The secret life of refrigerators

October 18, 2007 10:55 AM

The secret life of refrigerators. Some people want to know if the light goes out when the door shuts. Others want entertainment on the outside of the fridge. Me? I just like to see the 'more inside'.
posted by routergirl (24 comments total)

ObSecret Life of Machines.
posted by phooky at 11:13 AM on October 18, 2007

Wow, the one in the 'more inside' link is crazy! There was a LOT of stuff in there, and not much of it looked healthy at all.

My fridge* contains about 20 small bottles of water. And that's it.

*yes, I live in a college dorm :)
posted by DMan at 11:16 AM on October 18, 2007

I don't wonder about the fridge light turning off. I wonder about that damned "d" that wasn't in refrigerator in the first place. Where'd that come from?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:44 AM on October 18, 2007

American refrigerators seem to primarily chill old condiments, mayo and coffeemate.
posted by itchylick at 11:53 AM on October 18, 2007

WGP, lots of folks spell it 'frig', but that makes those of us with filthy little minds giggle every time.

And 'frige'... well, let's not go there.
posted by rokusan at 11:58 AM on October 18, 2007

American refrigerators seem to primarily chill old condiments, mayo and coffeemate.

Yeah, I like movies too.
posted by baphomet at 12:01 PM on October 18, 2007

I honestly don't use a fridge. I stopped about 7 months ago. It's kinda cool. It kind of forces me to eat vegetarian, as well as really think about my food and plan it.

*opens 'more inside' link*

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY MY FUCKING TEETH AAARRRGHH.

*swipes a couple Ritter Sport bars and some wafers*
posted by loquacious at 12:15 PM on October 18, 2007

I have a man-sized freezer. It doesn't look like you would be able to fit a man inside, but you can.

Unfortunately, by the time we've reached that point, they usually aren't too talkative, so asking if the light stays on after the door is closed isn't really an option.
posted by quin at 12:19 PM on October 18, 2007

Anyone remember the early refrigerator cam, from the olden days? 1996 or 7? Cute family in Sweden, it'd take picture when they opened the door. I was enchanted by them the first night I went online in my own home. I think it was eventually sponsored by Electrolux.
posted by dirtdirt at 12:20 PM on October 18, 2007

Yanks and Cannucks always ask me why the English and Irish (and I'm guessing Scottish and Welsh) don't put eggs in the fridge. I'm not sure that they don't - I walways did. Maybe it is a misconception.
posted by Sk4n at 12:25 PM on October 18, 2007

walways? Cool.
posted by Sk4n at 12:25 PM on October 18, 2007

Some people want to know if the light goes out when the door shuts.

*sigh*...i thought everyone remembered this from physics class. when you close the refrigerator door, the light enters a state of quantum superposition containing the states of both 'on' and 'off', and if you open the door too quickly, you may find a dead cat.
posted by sexyrobot at 12:33 PM on October 18, 2007 [2 favorites]

Sk4n, my understanding is that in the US, commerical eggs are washed mechanically, and, that destroys the protective membrane on the egg, which would've protected an unrefrigerated egg. Fresh unwashed eggs (right out of a chicken?) would retain it's protective membrane, and would not need to be refrigerated. See this for some more details. I'm pretty sure I even read about this on AskMefi at some point, but, I can't find anything in a cursory search.
posted by yeoz at 12:36 PM on October 18, 2007

Yeoz - to belabo(u)r the pun, that is cool.

Also - the Best. Refrigerator. Ever.
posted by Sk4n at 12:45 PM on October 18, 2007

[postsecret] my refrigerator knows more about me than my friends do [/postsecret]
posted by sourwookie at 12:49 PM on October 18, 2007

Everybody I know of, regardless of nationality, keep their eggs in a fridge.

The only time we didn't, was when they were still under the chicken.
posted by Brockles at 1:00 PM on October 18, 2007

I'm surprised by the amount of edible food in these fridges, as opposed to the six-weeks-old plates of dried up mysteriousness that inhabit most my fridge. (But the rest of my apartment is clean...)
posted by frobozz at 1:01 PM on October 18, 2007

Found the egg thread I was looking for. Turns out, it was on the blue.
posted by yeoz at 1:08 PM on October 18, 2007

Some people want to know if the light goes out when the door shuts

Weirdly, this is exactly the thing my wife wanted to know about four hours ago. I ended up using my mobile phone's otherwise useless video camera to show her that yes, indeed, it does. Of course with the camera as an observer it totally collapsed the quantum uncertainty of the whole thing.
posted by moonbiter at 1:08 PM on October 18, 2007

I can't contain my disappointment that none of the refrigerators are from the UK.
posted by hecho de la basura at 1:17 PM on October 18, 2007

I realised for the first time a couple of days ago that I've never bought a refrigerated egg - they're always sold from unrefrigerated shelves here in the UK. And still, like the robot I am, I took the box home and placed it in the fridge....

Mind you, I've known people who keep bread and potatoes in the fridge. Conversely, my parents never refrigerate butter or margarine, even in warm weather.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:42 PM on October 18, 2007

Oh, man. I am loving Fridgewatcher. I always get a kick out of watching what people buy in the grocery store. Peering into their fridges is the next logical step.

My fridge got pretty crazy over the summer when I was working for an orchard. (Disclosure: self-link).
posted by veggieboy at 5:22 PM on October 18, 2007

Though it takes a while for eggs to actually go bad, they will degrade faster if unrefrigerated. Grade AA eggs quickly become grade A or grade B. Grocery stores sell eggs too quickly to worry about this, but refrigerating eggs you bought off an unrefrigerated shelf seems reasonable to me.

So why do grocery stores refrigerate eggs in the US? Driving an egg from Kansas to New York probably takes longer than the Dorset to London trip. Or it could be the same reason brown eggs don't sell here: we're afraid of the appearance of germs and dirt (while simultaneously forgetting that the incredible egg comes from the backside of a chicken).
posted by rossmik at 7:11 PM on October 18, 2007

Funny, I've gotten so used to eggs being brown, white looks weird to me now! (Been abroad 9 years). Eggs in South Africa are off the shelf. I keep mine in the fridge, usually, but sometimes they sit out if I'm planning on baking (pancakes and other goodies prefer eggs at room temp). Here, the eggs come with bits of the hen still attached, so clearly, no washing was done. (and my free range eggs are packed in sawdust, so I think maybe the hens are taught to lay them right in the packing boxes).

kudos to phooky for the Secret Life of Machines link!

(even after 9 years abroad, I still follow the American custom of always rotting some vegetables in the fridge)
posted by Goofyy at 6:37 AM on October 22, 2007