American Reacts to British vs American Refrigerators
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 1. 05. 2023
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In this video I react to British vs American refrigerators. Your refrigerators don't usually have ice makers? That's shocking to me as I use quite a bit of ice. It also seems that British refrigerators tend to be smaller than American models and most brits don't have chest freezers. I honestly never expected the way we chill and freeze our food would be so different.
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I think the ice in drinks thing is more to do with the fact that you get free refills in the US, where as in most places in the UK this is not the case so we feel cheated out of drink if ice takes up most of the glass.
The only time I've ever seen a fridge that small was when it was an integrated appliance, where it's built into the kitchen. I don't know of anyone in the UK who doesn't have a freezer..
The guy who makes these videos is so out of date it's unreal
Kari_B61ex; I think it still depends to an extent on where you live, what your income is and whether or not you need one. Also what you're used to.
Same my fridge is bigger than his
We do have ice makers đ Lawrence needs to visit the uk more often, he always makes the uk sound like we're 50yrs behind!
He does seem to do that in a lot of his videos.
@@webbsfan1 agree! He seriously need to revisit UK, Us Brits now have fridges, freezers, fridge freezers, wine fridges, ice makers in fridges and separate machines ⊠who knew đ
He also thinks he is pretty funny đ
The way he speaks he must be 100 years old, and left England when he was 3 đ
Laurence has not lived in England for 16 years - he is so outdated I think he still thinks we don't have colour television.
Most houses in UK are within an easy walk of a local (smaller) food store and a short bus ride to a larger supermarket or two so topping up the food every couple of days is quite normal.
There speaks a city dweller, us small town/rural types don't even have a usable bus service but a weekly supermaket trip keeps the fridge stocked so no need for a chest freezer as a rule.
as other people have said about the size of the UK fridge
There a couple of reasons, we tend on average not to do a huge shop, or monthly shop, because our fresh foos is fresh compared to american, no additives like the US counter part, we tend to d a weekly shop, and pop out during the week for any extras, because we have so many local shops to pop to in walking distance. bag of ice is only ÂŁ1.00 so probably cheaper to buy a bag, put in freeer use when required, rather than have a machine running in freezer, plus its a space thing with our kitchens
Energy costs. Americans for decades have had access to inexpensive energy
I havent yet come across a family that does not have a freezer, in addition to large
fridges ! We have been picking strawberries and fresh fruits for decades and freezing
them !This guy appears to have lived in 1950s UK !
It was freezer not deep freezer : /
Only a single person I have ever met has a seperate deep freezer, they kept it in their shed. Idk where in the UK you are living but it is not common, and people certainly dont have frozen food they dont expect to use within a month, there just isnt enough room in freezers to stock up on stuff to use months form now and within the next couple weeks. And pickign your own berries or buying straight from a farm certainly is not happening in any cities.
@Nicky L I have never know anyone with a freezer large enough to store stuff they don't plan to use for months, all joint fridge/freezers. Dunno what I am ill informed about, that's my experience, kitchens are not usually large enough for much more, same reason seperate dryers are rare. I keep a few kg of frozen veg and chicken in the freezer sure in a single joint fridge/freezer.
â@IncubiAkster you can if live alone I have big fridge freezer and I also freeze fruit and herbs and stuff
In uk we have ice cube trays. You put water in squares in the tray and put it in freezer .
Or just buy ice by the bag and stick in the chest freezer which lives in the garage.
I use bags so much better make loads
As a Brit, I have never had an ice machine in a fridge and most people don't. It's partly a question of space, our houses aren't big enough to have non-essential items in the kitchen but also, we're just less a fan of extreme cold drinks. We may have a couple of ice trays in the freezer for heatwaves. The same with chest freezers, I have had one in my life, but only when I've been in a large rural/outer suburb family home where there is enough space to actually have one.
We can buy large packs of ice cubes at the supermarket, and keep them in the freezer. It is untrue to say that we dont have ice makers though, those
who feel they need them do ! All fridges and freezers have an ice making
compartment ! This man needs to have a long stay back in the Uk to see
how things have changed since HE left !
I'm afraid yours is a very old fashioned opinion and most people do have ice machines in fridges these days
@@deborahconner2006 I know no-one who has an ice machine in the fridge/freezer, whether door dispensed or a machine built into the freezer. They are available for purchase in the shops, but take up a lot of space, so most UK kitchens require at least a minor remodel to fit one of these fridge/freezers. I'm obviously not in the same economic category as you. ;)
@@sangfroidian5451 I don't know anyone under the age of 65 who doesn't
@@deborahconner2006 well you do now lol
Most fridges I've had (UK) are 60-40 fridge to freezer ratio, the fridge on the top. Normally 4 drawers in the freezer
Ours is the same but 60/40 side by side so 3 narrow selves and 2 narrow drawers on the freezer side.
