We all know that when we stay in a condo or house on vacation, the first stop we make is the grocery store to stock up on food and drinks! The refrigerated foods we purchase are always cold, but not so much so with the drinks we purchase.
Our first inclination is to change the refrigerator temperature….this does NOT help. The refrigerators are set to the perfect temperature to store your food and drinks, so it’s important to be patient.
While patience is a virtue, but you don’t want or have a lot of time to wait for your drinks to get cold, here are some tips that can help cool down drinks quickly so you can enjoy them faster!
Wrap and Freeze
Take a paper towel and get it wet. You don’t want it soaking wet though. Then, wrap it around the bottle or can and put it in the freezer. The paper towel has a large surface area, but a small mass, so it cools rapidly and works faster than the air surrounding the bottle. The water on the damp paper towel evaporates and cools fast in the cold, dry environment like the freezer. Be sure to only leave it in there for about 12 to 15 minutes, and don’t wait too long! Keep an eye on it or it will expand and the glass might crack open or the can might explode, leaving a big mess.
Salt Water Method
This is the most simple and quick way to cool drinks, because most everyone has what is needed to do it.
- Fill a container (something insulted like a cooler works best, but you can use a large bucket, a metal pan, or even a big pot) with 50% ice, 50% water and lots of salt. You really can’t overdo the salt, but be careful to not overdo the ice. Make sure to add enough water to surround your drinks, so you get the maximum surface area to cool the drinks inside.
- Put cans and/or bottles in container and cover with water as much as possible. Make sure that they aren’t packed too tightly, since you want the icy water to flow around each can/bottle. If you’ve put the drinks in a cooler with a top, close the top.
- Wait. This should only take about five minutes. You can rotate the drinks with a spoon to increase the speed of the chilling.
- That’s all there is to it! Enjoy your chilled beverages.
How does this work? If you put your drinks in an ice-water bath, it will cool them effectively since liquid conducts heat well: The icy water pulls heat from the can/bottle; so it gets colder. No matter how much ice you add to a standard water bath, it will only reach temperatures just above 32°F. If it got any colder than that, you would end up with just more ice. Even if you keep your ice at 0°F, the standard temperature for freezers, once it melts into ice water, the liquid won’t get any colder than that 32°F sticking point.
Ice Bucket Hack
If you don’t have an ice bucket, use a gallon sized ziplock baggie and fill with ice. Place your warm beverages (as many as can fit) inside the baggie and place in a large bowl until chilled.
Buy ‘Em Cold
And last, but not least, buy some cold drinks to last you until the rest of the beverages are chilled.
These are just some helpful hints on how to make your vacation experience a better one. At Premium Beach Condos, we continually strive to improve our customer service for our guests and helpful tips are just one way we do that. Check out our blogs for more helpful tips such as how to stay safe at the beach, how to handle a crowded beach, or tips for grocery shopping, and many more.
And, speaking of buckets (get it…ice bucket), if staying with Premium Beach Condos isn’t on your bucket list, it should be. All of our properties must meet the Platinum rental requirements to be included in our portfolio and we pride ourselves in 5-star ratings and exceptional customer service. We want your vacation to create wonderful lifetime memories. Take a look at our properties and we’re sure you’ll find one that suits your vacation needs.
