For twenty-seven years we’ve had the same refrigerator:
It has served us well. But then, Gary started cooking and the fridge that was plenty big enough for two people is now too small. (“WE CAN’T HAVE A SALAD ELLEN THERE ISNT ENOUGH ROOM IN OUR RERIGERATOR FOR A BIG SALAD BOWL.” “Make a small sal – ” “NO.”)
So, we started looking into shiny sexy stainless refrigerators. And we had to establish some rules.
Rule #1 – No icemaker. Icemakers are the devil’s playthings. They flood your kitchen, they dispense too little ice, too much ice, they’re noisy, they break they break they break. I’ve never had one, but I hear stories. We don’t use ice. I use my ice cube trays for Silk’s tip about making measured lemon juice cubes for cooking. If they made lemon juice icemakers I’d consider it.
Rule #2 – No kitchen redesign. This means the fridge stays by the wall, so no pricey french-door models. God bless Sears for their specification of “width with door open 90 degrees.”
“Oh,” said the salesman, “On this model you can swap the side the door opens – ”
“Shut your mouth right now,” I said. I can make my life hell, you mean. Gary even became reasonable about the door-switch lie after I made him demonstrate dinner prep with myself playing the role of left-hinged refrigerator door.
Rule #3 – We keep the old refrigerator. Our electric company has a program in which they’ll take away your still-running fridge and give you fifty bucks. I suppose fifty bucks is a small price to pay to reclaim the technology that keeps a refrigerator running for twenty-seven years. I found this post that suggests we might have a rare immortal refrigerator with a special design. So, nice try, Ameren Electric, but you will not get my hands on my miracle technology that will put Amana out of business. (That conspiracy theory takes on greater weight when you consider the spiritual genesis of the Amana Corporation.)
The trusty Amana is going out in the garage. My family always had a garage fridge; Gary’s didn’t. Why? Beer. Evidently the garage fridge is the beer fridge. Growing up I don’t ever remember seeing beer in our kitchen fridge, but I always remember Dad with beer in his hand.
Since we don’t drink beer, the garage fridge will be MINE ALL MINE, filled with all my pre-portioned breakfast and lunches, calories all counted, weighed and measured, mene mene tekel et cetera.
Until it dies a week after we move it to the garage, of course. You know that’s going to happen.
8 responses to “Good and Faithful Servant”
Simplicity lives forever! Yeah! and switching the doors from left to right is not a problem if you get THEM to do it before they deliver it.
But you are right to worry about moving it. Washing machines and refrigerators live forever — as long as they are never moved.
(I still think you will regret stainless steel. The “stainless” is a lie!)
Move it very gently, and keep it absolutely upright, and it may survive the trip. Interesting to think what you may find underneath it, after 27 years. The beer fridge in the garage is a total fixture here in NZ – ours held mostly wine until I discovered wheat beer last year. And beer with raspberry cordial in it! (It’s purist-acceptable – the Germans drink it.)
I’ve been thinking about it, and I still don’t understand. You want a larger refrigerator, but the space where the current refrigerator is looks limited. Can you get a refrigerator with larger innards, but the same outers?
And also, did Gary consider two smaller bowls for salad? (I like vertical-sided bowls because they fit better everywhere.)
Here, the thing is to have a fridge in the basement. When my old clunker gave out, I made Sears haul it away.
It’s been at least five years and I still don’t like my fridge, so choose wisely.
@ ~~silk vertical sided bowls?
Mrs. Hall – Bowls with straight up and down sides, like this: http://www.amazon.com/Quality-Large-Glass-Round-Salad/dp/B00S6SL0XO/
Pyrex makes a lot of bowls with straight vertical sides, many with storage covers.
We got the cheapest model fridge at Sears for the basement. It has no freezer. It’s where we keep all perishables, even staple items like flour, corn meal, cereals, etc., because we live in the tropics and stuff spoils fast. Beer goes in there too. We also got the cheapest small chest style freezer they had for meat, etc. Upstairs we have a stainless steel fridge that is holding up well and also has no freezer. For ice, we got a counter top ice cube maker. Nothing ever goes wrong with any of these machines, because they are all very simple.
~~Silk – The door problem isn’t the act of switching the doors, but the awkardness of having no place to set the bowls we just got out of the fridge, unless we wanted to put them right in the pantry. BTW, my brother swears by Olive Oil to clean his stainless fridge. Also, i’s six incles taller and 4 inches deeper, plus since the insides are more minaturized that gives more space. And it makes the technology last ten years instead of 27.
Big Dot – It appears to have survived for six days so far. I was at the doctor and missed the whole thing. I also missed the clotheswasher delivery and the new chair delivery.
Becs – We have a chest freezer in our basement, bringing out freezer count up to three now.
Mrs. Hall/~~Silk – I thought she meant bins and typed bowls. Thanks for clarifying.
Hattie – That’s my plan. That was my plan with my old clotheswasher. too, but the new washer only lasted ten years or so.