We do nowadays. We've had a freezer with a built-in ice maker for years; the original kitchen layout wouldn't have allowed for it: the kitchen layout was originally for an under-counter fridge-freezer. Back then ("then" being the 80s and 90s, in my case) you generally just had an ice making compartment at the top of the fridge, where you could put ice cube trays and some cold packs. We changed that layout...a long time ago and changed to large standing fridge and freezer. I get the feeling that people who still have small fridge freezers are either working with small space or the kitchen layout just hasn't been updated for over 30 years.
We used to have a small chest freezer in the garage, nowadays it's a medium sized upright one. Having a second (usually larger) freezer in the garage is pretty common; at the place place we lived in before we moved here, in the mid-80s, we had a large chest freezer in the garage and the small fridge-freezer in the kitchen.
Itâs important to look at the difference in culture. We donât tend to stock pile months of produce in the UK or Europe like the US does. Alot of people buy fresh food little and often, so there is no need for a big refrigerator. I have a SMEG, which is a small Italian design fridge and tend to just buy 3-4 days worth of food at a time. It works out for me as food waste is minimal and everything stays fresh. Also I donât really eat freezed food so it would be wasted on me to have a massive freezer.
Ice is water, it dilutes the drink. If the drink is cold to start with, you get more drink as displacement occurs. We also have fridges with ice dispensers.
The kettle thing still amazes me. I don't drink tea or coffee, but still use my kettle daily.
Agreed, I have never understood the comment about not drinking tea. Our kettle is used for all sorts of things and coffee just as often as tea (but using a cafetiere not a machine as we don't have counter space for one).
I donât know what stone he lived under in the uk but a vast majority of people in the uk have fridge freezers and decent amount of people have an additional deep freezer. We do like ice, we just go a buy big bags of it đ
Most Brits would probably love a massive fridge and a deep freezer, but most of us just don't have the space for it since houses in the UK are generally much smaller than in the US. when it comes to ice, we don't get free refills like you do in the US (with the exception of a few places). So if they fill your glass up with ice then you'll get very little drink.
@Nicky L Iâd love a big freezer because then Iâd be able to batch cook and freeze lots of meals and desserts. Iâd also be able to buy more stuff on its use by date to save money.
My sister has an ice-maker in her fridge and it takes up loads of room - it is a fairly old model though and things must have changed since she bought it. She says she wonât buy one with an ice-maker next time as she never really used it.
Iâm guessing that Iâm more typical of most Brits because I would never buy a refridgerator with an ice maker. I live in a cold country, icy drinks set my teeth on edge, and I like to taste my drink undiluted with melted ice water, thank you very much. đ
We have a massive fridge-freezer plus an extra chest freezer. More stuff has to be kept in the fridge now as less foods in the UK are overloaded with preservatives than they would have been twenty years ago.
In my experience the fridge he has is a standard size in the UK, I've never lived in a house with an under the counter size. What isn't standard is the huge side by side door type. Never had one with an ice dispenser though.
The bigger fridges with ice machines are more standard in the UK now it tends to be older people with old fashioned ways that don't have them
@@deborahconner2006 Or just people who don't have the money or space so don't spend on unnecessary items perhaps.
On the rare occasion I need ice, I just buy a bag from the supermarket.
I have a basic fridge/freezer, but a small one, due to lack of space. An American fridge/freezer is five times bigger than mine. I live solo, so it's ok for size. The three-shelf fridge is on top, the freezer three drawers below. No ice-water or ice dispenser, and no fancy gadgets.
Some fridges in the UK do have ice makers. My parents fridge has one that gets used about twice a year. That's probably a common thing here in the UK.
Let's face it, 9 months of the year we don't need an ice maker in the UK as we are making ourselves hot drinks such as tea, coffee and hot chocolate to try and warm ourselves up a bit.
For Scotland only, maybe yes. Nine months of the year it's the reverse if you're anywhere south of there. The US is far, far, far colder than the UK most of the time, especially in the winter and fall. 6 months of the year, the majority of the UK is far milder than the most of the US BTW. The US consists of 50 states, most of which are far colder most of the time, with the exception of the south. (But anyhow....LOL, this is not really based on anything regarding conditions, just taste preferences... FGS).
