Cold Store Cons!

[Grizzly]

Hi Guys!
At this time of year it allways makes me smile when people state. " I love a fresh turkey at Christmas".
Little do they know. Retail outlets could not supply the 1000,000 's of Turkeys "Fresh" over the few days running up to christmas.
Yes the small outlets can and do,
Whilst working in Cold stores I have noted.
1000's upon 1000's of frozen turkeys for several months before Christmas.
Chambers full of hot cross buns for weeks before easter.
100's of tons of Egyption new potatoes stored for a year and then sold as new potatoes!
Freshly cooked (In the Store) Bread, cakes and doughnuts that are actually part cooked and finished off with 20 seconds of steam (within the store.)
Cadburys cream eggs store for months ( that one was only chill though)
In fact there is no limits to what can and is stored in Cold Stores.
One of the group cold stores actually had a stuffed Gorrila (stored for a local City Museum).
The Engineers dressed him in a set of Overalls and put a Monkey Wrench in his hand!
True! Apparantly visitors got the shock of their lives!
So come on Guys any other memorable stored items / stories.
Grizzly

[The Viking]

I used to look after a cold room and freezer for dead humans, if that count.

I also serviced ULT freezers with various DNA and sperm samples in them......
(Not that any of the above was ever considered for human consumption)

[TRASH101]

Fixed up a post mortem table extract system in a mortuary which was used for storing cadavers for training groups of surgeons. They were supposed to have covered it all up. They did but with sheets of transparent polythene that blew off when anyone opened a door

[chillin out]

I used to look after a cold room and freezer for dead humans, if that count.

I have done them as well.
I have also repaired....
Chillers that contained sperm from bulls.
Freezers for dead pets.
Freezers with dead things in it to feed animals in a zoo.
Blood banks.

Plus all the usual cows, pigs, turkeys, anything dead really.

Chillin

[Brian_UK]

Thinking of dead bodies I remember years ago working in a teaching hospital where 'monkeys' (don't ask type/model) "that have been killed by ether where NOT to be stored in freezers"

This was, I was told, because they go BANG.

Mind you it could have been my 'go get a rubber hammer' time I'm not sure.

[monkey spanners]

Worked on an old eight door fosters freezer in a manor house. It store the family/servants food, but ALSO any of the owners pets that had died Well it did until it went wrong and they all melted...

I think the grimest one was the pathology lab coldroom

Oh and the abatoir when i was about eight and there was a skined lamb except its ears where still on...Happy memories

Jon

[taz24]

I've work with all the above.
Two of the most memorable were.

One, where a processing plant tried to process a dead elephant from a circus and one of its legs jammed the machine solid.

The other was when a 30 ton articulated lorry load of chicken waste products that was being emptied for processing.
The driver asked me to stand asside while his lorry was sick.


taz.

[Brian_UK]

Oh, but we lead a happy life

[taz24]

Oh, but we lead a happy life

Don't we just.

More to the point we enjoy it most of the time.

taz.

[Brian_UK]

More to the point we enjoy it most of the time.taz.

Very true

[Grizzly]

Thinking of dead bodies I remember years ago working in a teaching hospital where 'monkeys' (don't ask type/model) "that have been killed by ether where NOT to be stored in freezers"

This was, I was told, because they go BANG.

Mind you it could have been my 'go get a rubber hammer' time I'm not sure.

The mind boggles.
I have to say I have been lucky in that I have never had to deal with dead bodies and some of the other grusome stuff you guys have mentioned.
As a footnote I'm sure the cold kills brain cells.
I once caught 1 of the order pickers on night shift. Jumping up and down for joy exclaiming " Yes I'm the chicken bowling champion.
It turns out to aleviate the bordom. The nightshift crew had organised a bowling tornament. Using pre-packed frozen chickens as the ball and pins. The alley was 1 of the corridors between the racking.
Apparantly a frozen turkey across a Cold Store floor
can reach an amasing speed!
Grizzly

[Plank!]

