So, you are going on a weekend picnic in the park and you must bring along some homemade ice cream.
Or you need a steady supply of ice cream in your own dorm without having to worry about spoilage.
Meanwhile, you only have a mini fridge instead of a spacious freezer as it’s per the norm.
Generally, fridges are far more reliable compared to deep freezers or coolers and are normally used to keep a few items colder.
However, their small size creates a few challenges, including placing a limit on some of your extreme storage ambitions.
So, Can You Keep Ice Cream In A Mini Fridge?
Yes – if it’s faultless and big enough to meet your storage needs, you are good to leave your ice cream freezing in there until you need it.
A functioning mini fridge should freeze everything to a rock when barely turned on at the right settings.
However, it’s going to depend on the size of your ice cream ambitions – a mini fridge may be small enough to compel you to start squeezing and bending your ice cream, something that may affect the quality of your product.
You may also be forced to arrange them sideways in the compartment or fill them to the brim while avoiding ruining the bars. In short, the whole affair can be quite daunting.
If you intend to store small sized and few ice cream bars, then you will have a much easier time arranging them neatly in the mini fridge.
Is your mini fridge compressor or thermoelectric type?
Buyers usually don’t pay attention to this but the type of the fridge can have an influence on its effectiveness to store foodstuffs like ice cream.
Make sure your mini fridge is equipped with an actual compressor (the part that’s responsible for all the cooling) instead of the thermoelectric type (this sort works virtually the same way as the former except that it’s prone to underperforming in moderately humid climates.)
Most of the mini fridges shipped nowadays are thermoelectric and may not keep your ice cream as cold as a “real” fridge would.
If the compartment of your fridge is designed for preparing ice cubes, there’s a chance it won’t store your ice cream to the standards you wish.
Also, note that most mini fridges need to be defrosted manually at least once every month by leaving the unit unplugged with the compartment/door open for a few hours. This helps restore it to its best freezing capabilities.
Check the fridge’s temperature
If you have spent a long time (say, months) without checking the temperature of your fridge, start by checking it now.
Ice cream is only best when stored in a closed space at 0 degrees F or below.
This may sound obvious but you need to keep your ice cream below the freezing point. Obviously, the mini fridge is too warm.
Try packing the ice cream in salt and ice before putting it in the fridge.
The ice cream is likely to turn soft but not soupy (more on this later).
It’s hard to tell the exact amount of ice that would be required to last the entire time because both the size of the unit and quantity/number of ice cream bars will vary, so you are advised to figure out the right way.
You could decide to put it in the fridge with dry ice. Such an arrangement would be a bit expensive for the part of dry ice but can help streamline the process of keeping your ice cream frozen.
Use an airtight storage container
Make sure that you put your ice cream in an airtight and freezer safe container. The best option for a container would be Tupperware plastic – it is sturdy, freezer safe, and stacks well, so your mini freezer stays organized.
Cover your ice cream with a plastic wrap
To enhance the freezing even further, consider pressing a piece of clean plastic wrap firmly on the surface of your ice cream before placing it in the mini fridge.
This can go a long way to reduce the number of ice crystals forming on your preparation.
Use a clean shallow, flat container
Here is an obvious yet not so common trick many homeowners don’t seem to know yet when it comes to preparing and storing homemade ice cream: shallow, flat plastic containers are the best tool anyone could ever use to keep their ice cream level and consistent while in the fridge.
Who doesn’t love that smooth “runway” that makes scooping smooth and fun!
Place the ice cream container in the rear part of the mini fridge
You are probably aware that temperatures do vary within the fridge.
Yes, the areas close to the cooling tubes tend to be colder than areas close to the door.
Also, when your ice cream preparation warms and cools rapidly, and to a larger degree, it tends to develop a grainy texture that may be unpleasant to some people.
To prevent this, keep your ice cream in the rear section of the compartment where temperatures are colder and more consistent.
Try as much as you can to avoid storing your ice cream close to the mini fridge’s door. Since the size of the fridge is small, you should scale down on the amount of preparation you want to store.
‘My ice cream comes out soupy!’
Perhaps the most common setback encountered by many ice cream lovers is their ice cream preparation turning into an unsightly soup like substance after about 12 hours in the fridge.
This often occurs even when the fridge is running under standard settings – subzero temperature, tightly closed door, etc.
This occurs when your mini fridge can’t keep things enough to maintain the texture of the ice cream. Fortunately, there is an effective method for bypassing it.
If you keep experiencing this problem, prepare a mixture of ice/salt, put it in an open jar, and place it somewhere in the compartment – this should keep things sufficiently cold inside the mini fridge.
A mix of about 1kg ice and 340g of salt (NaCl) is enough to cool the preparation to about 20°C. That is the proper temperature storing ice cream in the proper state.
Related: Should You Put Cardboard Underneath A Mini Fridge?
Summary
Can you keep ice cream in a mini fridge? Absolutely. If you get your temperature settings right and if you can confirm that the unit is in great working conditions, it would be perfectly okay – and allowed – to prepare a reasonable amount of ice cream and keep it in the unit for later enjoyment.
First, you need to determine if your mini fridge compressor based or thermoelectric type.
The type of the fridge can actually influence the effectiveness of the unit.
Make sure your mini fridge is equipped with an actual compressor (the part that’s responsible for all the cooling) instead of the thermoelectric type (this sort works virtually the same way as the former except that it’s prone to underperforming in moderately humid climates.)
If the compartment of your fridge is designed for preparing ice cubes, there’s a chance it won’t store your ice cream to the standards you wish.
Also, take your time to check the fridge’s temperature
If you have spent a long time (say, months) without checking the temperature of your fridge, start by checking.
Ice cream is only best when stored in a closed space at 0 degrees F or below.
Try packing the ice cream in salt and ice before putting it in the fridge. The ice cream is likely to turn soft but not soupy (more on this later).
You can decide to put it in the fridge with dry ice.
Such an arrangement would be a bit expensive for the part of dry ice but can help streamline the process of freezing your ice cream up to the correct level.
Also, make sure that you put your ice cream in an airtight and freezer safe container.
The best option for a container would be Tupperware plastic – it is sturdy, freezer safe, and stacks well, so your mini freezer stays organized
To enhance the freezing even further, consider pressing a piece of clean plastic wrap firmly on the surface of your ice cream before placing it in the mini fridge.
The coverage can go a long way to reduce the number of ice crystals forming on your preparation
Shallow, flat plastic containers are the best tool anyone could ever use to keep their ice cream level and consistent while in the fridge – that’s an obvious yet not so common trick many homeowners don’t seem to know yet when it comes to preparing and storing homemade ice cream
When your ice cream preparation warms and cools rapidly, and to a larger degree, it tends to develop a grainy texture that may be unpleasant to some people.
To prevent this, keep your ice cream in the rear section of the compartment where temperatures are colder and more consistent.
Try as much as you can to avoid storing your ice cream close to the mini fridge’s door.
If your ice cream keeps coming out as soupy, prepare a mixture of ice/salt and put it in an open jar then place it somewhere in the compartment – this should keep things sufficiently cold inside the mini fridge.