People in the UK drink hot drinks even if it's 100 degrees outside. (Again it's just a preference thing). Let's face it, most of the US (which again is far colder for much of the year) would want hot drinks far more than the UK ever would for 9 months of the year if it was based off of your comment.
So, no, that would not be a common thing because of conditions unless you're up in the north. Please refrain from using "we" and speaking on behalf of others when in reality it is your own subjective opinion.winter / fallwinter / fall
Nonsensical, trolly & highly exagerrated comment from yourself of course as let's face it, 9 months of the year the US would want the hot drinks far more as it's far cooler in the US for said time period. This is a taste thing, not a condition based thing, which would only apply to a fraction of that time in the UK anyway, not your exagerrated comment.
â@@user-yi4fz7cs1n Most of the USA will not be far colder than the UK.
The only USA state as far North on the planet as the UK is Alaska.
The City of Adak in Alaska 51.8°N. Is roughly the same Latitude as London 51.4°N.
@@grahamsmith9541 you forget that the uk is several degrees warmer than it's lattitude would suggest thanks to ocean and air currents but overall the difference is minimal we just get lesser exremes in the UK as a rule.
Laurence is so out of touch with the U.K. I really donât know why he still does these videos. The fridge I have itâs about 2ft taller than the one he has. In fact I canât reach the back top shelf without a step. My freezer section is the same size as the fridge. I donât know anyone that has an under the counter fridge anymore.
As for ice. Yes we do like ice in our drinks. Just we like more drink than ice. If you fill the cup with ice you get less drink. (Probably the reason we donât get free refills).
Take a lot of what Laurence says with a pinch of salt. Heâs been away too long. On a quick note we also use coffee makers.
The majority of Laurence's subscribers are Americans who have never visited Britain and take what he says as gospel and think we are much less advanced as they are.
I have!
I'd honestly prefer to have the drink cold from the fridge rather than use ice cubes which water down the flavour of the drink.
Our fridge freezers tend to have the same capacity for each unlike the small freezer in the video
I've got an ice maker in my fridge in the UK, the last 2 have, but we always go for Whirlpool American style so that's obviously why. It's true most people in the UK don't have an ice maker and the fridge is quite small.
In the U.K. the âIce makerâ is a plastic item with square holes which are filled with water and put in the freezer and then you ease the ice cubes out of the plastic and use.
Regarding coffee, coffee makers are very rare in the U.K. as most people use âinstantâ ( powder/ granules) coffee which you make in the cup with water from the kettle.
I wouldn't drink 'slag' coffee if you payed me. I bought an Espresso machine (not pod crap) just for that reason...For 40 odd quid it's the way to go (and only marginally takes a little extra effort) plus the grounds make an excellent fertiliser.
British refrigerators are smaller than their US counterparts a lot are âunder the counterâ models roughly 33âx18âx18â with or without a small ice box, there are Free-standing Fridge/Freezers split 70/30 roughly 56âx18âx18â some do have chilled water dispensers but only on higher end models. American style Fridge/Freezers with chilled water and Ice dispensers are becoming more common but their sheer size precludes them being used in UK kitchens.
Also we do not do monthly shops the way it is done in America.
I dont live in a big house but we have always had 2 freezers. A small under counter one, and a chest one in the garage for bulky items.
In the UK we don't have ice makers like the one shown in this video but most of us have ice trays which are enough for a few drinks and some fridge freezers (especially the huge ones labled 'American Style') tend to have ice and cold water dispensers in the outer doors. If we need more ice we can always go down to the local supermarket and buy a bag which is usually no more than a 10 minuit drive away.
Also the knowledge of UK fridges and fridge/freezers in this video is more than a little out of date. You will only see fridges the size you see in Lawrences photo in the smallest of single person apartments. Most UK fridge freezers have similar sized compartments for both frozen and chilled goods, each being slightly narrower but the same height as the lower one Lawrence is gesturing to in this video (it's hard to tell because I don't know how tall he is). Our fridge freezers tend to be about 6 feet tall on average. Also while we don't call them deep freezers (we call them chest freezers), a lot of people do have them in the UK. In comparison to the United States we tend to prioritise electrical efficiency simply because the cost of energy is very high throughout the UK and Europe in general.
As far as ice in cold drinks go, we don't get free refills so to us more ice = less drink for the same cost and the flavour becomes more watered down as you get to the bottom. Also our climate is a fair bit cooler than a lot of states in America which makes chilling drinks much less of a priority.