One of the group cold stores actually had a stuffed Gorrila (stored for a local City Museum).
The Engineers dressed him in a set of Overalls and put a Monkey Wrench in his hand!
True! Apparantly visitors got the shock of their lives!
So come on Guys any other memorable stored items / stories.
Grizzly

TDG Luton by any chance?
I heard about this one many years ago - the fur was infested with fleas, it was too fragile to spray with pesticides, so instead it was frozen for several weeks to kill the infestation.
Same process applied to thousands of tons of tobacco leaf - the bales had some insect running riot in the leaves, again pesticides were not an option so the tobacco was frozen for three weeks, then when defrosted the insects would be found in the last piece left frozen, this would be incinerated and the bale re weighed by customs and then taxed by the new weight.
Also when i was working for TDG we had a coldstore full of carbon fibre materials used for formula one racing car construction, the resin does not cure in coldstorage, eventually all the manufacturers built there own coldrooms, but it was nice to have some of the top UK based F1 teams popping in from time to time to pick up material for new car parts.

[LRAC]

Most recent dirty freezer room stored dog pooh, yes because of new incineration rules the council collect and store dog pooh

[Brian_UK]

Most recent dirty freezer room stored dog pooh, yes because of new incineration rules the council collect and store dog pooh

Sorry, that is more information than I needed to know

[Grizzly]

TDG Luton by any chance?
I heard about this one many years ago - the fur was infested with fleas, it was too fragile to spray with pesticides, so instead it was frozen for several weeks to kill the infestation.
Same process applied to thousands of tons of tobacco leaf - the bales had some insect running riot in the leaves, again pesticides were not an option so the tobacco was frozen for three weeks, then when defrosted the insects would be found in the last piece left frozen, this would be incinerated and the bale re weighed by customs and then taxed by the new weight.
Also when i was working for TDG we had a coldstore full of carbon fibre materials used for formula one racing car construction, the resin does not cure in coldstorage, eventually all the manufacturers built there own coldrooms, but it was nice to have some of the top UK based F1 teams popping in from time to time to pick up material for new car parts.

Plank.
Yes it was a TDG Store (do you still work for them?)
I think it was the guys from Leicester that told me about it, it may well of been Luton. Although I was led to believe the gorrila was kept in the store for longer than a few weeks?
Just what the thread is all about mentioning the tobbaco leaf storage, I had forgotten about that contract!
LRAC You nearly spoilt my three bean soap as I sat down to eat some just after reading your post.
Sounds like a Derick & Clive sketch "The Worst Job I ever had". You definately don't want summer call out to that site. Some say chicken farms are bad?
But why would you incinerate a natural fertaliser?
I was at Heathrow recently and the Tech Blocks where they repair the long hail jumbo's. They have climate controlled rooms and cold stores to store the carbon fibre nose cones and other bits. (several million pounds of kit at any one time!)
Incidently things have moved on as Formula 1 companys now have Climate Controlled Wind Tunnels.
Where they can simulate any any temp conditions they wish. I asume they have their own cold rooms as well?
Plank you say in your profile that you work with Co2!
Check out US Iceman's link in Industrial Co2, Co2 Phase Change Video!
Grizzly

[Plank!]

Hi Grizzly, I left TDG more than 6 years ago. These days i work for Star Refrigeration.
I think the gorilla was at Luton and may well have been frozen for longer than the several weeks i mentioned.
All the F1 - and most other racing teams - have cold storage facilities now, the carbon fibre is very temperature sensitive, its cured with heat in the moulds and autoclave/vacuum forming processes.

I have seen the phase change video, and even done the same thing in a test vessel up at our HQ in Glasgow. Seeing a vessel fill with liquid from a vapour tapped bottle, then freeze solid when the pressure drops is fun, but it shows why it needs more respect than some other gasses.

[Grizzly]

Well so far the prize goes to LRAC.
I don't think anyones going to beat Dog Poo!
Although no one has explained why you have to incinerate it?
Grizzly

[Brian_UK]

I would think that the 'natural process' of composting would take far too long.

The storage space required and the aroma would, no doubt, raise a few complaints from the neighbours.

[Grizzly]

So we freeze dog poo before setting fire to it!
We will be building special poo stores next.
Can you enlighten us LRAC?
Grizzly