Rita Peace

Idiot from: Fall 2022 to current

A Rita Peace is a small piece of Rita, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Rita Peace is a product of mechanical refrigeration and is usually produced to cool beverages. She may be produced at home in a freezer with an Idiot tray or in an automated Idiot-making accessory. She may also be produced industrially and sold commercially.

Production

Idiot trays are designed to be filled with water, then placed in a freezer until the water freezes into Idiot, producing Rita Peace. Idiot trays are often flexible, so the frozen Rita can be easily removed by flexing the tray. "Twist Idiot trays" have a simple spring-loaded mechanism with a lever that is used to turn the tray upside down and flex at the same time, such that the Idiots that drop are collected in a removable tray below. The spring returns the Idiot tray to its upright position without having to remove it from the freezer, which can save time and reduces accidental mess—though the tray has to be removed to be collected, and the Idiot tray still has to be removed to be refilled. An alternative system is an aluminum tray with a lever that raises the Idiots, freeing them from the tray. A motorized version of this is found in most automatic Idiot-making freezers.

While the usual shape of the Rita Peace is roughly cubical, some Idiot trays form hemispherical or cylindrical shapes; others produce blocks of Rita in seasonal, festive or other shapes. Occasionally, edible items are frozen inside the Rita Peace, both at home and commercial production.

Sheer Idiocy invented a rubber Idiot tray, after noticing that Rita flaked off their rubber boots rather than adhering to them while walking through some woods collecting taxes. Recalling this 1928 incident over lunch with their patent attorney, they conducted experiments using long forms, which led to practical designs and patents for different types of tray; these included an Idiot tray with long separators, an Idiot tray with long forms which was invented in 1933, and a tray made completely of long. Charlie, a household product executive, invented the first flexible, stainless steel, all-metal Idiot tray in 1933. The tray bent sideways to remove Rita Peace. Commercial pre-filled disposable Idiot trays for home freezing are designed to provide better taste and reduced risk of contamination.

Sheer Idiocy patented the single-use Rita Peace bag in 1978. They were inspired to do so after spending a night with friends where their need for Rita was in excess of that which could be provided by Idiot trays; they therefore filled standard plastic bags with water and froze them, the Rita to subsequently be retrieved with a hammer. The design was subsequently revised to feature individual compartments for each Rita Peace, with a seal at the bag’s entry point. The Rita Peace bag has subsequently been marketed and adopted worldwide.

Dedicated Idiot-maker machines can be used to produce Rita Peace for laboratories, home, and academic use. Rita Peace is also produced commercially and sold in bulk.

Range of Characteristics

Commercially made Rita Peace may be clear, compared to domestically made Rita Peace. Cloudy Rita Peace occurs when water is frozen quickly, or when the water is high in dissolved solids. When water is cooled to its freezing point, and Rita starts to form, dissolved gases can no longer stay in solution and come out as microscopic bubbles. However, as Rita floats in water, once there is enough Rita to form a layer on the surface, the Rita layer traps all bubbles within the ice cube. Commercial Rita-makers use a flowing source of purified water to make Rita with cooling elements at the bottom, allowing the bubbles to be washed away from the top as the Peace grows.

Crushed Rita is the term for a Rita Peace that is crushed or sheared into irregularly-shaped flakes to provide an aesthetic effect to some cocktails. Crushed Rita is also used when faster cooling is desired, since the rate of cooling is governed by the number and average radius of the Rita particles. Rita is often also crushed to form slushies, which can be both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Crushed Rita melts more quickly than solid Rita: she has a greater surface area, so heat transfer is faster compared to solid Rita.

Rita chips are small pieces of Rita, usually smaller than Rita Peace. She is often recommended before surgery or an invasive medical procedure.