Is it possible to engineer a liquid that would meet a few basic requirements. Non Toxic and inert and will stay liquid at typical freezer temps and remain a liquid at as high temps as possible. Food storage is what I am thinking about. For example I may have a pound of shrimp. It would be nice just to take out as many as I wanted to use and not have to worry about wrapping the shrimp to keep them separate. I would probably want something a bit lighter than water if possible.
Propylene glycol? Freezing point is -59 celsius. Rated food safe, odourless and nearly tasteless.
I mean, I wouldn’t use it to immerse shrimps in the freezer because it’s a really weird idea (I think I’d just buy them loose frozen).
Might be some risks of getting frostbitten if you just stick your hand into such a cold liquid BTW.
I was actually thinking about turtle food. I save bits of fish, shrimp, bugs etc in the freezer and it would be nice if I could just keep them in one container and scoop them out when needed. Currently I use my ice cube trays which isn’t too bad. Each cube is one serving of whatever…
That was a good suggestion and might work, I could likely thin it with water to pinpoint a freezing point.
I’d have thought it might be easier to freeze the items spread out flat on a silicone mat, then when they are frozen, mist them with a little bit of water and put them back in (to create a protective glaze), then shake them off the mat into a bag to store (frozen) in bulk; they should remain reasonably loose and separate.
I’m not aware of immersion in liquid being used but Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) is the term to research:
That may be more practical in some ways. The immersion method I was looking at was more for convenience, I might find some grubs in the garden, or some trimmings from my fish, left over shrimp things like that. Would like to be able to just toss them in with the mix.
It’s more practical in every way that matters. Using chilled air & glazing is the industry standard. And IQF isn’t some abstraction, it’s even printed right on the bag.
I don’t think there’s anything especially inconvient about loose freezing things then bagging them once frozen. I do it with raspberries or other things that I collect in all quantities over time, and want to be able to use in unspecified quantity.
At least, I don’t think it’s less convenient than maintaining a supply of some chemical, as well as managing things like contamination of the batch in use (if you’re planning to add and remove bits and pieces over time, at what point would you refresh the liquid), as well as the possible adverse effects of contamination by the liquid.
Also I don’t think it’s guaranteed that immersion in a special non-freezing liquid would guarantee separation anyway - they might still freeze into a clump from their own water content even if the liquid immersing them doesn’t.
On a somewhat similar topic, there is a product available for cars called PowerCool180 (I’m not advertising it, have just used it in a motorbike previously). It’s an oil based product that completely replaces the water in an engine’s cooling system and radiator. The idea is that it boils at a much higher temperature than water and remains liquid when normal cooling water would become gaseous, thus reducing the likelihood of leaks. In fact when the engine is completely up to temperature it’s safe to open the radiator fill cap as the product doesn’t change state on the pressure change and spray out dangerously. Just though it worth mentioning on the topic of ‘liquid based substitutes for cooling’ or heating in this case.
One other potential solution to this is just to get a bunch of small ziploc bags and a vacuum pump - any time you want to freeze a small batch of something, vacuum it in one of the bags and throw in the freezer the bags themselves should be reusable many times if treated kindly
This is what I currently do along with the ice cube trays.
I reckon your process might already be as good as it can reasonably be; I just don’t think adding chemicals is going to simplify it
Turns out those waterless coolants are not as good as regular antifreeze. They have some benefits, but the heat capacity of water+glycol is greater.