After posting a lifehack video that included the suggestion “wrap the can in a wet paper towel and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes” a debate ensued regarding the efficacy of the process, with TheRoyalFamily [High Praise!] suggesting “A much better idea would be to cover it with all those frozen vegetables you have taking up space.”
Moon Nuker Man of Science! Joey [High Praise!] conducted an actual experiment, including a control can with nothing around it. The results:
Five minutes. Nothing: 27.9°(C); Wet towel: 26.2°; Frozen peas: 23.1°
Ten minutes. Nothing: 25.7°; Wet towel: 22.5°; Frozen peas: 18.9°
Fifteen minutes. Nothing: 23.1°; Wet towel: 18.8°; Frozen peas: 15.7°
I’ll let Joey sum up:
So there you have it: I was wrong and wet paper towel guy was more right, but frozen veggies guy kicked wet paper towel guy’s ass.
If you use cans, the fastest way is canned air.
forget the freezer…grab a CO2 fire extinguisher.
Seems like there was a mythbusters episode on the topic
Or you can buy Spin Chill which attaches to a power drill and spins the beers cold in 30 seconds.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2463353/Spinchill-cools-drinks-30-seconds-SPINNING-THEM.html
@4 – I’m torn on this one. For efficiency, this wins hands down on the process part, however, depending on the individual, this may lose on setup time.
Example: Me – I get bowl, ice, water, put in beer, and stir vigorously with wooden spoon (that’s right next to my kitchen sink) for 2 minutes – done.
Spin Chill Guy – gets bowl, ice, water, puts in beer… has to locate drill, has to locate Spin Chill, has to assemble, has to attach beer can, spins for 30 seconds – done.
Depends on where you keep the drill and attachment, and whether you can assemble it in 90 seconds. Also on whether you have the arm strength to stir for 2 minutes – it’s a good forearm workout.
Put some ice in a bowl, sprinkle liberally with salt, put the beer on the ice, roll it back and forth until your hand starts to freeze, stop before the ice cream…err beer is frozen solid. 5 minutes tops, 3 minutes if you want a cool one while you make the second ice cold.
Who the hell wants to drink beer that’s been contaminated by Celsius degrees? Probably tastes all skunky.
@7 – Ya know, now that you mention it, Guinness hasn’t tasted quite as good since 2005…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_Ireland
how about just planning ahead and having beer in the fridge BEFORE you actually want one.
@9 – ALWAYS the best plan. But how this usually catches me is that I’ll be shopping and see some new flavor I want to try, and I get it home, and I want to try it right away. You can’t plan for impulse purchases 🙂
@7 & 8 – Personally, I feel the metric system has no place in the kitchen, but I like it for lab use, so I figured, since this was science, I should use it.
In retrospect, I should have used Kelvin.
Also, on a side note, this was, by far, the drunkest I’ve ever been in the name of science
My package store has a refrigerator….
Unless I’m drinking home brew. Room temp all the way baby.
At least ten years of coming to this site, and now I have High Praise!. I think I’ve accomplished something.
Even my way, it only gets down to 60 REAL degrees. I don’t think that counts as “ice cold.” Or maybe it does, and of the ice of some other chemical. Even so, having refrigerated beverages would put it at about 40 degrees, which is more ideal.
Ok, you REALLY want to solve the “warm beer problem”?
http://glacierware.com/Frosty.htm
Put your can in one of these. Basically it’s a portable version of the frozen peas solution above.
I own two. They are awesome.
Caution – if you put a diet soda in this, it will slushify it, and then freeze it solid, rendering it undrinkable (until thawed), so you have to take it out from time to time.
Easiest way is put cans in a bucket or large bowl with water, ice, liberal amount of salt (a good use for the word liberal, right up there with “liberal amount of bacon”), and stir WITH A WOODEN SPOON (honestly, who uses their hands?) for just a few minutes. You get a very fast heat exchange with that method.
@16 – for big parties, fill up the canoe and stir with the paddle…