On Ice-Cooled Tanks and Cabinets

N. N. Zakharov

In Leningrad, public catering establishments and retail outlets use ice-cooled tanks, and less often ice-cooled cabinets, to store perishable foods. The suitability of ice-cooled tanks for storing perishable foods is highly questionable, since the ice is placed below the food. This impedes air circulation and results in inadequate cooling of the food.

We made comparative temperature measurements in two ice-cooled tanks and two ice-cooled cabinets. One cabinet had an upper ice compartment; the other had a central ice compartment with three trays filled with ice and two side compartments for storing food.

Temperatures were measured both inside the iceboxes and in the rooms where they stood, with the following results:

The data show quite convincingly that ice-cooled tanks provide little cooling. In the second tank the temperature ranged from 10 to 13°C, while in the first tank, which stood in a warmer room, it ranged from 10 to 18°C.

In the cabinet with the upper ice compartment, the temperature ranged from 6 to 8°C, and in the cabinet with the ice in the middle, from 5 to 8°C.

The difference between the temperatures in the tanks and in the room was only 5–6°C, whereas the difference between the cabinets and the room was 10–12°C in most cases.

Most perishable foods, as is well known, should be stored at temperatures no higher than 5–7°C. Approximately this temperature is achieved in the ice-cooled cabinets. In the ice-cooled tanks, by contrast, essentially room temperature is maintained, together with high humidity, which is detrimental to food preservation.

Conclusions

1. By their very design, ice-cooled tanks are poorly suited to the storage of perishable foods.
2. Ice-cooled tanks should be replaced as soon as possible with ice-cooled cabinets or, better still, with electric refrigerator cabinets.
3. Plans for new large food stores and public catering establishments should provide for mechanical refrigeration systems.