đŽó §ó ąó łó Łó Žó ż My fridge freezer is 6ft tall 24â wide and split 50/50. I also have an under counter freezer in the cupboard (closet), donât judge me. đ I have mobility issues, so itâs not as easy for me to get to and walk round large shops. Too expensive to use small local shops and Iâd still need to drive to them. I get deliveries and buy larger amounts as itâs better value and Iâm paying for delivery, batch cook, portion up and freeze. Then on bad pain days I just microwave. I also have fruit/veg delivered and will clean, chop and freeze veg when itâs for soup, so I can just throw it in pot when needed. So both freezers go between full and empty regularly. No ice maker. If Iâm paying per drink (not unlimited refills) I donât want more ice than drink.
On the Coffee thing, without having any numbers, i'd say that maybe around half of households have some form of coffee machine.
People who don't drink much coffee themselves usually just have a kettle and instant coffee.
Even so, for people who do make coffee regularly at home, it's not always with the ubiquitous drip coffee machine you see in every home in the US. It's a much larger split between a drip coffee machine, those coffee pod machines, and something like a french press. And then the outliers that have proper espresso machines, but that's quite rare.
I must be an outlier then...Espresso machines are quite cheap nowadays (40 odd quid from Amazon) i'd rather drink a proper cup of coffee, than 'slag' coffee, plus you get the added bonus of fertiliser.
@@SeeDaRipper... I personally prefer drip coffee over espresso, but I think most people would agree with you.
That said, I think that when it comes to espresso machines, it's not so much the costs, as the additional faff. A drip coffee machine, coffee pods, or even a french press is a lot less work for a cup of coffee.
@@simon5007 Pods are a waste of resources, i've had drip (but it takes forever and it's just as much of a faff) i used to use French press, but there's nothing like a Latte with hot frothy milk via an Espresso machine. Takes me around a minute.
Deep freezers are a thing we call them chest freezers my parents, grandparents and I have chest freezers but they usually live in the garage and not in the house. I usually buy shopping every fortnight and go through a loaf every week so I buy a couple of loafs; one goes in the kitchen fridge and the other goes in the chest freezer.
Steve we do have freezers in addition to fridges but size is dependent on kitchen and storage space.
Generally UK houses don't have basements.
My house is a medium sized 3 bed pre-war end of terrace. So kitchen isn't very big so ended up with undercounter fridge, freezer in spare bedroom.
In my kitchen I have a freezer and a fridge /freezer next to each other ,the freezer is used for frozen food or if you cook in bulk to store proportioned home cooked meals ,it's a brilliant time saver .
The fridge/freezer in his video looks pretty small to me. I donât know how long it is since he was back in the U.K. but he needs to visit more often if heâs into making comparisons.
I inherited a built in fridge/freezer with my property and I canât reach the top shelf in the fridge without a set of steps! I acknowledge Iâm a bit on the short side, but even so my taller daughter also needs to go on tiptoes. She has a large built-in in her kitchen, plus another one in the garage for the big bottles of fizzy drinks and cans of beer with spare freezer space below, and they also have a wine fridge in their utility room. They are located in a town with easy access to main supermarkets and local shops. How they live is not that unusual for busy families with school age children who want easy access to wholesome fresh and frozen food.
Iâm sorry but Laurence is way off with this one.
we have access to all sorts of fridges and freezers now, I had an under counter fridge and a chest freezer, now I have a fridge/freezer both parts are the same size with no ice maker, I dont use ice but if I do we make our own in a ice cube tray that we put in to freeze.
Okay. This video is SO wrong. I have a fridge that is as tall as me - I'm 6' 2". So Lawrence is wrong. The fridge he showed you Steve is a very old unit - not modern in the least. As for a chest freezer, I own one of those too - and in that freezer you'll always find at least 3 loaves of bread. So, in regards to ice. We have ice makers, generally on the outside of the the fridge door - our freeze section is usually on the bottom of the unit. Any way - the reason I don't fill my glass full of ice before the beverage is because if I'm paying for a premium product I want to drink that produce liberally - less ice equals more to drink.
we have plastic compartmented trays you fill with water, this way there is ice available (for the 1 ice cube in the drink.)
You realise none of us live 30-40miles from a supermarket
You like a drink with your ice - Not ice with your drink. I like to actually taste what I'm drinking not a watered down slush. I used to have a large fridge-freezer with an ice machine, I hardly used it so I replaced it with a normal fridge-freezer (full sized). Lots of UK families do have deep freezers, Laurence's info is rather out of date.
