The current trend in fridge innovation involves adding extra doors, built-in soda dispensers and pointless touchscreens. So it’s refreshing when a company like Mitsubishi brings a truly unique advancement to its new refrigerators in the form of a freezer drawer that chills food to -3C, without actually freezing it.
How is such a thing possible without warping the fabric of space-time that makes up our universe? Apparently the MR-WX71Y and MR-WX61Y refrigerators take advantage of a supercooling phenomenon whereby you can cool food to just before the point where it freezes, and then keep it in that near-frozen state for far longer than just a fleeting moment.
In fact, using a special drawer equipped with advanced temperature sensors and finely-controlled ventilation, the original flavours and nutrients in the food can be preserved for up to seven days. So it’s not designed to replace a dedicated freezer for long-term preservation, but it will keep veggies and fresh meat from getting freezer burned before you enjoy them.
And if that isn’t enough, Mitsubishi also developed a technology that allows the polyurethane insulating material used in the walls of the new fridges — available in June starting at around $US4100 — to be considerably thinner while still keeping everything cold. Resulting in refrigerator models with expanded capacity on the inside, with a smaller kitchen footprint overall. [Mitsubishi via Tech-on!]