it's temperature increases ever so slightly as to allow moisture to gather and freeze on the surface, thus, sticking them together. Just a guess though.

I suppose that's possible, but when only a relatively small hole in the bag is opened there's not a lot of air flow throughout the bag.

Viper GTS

 

[PsychoAndy]

oh, and viper. my family has had lots of ice machines, some are what they call "full dice" - cube and "half dice" - half of said cube. i'm told that since the half cubes have much more surface area they cool better, and when you have room temp booze, it cools better. so macbaine might have an excellent explanation.

 

[yakko]

I think it has to do with the fact that I urinate on cubed ice.

 

[SludgeFactory]

Maybe it's the shape -- cylinders by nature can't make much contact with each other. And if they do freeze together, just jostling the bag is probably enough to break them apart. The cubes on the other hand have a lot of relatively flat surfaces to mate together.

 

[MacBaine]

I almost forgot...

ICE to see you!

 

[Utterman]

Originally posted by: Brutuskend

Anybody know anything about ice

It's cold.


And if you freeze a gold fish in a ice cube when it thaws out the fish will swim around, becoming the LIFE OF THE PARTY!!

:Q Are you for real that works?

 

SludgeFactory is correct.
The surface area of a cube is much larger than a cylinder (In relation to physical contact with one another)

 

[Pepsei]

Originally posted by: MacBaine
Probably something with surface area and air flow (due to the hole in the middle). The cube ice probably sticks together because not as much of it has the cold air flowing across it, so it's temperature increases ever so slightly as to allow moisture to gather and freeze on the surface, thus, sticking them together. Just a guess though.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: SludgeFactory
Maybe it's the shape -- cylinders by nature can't make much contact with each other. And if they do freeze together, just jostling the bag is probably enough to break them apart. The cubes on the other hand have a lot of relatively flat surfaces to mate together.

That was my guess.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: SludgeFactory
Maybe it's the shape -- cylinders by nature can't make much contact with each other. And if they do freeze together, just jostling the bag is probably enough to break them apart. The cubes on the other hand have a lot of relatively flat surfaces to mate together.

Mmmm. That stuff is sold in a blue bag, as North Star ice around here. It's the greatest!

 

[StageLeft]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the sort of thing a guy with nothign to worry about worries about

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the sort of thing a guy with nothign to worry about worries about

Bite me.

I had just finished tearing my finger tips apart getting ice water, so it was a concern.

I suppose I could just invest in an ice pick, but why bother?

Viper GTS

 

[Electric Amish]

If the ice freezes together and it's still in the bag. Grab the top of the bag, swing it, and smack it against the floor or a cabinet. That's what I do.

Anybody know anything about ice?

It's the only liquid the doesn't shrink when frozen. It expands.


amish

 

[ChurchOfSubgenius]

Pssssstttt....hey bud, ya wanna buy some ice?

 

[Brutuskend]

Quote

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Originally posted by: Brutuskend

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Anybody know anything about ice
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It's cold.


And if you freeze a gold fish in a ice cube when it thaws out the fish will swim around, becoming the LIFE OF THE PARTY!!
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Are you for real that works?

YES....

Back in the midwest many people had goldfish ponds and they froze in the winter. When summer came around the fish would "Wake Up" and be as good as new.

 

[StageLeft]

I had just finished tearing my finger tips apart getting ice water, so it was a concern.

I suppose I could just invest in an ice pick, but why bother?

Refer to line one for answer

 

[RossMAN]

Why does your water make terrible ice? Still living with the roommate in Beaverton, right?

 

[BatmanNate]

I just whack the bag on the floor or the sink when that happens, and presto, good as new. Roomates heads work as well.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
I just whack the bag on the floor or the sink when that happens, and presto, good as new. Roomates heads work as well.

Yeah, he was bitching about it when I was over once. While although the bag basically was a one-piece block, I set the bag on the counter sideways and slammed my fist down on the top of the bag, the middle, and the bottom of the bag. Voila.

nik (thinks Gregg needs to depussify himself and learn to hit the damn bag)