America has four seasons that are noticeably four seasons, the UK has more cold weather, so we drink more hot drinks than cold ones.
I have lived in the UK all my life and as a child we had quite a large fridge freezer. As an adult I have always had a large fridge freezer and my current one actually has an ice maker. I have not seen a small fridge freezer under the counter. They do make separate under counter fridge and freezers.
I don't know anybody with a fridge that small.
I've had a small fridge like that in the past when living on my own in a town centre bedsit
There are varying sizes of Fridge freezers in the UK the tall ones like this are common usually they are thinner. Ice cubes if people want them buy an ice cube tray which you put in the freezer, we do use ice sometimes, a lot of people think that if you get ice in your drink in a shop then you are paying for ice rather than a drink (given that refills are not common), some restaurants do have ice machines to add ice.
One of the reasons for smaller fridges and no chest freezers is space, UK houses are a lot smaller in general, and kitchens are often smaller, its uncommon to have a basement or a utility room so you need to use the space. Equally most people shop weekly. So kettles in the UK are used for coffee as well as tea and also hot chocolate, cocoa etc, some people have coffee machines but instant coffee is more common. Kettles are used for packet foods like stuffing, cake mix, noodles and all sorts of things like cleaning, boiling a kettle makes the water portable. some of these things are again down to culture. in fact in factories and such there are Tea urns which are almost like mini boilers for people to help themselves.
My beko fridge freezer is over 6ft tall 70cm wide and 60cm deep, it took a lot of research to find one that would fit in the only space I had available for one, it has a cold water dispenser and a little ice cube maker thingy, but I use the little drawer to store small packets of things instead, we don't like ice in our drinks, we don't get the hot weather over here like you do in the US, its the best F/F I've ever owned, as for kettles versus coffee makers, it mostly down to worktop space, i don't have room for something that would very rarely be used, my kitchen is tiny as it is without small appliances taking up space,
@Nicky L my last beko one lasted 10 years, I've never had a problem with any beko appliance
Iâve never heard anyone freezing bananas before
That's surprising to me. Lots of people in the US have shakes daily and frozen bananas are a great base. I have a shake for lunch everyday. 1.5 cups milk, 1.5 frozen bananas, 1 serving whey protein powder, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1tbsp cacao, 1/2 cup greek yogurt and 2 handfuls of ice. I've had this shake almost every day for close to 10 years. I also sometimes have a 2nd shake for breakfast, but that one is usually frozen bananas with berries, etc. They are absolutely delicious and never get old. Frozen bananas are what make it so creamy and sweet.
I've had a half & half fridge freezer, with a water dispenser in the door. The one I have now is without this but still a tall large one. There are massive Swedish fridges/freezers on sale in the đŹđ§ (by Smeg). A lot of these ice making fridge/ freezers are available, but at several thousand pounds to buy, out of reach of a lot of us in the UK. I batch cook and freeze, so need a big fridge/ freezer.
@@rebeccat94 I've definitely seen smeg ones for sale in my area and online at over ÂŁ2000. You are right about cheaper models or unknown chinese brands. I prefer to save up and buy British or European. Depends which shop you go in, or size, capacity, colour etc...
I never heard anyone calling it a deep freezer. It's a chest freezer.
Why water down your drink with loads of ice? Do you like buying ice?
13:20 We don't get bread in bunches in the UK, we get it in loaves.
In the US we call them both chest and deep freezers. Because we get free refills we're not really buying the extra ice, we just get multiple refills if needed. You also generally get loafs of bread here, but we don't usually buy bread from the store, we make sourdough bread from scratch in batches and freeze the loafs for later.
@@reactingtomyroots My comment about bread was a poke at you Americans for using the word bunch for every amount of anything. đ
We don't tend to have deep freezers. We have fridge freezers and stock it up more often
When I lived in the Wilds of Devon I had a normal sized fridge/ freezer and a large chest (deep)freezer that got filled up once a month or so. Also when I went shopping I would buy extra tins and packets to put in cupboard so when got cut off due to snow etc had enough food in to last until I could get out again. Now I live on the other side of England with two very large supermarkets within a short bus ride I only have the smaller fridge/freezer because I make two or three trips a week buying only what I need each time.
Haven't had ice in a drink for many many years. Not something I would ever think to have.
Ice in your drink, results in you receiving less product!
This is why so many fast food companies offer ice đ
Most fridges nowadays do have ice makers as an option. And they all have cold water dispensers.
All that ice is really watering down the drink. Might as well have a glass of water lol
Only those having to live in tiny single person flats have under the counter fridges !
