Ice Making Question.

Shermie

Shermie

Well-known member
Do any of you think that filling ice trays with hot water makes ice sooner than if cold water was used?

I have a friend who says that. Bofore he moved to Connecticut, and when i visited him, he said that hot water freezes faster than cold, and he always wanted the ice cube trays filled with hot water instead of cold water.

I mean, I really don't see the irony behind that!! Can anyone tell me if that is true? :ohmy:
 
He uses the hot water straight from the faucet.

When the ice is done, it's done!! I've been using cold water to make ice for years and years.

I can't be wasting up and monopolizing precious time watching the ice being made, like watching paint dry.
 
my Parents think so.
i'm skeptical. the warm h2o may well blow over the cubes-to-be, thus cooling 'em quickly. yet, if the tray was brimming w/ cold h2o, would that freeze quickly.~
my thought- put a tray of each in, & check 'em frequently.
 
Apparently, it is true.
From scienceline.org...

t turns out that hot water can freeze before cooler water under certain conditions. This apparent quirk of nature is the “Mpemba effect,” named after the Tanzanian high school student, Erasto Mpemba, who first observed it in 1963. The Mpemba effect occurs when two bodies of water with different temperatures are exposed to the same subzero surroundings and the hotter water freezes first. Mpemba’s observations confirmed the hunches of some of history’s most revered thinkers, like Aristotle, Rene Descartes and Francis Bacon, who also thought that hot water froze faster than cold water
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Pretty simple science really. As the hot water gives off heat it induces cold transfer to take it's place and normalize to the ambient temp. This is why hot water pipes always freeze first.
 
Doc said:
And with the crud that is normally in a hot water tank you want to continue to use cold water to make your ice cubes. :thumb:

But, to answer your question, hot water does freeze faster. I never understood why, but know that it does.
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I'm going to try it out just once, with a tray each of hot water and cold water. To see.

But you're right, Doc!! There IS a lot of crud that sinks to the bottom of the hot water thank!! :ohmy:
 
the major reason hot water freezes faster in the home fridge is simply because the "hot mass" of the water causes a temperature rise in the freezer which then kicks in the motor more rapidly and more often and for longer times.

of the remaining reasons - eddy currents, entrained air, etc and et al, are all 3rd or 4th order effects.

the most significant "other reasons" is the evaporation rate. hot water evaporates more quickly - especially in a low RH environment like a freezer. in order to 'evaporate' the water sheds the latent heat of vaporization - which adds heat to to the freezer which makes the temp rise, which makes the motor run soon, longer, more often.
 
I used to make my own ice by adding cold water to ice trays but dh and i go through so much ice that we've just started going to our local grocery and buying it by the bag.
 
ChowderMan said:
the major reason hot water freezes faster in the home fridge is simply because the "hot mass" of the water causes a temperature rise in the freezer which then kicks in the motor more rapidly and more often and for longer times.

of the remaining reasons - eddy currents, entrained air, etc and et al, are all 3rd or 4th order effects.

the most significant "other reasons" is the evaporation rate. hot water evaporates more quickly - especially in a low RH environment like a freezer. in order to 'evaporate' the water sheds the latent heat of vaporization - which adds heat to to the freezer which makes the temp rise, which makes the motor run soon, longer, more often.
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So that in turn, would cause the fridge to use more energy, thus running the bill up higher, doesn't it?
 
Sherman said:
So that in turn, would cause the fridge to use more energy, thus running the bill up higher, doesn't it?
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Yes it does. Think about this, how does a propane fridge use a flame to make cold? The same theory I listed earlier is in play. The heat warms the refrigerant and causes it to flow and seek a different temp which is inside the fridge. It grabs the heat from there and returns to be heated some more. Same as an a/c unit that moves heat from the house using a refrigerant and transfers it to the outside. Heat pump does the opposite in cold weather and bring the heat from the air outside to the inside of the house.
 
>>So that in turn, would cause the fridge to use more energy, thus running the bill up higher, doesn't it?

yes.

you can also use liquid nitrogen to freeze water.
it's really quick.
not so economical.

"people" design experiments like MBAs work with financials.
twisted all out of shape to prove the CEO's pet theory.
 
Liquid nitrogen can also be used to help make ice cream.

Iv'e seen Alton Brown do it on Good Eats.
 
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