Freezing the easy way, possible?

[Anonymous Modernist 15646]

The adviced method presented in the book for quick freezing still seems to be tedious. I don't want to spend time dissolving salt in water, let it cool, adding ice cubes, etc. and repeating the process every time. I was wondering if it's possible to make a liquid that stays liquid in the freezer and keep it in a container. So, that the liquid is already at freezing temperature and you only had to place your produce in it for fast freezing. It would be reusable and thus ready to use whenever you need it, no planning needed. What would that liquid be? Mixture of water, salt an maybe alcohol? In which proportions? Anyone tried this already? Is it possible? What are the safety requirements?

[Anonymous Modernist 310]

That depend on the temperature of your freezer. In a normal freezer that is around -18C (0F) you can use a strong brine and keep it in the freezer. A 23.3wt% will freeze at -21C and is cheap, foodsafe and very efficient. Pure ethanol freeze at -114C but you're better using a mix of alcool and ethanol since it has much more specific heat. An easy to find mix a 40% ethanol (Vodka!) will freeze around -27C.

Good luck

Louis-Frederic

[Anonymous Modernist 15646]

@ LFMichaud, thanks for the reply.

My freezer goes -18°c in regular use and has button to make go -35°c. Will experiment and let know.

[Anonymous Modernist 310]

The best would probably be to do an alcoholic brine but I haven't found any reference for the freezing point of different mix of salt alcohol and water. You can also use sugar but it would probably be messier and sticky. Keep us informed I don't have enough freezer space to try it now!

Good luck