I dont know a single person who does not have at least a large larder fridge in the
kitchen plus a large freezer possibly in the garage !
My parents have one of those tiny fridges (no freezer compartment) and a standalone tall freezer (used to have a chest freezer but the tall one is better for their backs lol) I have a standing fridge/freezer with a large fridge compartment over a small freezer compartment. Many uk fridges are built into cupboards so opening the cupboard door opens the fridge, so gadgetry on the front isnt a big thing, but I do have a friend who has a fridge/freezer with an ice maker on the front. Its pretty fancy to me đ đ€·ââïž
If I want ice either I will buy a bag of ice cubes or fill a couple of ice cube trays and put them in my standalone freezer or the freezer half of my fridge freezer. Don't like more than a couple of ice cubes in my carbonated soda drinks, squash/cordial drinks as anymore dilutes the drink too much. I have a standalone freezer about 5ft something tall and a fridge freezer which is split 60/40 fridge to freezer. The freezer is mainly frozen vegetables and fruit whilst the freezer compartment of the fridge freezer contains the meat and fish. When I was growing up my parent did have deep freezer or what we in the UK call a chest freezer, it was housed in the garage as we didn't have a car and most UK homes don't have a basement or a wash/utility room, as they tend to be smaller than US homes.
We have two fridge freezers next to each other, both 193cm tall.
If we want ice, we usually use 'ice cube trays', also put a jug of water in the frodge in the summer for making juices
I think i would rather use the sppace taken up by an icemaker to be used for food, don't want ice in the winter, so just a waste of space
Historically we used to get more fresh food than frozen.
Electric kettles arenât just useful for teas and coffees. They also speed up the process of getting boiling water for cooking pasta, rice, vegetables etc.
Think this is a bit outdated, my grandparents had a under-counter fridge but I havenât seen one in decades. Lawrenceâs fridge looks small to me!
I live on my own and have a large (integrated) fridge freezer in the kitchen which is what most families have. I also have a large fridge/freezer in the garage. I don't know anyone who has a small fridge like he showed.
I don't think this is a good representation of the difference between US and UK refrigerators. You can get an assortment of sizes in fridge freezers. Mine is an equal size fridge freezer with the fridge at the top and freezer below. Some have larger freezer compartments and some have a small freezer and larger fridge. There are also separate fridges and freezers and integrated ones. It would take hours to go through them all. You can also buy the fridge freezer that has an ice dispenser on the door where you can get ice cubes, crushed ice or just iced water. Not all households have space for a deep freezer. I rarely have ice in a drink. 1) if you have a glass full of ice there is less room for the actual drink and 2) the ice melts and waters down the drink.
The more ice in your glass the less drink in your glass unless you get free refills.
I wouldn't be without my deep freezer, I also have a fridge freezer but can't store everything in the fridge freezer
Typically in older houses the kitchen space is small so yes fridges are smaller however under-counter fridges are typically in flats/apartments. Newer or more modern houses all have bigger fridges with ice makers. As our fridges are smaller many people have a deep or what we call a chest freezer in their garage in order that they can store more food.
Most UK fridges will be made for a European market, so would assume not having ice makers in them is something that is not unique to just UK. Traditionally, fridges used to have a single draw at top that was a freezer but those seemed to be dying out. I have grown up with having a "deep freezer", we call them "chest freezers", in the garage. We now have a pair of upright freezers. Our kitchen is too small for a large fridge, so have always had an under counter fridge.
What a load of tosh about the height of fridges,I'm 5 ft 8 and my fridge freezer towers over me.
He missed out a lot of details...
the smaller fridge under the worktops aren't exactly as common as he suggested, they're what's known as a half-height fridge. a full height fridge is often 6 foot tall. These can be just a fridge, or a fridge-freezer, where the freezer part is at the bottom. We actually have a matching fridge and freezer. 3 foot wide, 6 foot tall. Fridge in the kitchen, Freezer in the pantree. They're also typically only around 3 foot wide, vs the American fridges I've seen that are more like 4 and a half foot wide.
Deep freeze freezers again, are common in the store with a glass lid, but uncommon anywhere else. We did actually own a tiny deep freezer at one point, only about 3 foot wide, in the pantree before we got the full height one. Was a new matching fridge and freezer in around 2008.
We have ice cube trays with our Fridges, but rarely use them. You said you like a lot of ice cubes in your drink. May I remind you ice cubes are just freezing cold water, so you could put that in instead of the cubes. The truth is in America almost everything is a Psychological Effect.
