to ask why anything I put at the back of the fridge ends up partially frozen?

[user1496484020]

Is it a fault with the fridge or what?

I think you've got the temperature set too low.
What number is the dial on? The higher the number, the colder the fridge will be.

It's at 5 (on a scale of 1-7). Anything at front of fridge is fine. It's just anything touching the back wall of fridge.

Shouldn't the temp be uniform within the appliance?

We have this. I've always assumed it's because that's where the cooling unit is, therefore coldest part of the fridge?

I had a beko that did this. It was really annoying. Got worse the older it got too. Frozen lettuces & jars of dressing that went all weird. Great for cold cans though!

Can't answer as to why it's happening but buying a new fridge helped

Make sure it doesn't touch the back wall of the fridge.

... Good advice there, fudge.

Havwe you got a build-up of ice at the back of the fridge?

See also www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/garden/19fixx.html

The back of fridges is commonly colder than the front. If an item is pressing against the wall, no air can circulate round it and it's more likely to freeze. Try turning up the temp of your fridge and mving things away from the back wall.

Mine does this if it's too high.

keep it away from the back wall and allow air circulation. Remove card board packaging and don't overstuff the fridge - it is freezers that need to be full.

Check the manual. Our old one did this a lot as it was ancient.

If it's a fridge freezer defrosting the freezer part can help.

Ours freezes anything in the bottom salad drawer

Fridge is brand new - cheapest one they have - I think the brand is 'Essentials' lol. No build up of ice at back. It's not particularly high capacity so things do get shoved to the back. It just means I can't use half the fridge. Stupid thing. If I turn it down, things aren't cold enough in rest of fridge.

Hmm. Ours does this too. Just marking place to see if there is anything I can do short of buying another new fridge.

specialsubject has it - nothing should touch the back wall of the fridge.

Ok, will avoid back wall of fridge I guess.

I had this years ago with a 2nd hand fridge (I got it free but I think I'd have been miffed if I'd bought it!) I would put stuff at the back of the fridge that needs cooking like for eg carrots (well you don't have to cook them but I don't like them raw) so they'd thaw while cooking and it wouldn't matter,
Or stuff like cans etc where if they're partially frozen it's not a bad thing.
Takes a bit of planning and weird fridge arranging.
That or if it's very new take it back and exchange for another. Get a different brand if it's a fault that's in all of them

I thought fridges should be Under 4 on the dial

My manual said to turn up the dial in height of summer and turn down in winter.

We have the same Essentials fridge, supplied brand new last year by our landlord, and the same problem. If we turn it down so it's not so cold, then the temperature at the front is like 9 degrees, so too warm. So we have to choose between frozen stuff, or stuff going off faster because it's not cold enough. I think that sadly it's just a problem with cheap fridges...

I wonder would they replace in that case adorable . It's fierce annoying as so many things half frozen so a lot of spoiled food. Hard to know whether it's ok to cook my half frozen packet of tortellini this evening and if I move it to the front then it's thawed again, ach I dunno.

Short answer: because it's cheap

Try not overloading it and the fridge will work harder to keep it cold therefore resulting in frost. The air isn't circulating enough

Regular defrosting should keep it at bay

If you do go for a different brand you can buy ones that are frost free in the fridge as well as the freezer.

Unfortunately I can't really afford a decent one. Then again, the amount of food it's spoiling is costly too.

Short answer: because it's cheap

This.

Sorry OP, we have this with our cheap fridge. The more expensive Samsung has never been a hint of bother.

Your only option is to avoid the back of the fridge.

Imagine the back wall of the fridge is like a radiator.

If you put things blocking a radiator, the heat doesn't circulate around the room so well. Same thing happens with a fridge. Leave gaps for air flow and it'll be ok.