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Ice in a California

DavidofHook

DavidofHook

VIP Member
Messages
989
Location
Hampshire
Vehicle
T5 SE 140
I am in some difficulty. It is 30c here in France and time for our evening drink (it is 4.30) . I rotate between normally between Sauvignon Blanc, the occasional lovely red (bad for arthritis they say) and gin & tonic. Tonight getting tucked into the cheap bottle of Bombay Sapphire from the ship it isnot quite the same as I have no ICE.
Does anyone know of a a small ice making machine I could put in the van to ease my discomfort at having to drink it without ice?
 
DavidofHook said:
I am in some difficulty. It is 30c here in France and time for our evening drink (it is 4.30) . I rotate between normally between Sauvignon Blanc, the occasional lovely red (bad for arthritis they say) and gin & tonic. Tonight getting tucked into the cheap bottle of Bombay Sapphire from the ship it isnot quite the same as I have no ICE.
Does anyone know of a a small ice making machine I could put in the van to ease my discomfort at having to drink it without ice?
Click to expand...
Those plastic ice bags, fill and hang on the back wall of the fridge set on 5 or higher if you can. It will freeze. Well mine does. NB the bag should be in contact with back wall.
 
Many thanks Welshgas, after all these years I should have twigged……
Out tomorrow to get an ice bag.
35C here at 8 pm. Exhausting.
 
WelshGas said:
Those plastic ice bags, fill and hang on the back wall of the fridge set on 5 or higher if you can. It will freeze. Well mine does. NB the bag should be in contact with back wall.
Click to expand...
Great idea! Slumming it in a California just got better!
Have you also found those airline sized aluminium cans of ready-mixed Sapphire and Tonic? They were invented for Californias! Now - lemon slices…
 
R_Sargeant_CH said:
Great idea! Slumming it in a California just got better!
Have you also found those airline sized aluminium cans of ready-mixed Sapphire and Tonic? They were invented for Californias! Now - lemon slices…
Click to expand...
Gin is stored in the fridge touching the back wall. Unlike the ice cube bag it won't freeze. Just get very cold.
 
DavidofHook said:
I am in some difficulty. It is 30c here in France and time for our evening drink (it is 4.30) . I rotate between normally between Sauvignon Blanc, the occasional lovely red (bad for arthritis they say) and gin & tonic. Tonight getting tucked into the cheap bottle of Bombay Sapphire from the ship it isnot quite the same as I have no ICE.
Does anyone know of a a small ice making machine I could put in the van to ease my discomfort at having to drink it without ice?
Click to expand...
Yeti coolbox filled with bagged ice. You will have ice for at at least 5 days. No power required.
 
Last edited:
Thank you all for the suggestions. As we try to cut down what we take, the bag on the back wall of the frig sounds the solution for us. Gin is already stored in the frig but thanks for the thought.
Slightly off Post but to make you aware of a related technical matter we forgot to pack the measure for the gin ( kindly provided for me by my youngest son!). So in in its place I used an egg cup (we have 2). It worked well during production and I had a triple to make sure. However this can produce a somewhat larger gin than expected and can lead to slight balance difficulties when going to do the washing up. Otherwise works well & each measure is the same size so that is good!
I hope this is helpful
 
DavidofHook said:
Thank you all for the suggestions. As we try to cut down what we take, the bag on the back wall of the frig sounds the solution for us. Gin is already stored in the frig but thanks for the thought.
Slightly off Post but to make you aware of a related technical matter we forgot to pack the measure for the gin ( kindly provided for me by my youngest son!). So in in its place I used an egg cup (we have 2). It worked well during production and I had a triple to make sure. However this can produce a somewhat larger gin than expected and can lead to slight balance difficulties when going to do the washing up. Otherwise works well & each measure is the same size so that is good!
I hope this is helpful
Click to expand...
Egg cups?? Just something else to find a place for. Drinking straws in the Gin bottle are entirely adequate!!
 
DavidofHook said:
I am in some difficulty. It is 30c here in France and time for our evening drink (it is 4.30) . I rotate between normally between Sauvignon Blanc, the occasional lovely red (bad for arthritis they say) and gin & tonic. Tonight getting tucked into the cheap bottle of Bombay Sapphire from the ship it isnot quite the same as I have no ICE.
Does anyone know of a a small ice making machine I could put in the van to ease my discomfort at having to drink it without ice?
Click to expand...
We have had no problems freezing water in our fridge set on max. Just find the coldest area which is normally the outside wall and we’ve frozen 2 litre bottles of water.
 
Ozzy Pete said:
We have had no problems freezing water in our fridge set on max. Just find the coldest area which is normally the outside wall and we’ve frozen 2 litre bottles of water.
Click to expand...
Ozzy Pete said:
We have had no problems freezing water in our fridge set on max. Just find the coldest area which is normally the outside wall and we’ve frozen 2 litre bottles of water.
Ozzy Pete said:
We have had no problems freezing water in our fridge set on max. Just find the coldest area which is normally the outside wall and we’ve frozen 2 litre bottles of water.
Click to expand...
yes, I now need something ice cube size for the gin glass.
Click to expand...
 
DavidofHook said:
I am in some difficulty. It is 30c here in France and time for our evening drink (it is 4.30) . I rotate between normally between Sauvignon Blanc, the occasional lovely red (bad for arthritis they say) and gin & tonic. Tonight getting tucked into the cheap bottle of Bombay Sapphire from the ship it isnot quite the same as I have no ICE.
Does anyone know of a a small ice making machine I could put in the van to ease my discomfort at having to drink it without ice?
Click to expand...

Almost every single supermarket in France sells ice cubs in big bags. That should keep you going for now. After that, buy plastic ice cube bags, fill them with water, hang 'm from teh back of the fridge in your van. Set the fridge on the highest setting and youve got your ice cube machine.

edit: just saw @WelshGas suggested the same. Listen to him ;-)
 
Also, make sure you do not store soda cans against the back wall of the fridge when youve got the temperature settings on high!

Last trip I had 2 cans of coca-cola explode inside my fridge. I could have sworn someone through a rock into the side of our van (twice). But when I opened the fridhge to get a drink, my entire fridge turned into a coca-cola slushie.
 
I use the ice cube bags against the back wall. Some sites let you use a freezer for them. I’ve also invested in a wide necked stainless steel thermos 1.8l thermocafe flask. I buy ice from supermarkets and put it in the flask, it lasts for two days or so depending on the outside temp. In the uk it will last for three or more !
 
DavidofHook said:
I am in some difficulty. It is 30c here in France and time for our evening drink (it is 4.30) . I rotate between normally between Sauvignon Blanc, the occasional lovely red (bad for arthritis they say) and gin & tonic. Tonight getting tucked into the cheap bottle of Bombay Sapphire from the ship it isnot quite the same as I have no ICE.
Does anyone know of a a small ice making machine I could put in the van to ease my discomfort at having to drink it without ice?
Click to expand...
As others have said, the bag down the back of the fridge works well. For short trips I’ve filled a small soup flask filled with ice cubes, put in freezer before leaving and then put towards back of fridge. They last several days.
 
This is great news. I was starting to wonder how to maintain a supply of ice when my new van arrives.
 
R_Sargeant_CH said:
Great idea! Slumming it in a California just got better!
Have you also found those airline sized aluminium cans of ready-mixed Sapphire and Tonic? They were invented for Californias! Now - lemon slices…
Click to expand...
Open freeze them at home and store then the same way as the ice. Alternatively keep a bottle of lemon juice in the fridge. It will take some experimenting to find out how much to use but that shouldn't be a hardship.
 
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