People like to see things frozen into blocks of ice. Beer seems colder and gadgets seem tougher when stuck in the middle of an ice block. Earlier this month, I posted a commercial featuring the Travelocity gnome frozen into the wall of an ice hotel. And back when I lived in New Mexico, a sci-fi tv show contracted me to “freeze” a seven foot tall alien monster into a giant block of ice by building ice up around it. Incidentally, during the show, the monster escaped from the ice; no word yet about the Travelocity gnome.

    The Clinebell ice block machine and its larger cousins make it possible to freeze all sorts of things into clear blocks of ice. The only requirements are that the item can handle freezing cold water and fit within the block dimensions.

    During the freezing process, however, items often won’t stay put on their own, especially because the water is circulated to keep the ice clear. So methods for positioning and securing a wide variety of items quickly become necessary.

    When I had to freeze 32 miniature football helmets into a slab to be used for an ice bar, I came up with the method shown in the photo above. It’s an inexpensive way to position items in blocks. The wire mesh is green vinyl coated lawn fencing (link goes to the Lowe’s website) and creates a grid of 2”x3” rectangles when it’s placed in the tank as shown. In the past, I’ve used fencing that has a 2”x2” grid as well. The grid allows you to place items with some precision. Ideally, items are clamped so that they sit below the grid. When they’re frozen in place, the grid is removed, hopefully before part of it freezes as well. If it does get stuck, however, the fencing is relatively inexpensive, so if you have to cut it or bend it to get it out, it’s not a big deal. Also, the vinyl coating means that you can keep the fencing pretty sanitary with a mild bleach solution and it also minimizes some of the sharp edges that might cut your block bags, resulting in leaks.

    The photo below shows the block after the grid was removed. Below that is the Bud ice bar that the block was used in. The basic design of the bar is courtesy of David VanCamp of Ice Visions in St. Louis.

    Obviously, there are other ways to freeze stuff into blocks. Another solution for positioning items is the Downrigger from Ice Crafters ($159, shown below). I have not used this specific device, but I’ve tried similar setups without much trouble.

image courtesy of www.icecrafters.com

    There’s lots to talk about on this subject, particularly with regard to placing specific types of items, so I’ll return to it as soon as I can...