I have an under the counter fridge but I also have a fridge freezer in my utility room too. We have ice cube makers in freezers if we want it. People also have deep freezers , I think Lawrence is out of touch . If you fill your cup up with ice you get less drink in your cup so brits tend to have less ice
I am british and I have a ice making machine that makes literally just ice, we also have 3 times of freezers, one that doens't have ice making facilities, one that is plumbed in and one that you fill up manually. And I never see fridge freezers that size, My one is
the size as most in US (I've been).... I also have 2 deepfreezers, it's understairs.... I take Across The Ponds videos with a pinch of salt as it's not always true, or it's warped.
That guy is so out-of-date.
I do not know anyone, apart from myself, who has an under-counter fridge. I had mine because I had a tiny kitchen, then, when I had a larger kitchen, I had a full sized fridge and freezer.
Thankfully, I did not dispose of the small fridge because the large fridge broke during lockdown. As I live alone, I've realised that I do not need a full sized one, but I don't know anyone else who has an under-counter model.
As for chest freezers, as we call them, I know lots of people who have them.
I think Lawrence needs to do some research. He has little idea what he is talking about.
Yes we do I have one on my fridge. I also have an electric kettle and coffee maker as do alot of people in the UK. We don't like as much ice here as it's alot colder here for about 7 months of the year. But in summer we use alot of ice. Not sure how old his video is but it's definitely not accurate
The problem with this Lost in the Pond guy is that you need to preface everything with "In Hull in 1985". He's very out of date on UK life.
@@digidol52 absolutely
@@digidol52 Exactly đ
Iâm in the UK and that fridge freezer (ie his current one, not the small one) is smaller than any one Iâve had. Iâve never had one with an ice maker or a water dispenser but higher end âAmerican fridge freezersâ - the ones with the double doors and ice/water dispensers - are becoming more popular.
I donât have a deep freezer (or a chest freezer) as we call them but we did in my house growing up.
Its not that brits dont love good coffee, confoundingly they will Starbuck the hell out of fancy coffees during the working day, but then come home to a cup of instant. I think this is the fault of tea. A good cup of tea (unless you are a real tea snob) is still just teabag in mug, water, bang you are done, and I think sets the expectation that coffee needs to be the same process, no time or effort or equipment involved.
Simple reply to this presentation.
Many bigger houses/kitchens have an American style fridge nowadays.
Fridge/freezers are very common.
Fridge and separate freezer are also common.
Some people have the big chest freezer usually in the garage but these are less common.
We tend to buy fresh produce often as shopping is easier to do on a daily/weekly basis.
Ice is popular but nowhere near as US and Southern Europe.
This is a generalisation of people I know.
Just a note, American style refrigerators are expensive in the UK due to the low demand. It's very difficult to do these comparisons as UK and US houses are so different in size and layout. In the UK we do have all the appliances you have in the US available to buy. Cookers/stoves are pretty much the same as US but slightly smaller and many modern kitchens have built in ovens, hobs, microwave ovens, grills and fridges. Some kitchens have separate hot and cold taps, some have mixer taps with or without spray pipes. We also have available taps that will serve iced water, boiling water, carbonated water aswel as just water. đ
Cripes how long is it since Lawrence has seen a UK fridge freezer? Mine is about 7ft tall with about a 60/40 split between the fridge and freezer respectively. He's right about the ice maker though... You'd have to get a fairly fancy & expensive fridge freezer here in the UK to have a built-in ice maker. Also, my mam had a deep freezer when I was little but she called it the 'chest freezer', so maybe they were more popular here in the 1980's? I imagine a good percentage of houses in the UK aren't big enough to put a deep freezer anywhere đ Mine certainly isn't!
Beer doesn't need ice....đ
That I generally agree with, but a nice chilled mug makes any beer better. :)
We don't have ice in our drinks because, ice means LESS drink in your glass and , unlike America, we don't get free refills !
A fridge in a hotel room !?
The last time I saw a deep freezer was in my parents house when I was 16 ( 52 years ago). There were 6 of in the household then so it was worth having one.
Most hotels do have a small fridge! Usually to store complementary drinks !
Hey Steve, it's also has to do with price for an American style fridge freezer is about ÂŁ1000 +, a fridge in the uk is about ÂŁ100-150, a 413 ltr chest freezer is ÂŁ499, so it's cheaper I have a 6 foot tall fridge, and a large chest freezer, as for the ice machine ..when 10 ltr bags of ice are only ÂŁ1...there is no need for an ice maker.
