vintage GE fridge, should I get it?

[estesguy]

Ice trays...

I noticed you have plastic ice trays. If you end up having problems with slow ice, you might want to go on Ebay and get some vintage metal ones. Since you'll no longer have fan forced cooling in the freezer, plastic trays will take longer to freeze. I have a 6 cuft fridge at work, and the plastic tray takes 24 hours to freeze, whereas the aluminum metal ones freeze in 4-6 hours. An amazing difference, and probably why those were the only trays used back in the day of non-fan freezer cooling. Just a thought...

 

[rp2813]

Filling metal ice trays with hot water is another trick -- if you place them directly on the evaporator surface, you give the system a temporary cooling tune-up.

 

[vintagekitchen]

The old girl is awesome!

The fridge is chugging along perfectly, nearly silently, holding steady at 35 degrees with control set to normal, which is the halfway point of the settings.

This morning I sorted out the last of the frozen items which wouldn't fit in the freezing compartment of the GE, tossing some and sending some to neighbors, I believe I will just not purchase as many frozen items, and if I run across a sale which is too good to pass up, I can always fire up the chest freezer and use it.

This afternoon I purchased a carton of good old fashioned cheap neapolitan ice cream and placed it in the freezing compartment, I guess this will be the true test of the old girl, to see if she can keep Ice cream firm without the need to transfer it to a metal container.

I know there are better options out there for ice cream, but in my childhood Ice cream meant either cheap neopolitan or cheap butter pecan, and they are still what tastes right to me. The other options, while more expensive, more natural, and quite yummy, just don't hit the spot like the cheap stuff I grew up with.

 

[rp2813]

I'm sure the ice cream will be firm if you place it directly on the evaporator.  On my tiny '39 Westinghouse, if I stored one of those rectangular 1/2 gallon cartons on its evaporator, it firmed up nicely. 

 

The problem is, if you have a lot stored in the freezing section, removing the shelf to allow the ice cream to make contact with the floor of the evaporator can prove problematic.

 

When I was growing up had a '49 Westinghouse refrigerator in the kitchen into the 1970's until my mom used her work money to buy a used frost free mid 60's Wardgidaire from a friend.  With the Westinghouse, since ice trays were always full and in their place, any ice cream stored on the shelf above them was pretty soft, so we'd keep it in the basement freezer instead.