I have a separate fridge and freezer. Don't use ice so don't need an ice maker. A drink from a fridge is really cold enough for me.
Oh and cold tea? No thanks.
I think the fridge freezer he says is common in the UK is a little too small as they are usually a little bigger but certainly not US sized. I get a big weekly shop delivered plus a couple of trips a week for additional bits and pieces.
Usually always have a large freezer in the garage though !
We dont tend to have huge fridges in the UK partially because we almost always have a shop within a few miles (if that). There of course will be rare cases of people who love further out but theyâll be the exception.
Yes we do I have one on my fridge
My Fridge/freezer is standard. About 6ft tall, top compartment is about 60% of the thing then the freezer is underneath with 4 drawers. It's not as wide as an American fridge.
The very small one he showed is an older type, most people have larger than that. I have a second freezer that small size.
Most do not have ice machines...we have ice cube trays that we buy separately and stick in the freezer lol We don't tend to like much ice as you get more drink without it!
I think fridges were ubiquitous in the States decades before they became so in the UK in the 1960s. My family had our first fridge here in 1962 - because they were expensive then (about ÂŁ50, around ÂŁ900 in 2023 prices) my father actually built an under the counter one from a kit with the help of a relative. Before then, many houses had an unheated small room/cupboard in the kitchen called a pantry, often with airbricks to ensure good ventilation to the outside. Things could be kept cooler in there using a pot immersed in water and covered with a damp cloth, but we had no way of storing frozen foods then other than buying ice. Stately homes historically often stored Winter ice in specially built ice houses, though.
Ice for one waters down our drinks and as others have said we dont get refills
In my place where i live in Cornwall we under counter fridge in kitchen and a usa type fridge/frezzer with ice maker and cold water dispenser in room by kitchen and chest freezer in the garage
Cheers mate brilliant đ
Since this video Laurence has since moved into his own house. Heâs made updated videos since moving. I like less ice in my gin and tonic lol đ
Actually our fridge freezer is taller than him. But our combo, is 50 50
My husband bought an icemaker separate from the fridge because he wouldn't fit in there. I'm perfectly happy with putting water in the icecube tray and freezing them in the small freezer part. people don't need big fridges if they don't have big families
We don't get free re-fills,hence no ice, we want our moneys worth..... BTW wheres the channel tunnel video, since we spoke last? And ignore the comments that say we drink more coffee, we drink way more tea, ladies ladies you should see the size of my fridge.....joking its only a little above average
Part of the reason why British people don't like Ice in their drink... You pay for a drink. You want DRINK, not frozen tap water in your glass. Remember, if you want a refill, you need to pay for the refill.
My fridge is massive it'd got ice cube things built in..the fridge I have has the same size freezer as fridge..fridge on top..its taller than one in the video and most ppl I know have large fridge.
I think the video is more than a little out of date. Smaller kitchens have smaller fridges and 100 years ago uk houses mostly had very small kitchens. More recently the trend has been to make the kitchen the centre of the home and big fridges to go in them. It's only the small appartments, holiday lets and unmodernised houses that have those really small fridges. It partly comes down to the modern desire to cook and cater for friends so a decent size firdge is a necessity unless you live a short walk to the nearest convenience store.
We have always had a, more or less, floor to ceiling fridge/freezer combo and currently an 'American Style' two vertical door job with ice and cold water dispenser on one door.
Deep freezes (or chest freezers as they are more commonly known here) were very popular in the 80's when frozen food and bulk buying was the big trend but they have fallen out of fashion a bit since then and where people have them they are relegated to the basement or garage and generally serve a special hobby purpose (such as bacth cooking or taxidermy). There was a big wave of them when a supermarket chain (Bejam) arrived and pretty much ONLY sold frozen food and people saw the advantage of bulk buying but the shine wore off after a decade or two.
We drink alot of coffee, everyone believes that uk only drink tea in reality it's nearly 50/50 split between coffee and tea drinkers. Still marginally tea is fav by a percent or 2.
I don't drink any hot drinks however. Never understood them.
My freezer has its ice creators built into its drawers, thought that was fancy. Ice machine in it though? Thats fancy!
He makes us sound backwards lol, infact my fridge freezer is much bigger I also have a deep freeze.. plus you can buy amarican 2 door freezer đ
I feel pretty sure that there are some homes youâd find a fridge with an ice making machine in it, in the U.K., probably one of those huge American ones, like Iâve seen in a store like Curryâs. Generally we have just fridge freezers, âŠ.