keeping cooler cold

[pete.wilson]

Hey

Leave the water in the cooler; just make sure that your food stuff stays dry in waterproof containers. If you use store bought ice; bring it home for a few days to a week ahead of time so it can freeze colder in your home freezer, it will last longer that way also you can use dry ice. If you use a small cooler, put it in the freezer also to keep things colder for a couple of hours longer.

Pete Wilson

[Mauleskinner]

When ice does melt, is it better to leave it or drain it?

Like Pete said, the water helps keep it cool...any water touching ice is basically at 32 degrees F. As long as there's ice, the water will be that temperature.

Air, on the other hand, can be substantially warmer inside and will speed up the ice melting.

David

[Larwyn]

Pre-cooling everything helps a lot. That includes the the ice chest itself. I like to clean up the ice chest the day before then dump in a a bag or so of ice. keep the lid shut and let it sit till morning. Then drain the water remove the ice, fill with whatever you plan to keep cool then completely fill with ice. I also like to put a sheet of something on top of the ice, sometimes just an empty ice bag, or a piece of the foil bubble insulation laid across the top of the ice. Then keep the lid closed as much as possible. Adding a little rock salt will make things much colder but be careful it will freeze your beer if you add too much.!

When I was working out of a service truck i kept an Igloo 5 day cooler going all the time. Improving on the factory latches and adding a rubber seal helps a lot and it also keeps water from sloshing out under the lid after the ice has begun to melt. I would start the week by pre-cooling as above and then on Monday morning I would add one block and one or two bags of ice depending on what it takes to fill the chest completely. This alone was enough to assure there would be at least traces of ice left by the end of the week. But, by Wednesday or Thursday I would usually add a bag of ice after draining only enough water to make room for the ice, empty air space is not a good thing in this case. Covering the top of the ice with a sheet of plastic or suitable insulation will help keep the cold in when the lid is opened, just lift a corner or reach under it to retrieve the ice cold whatever. I also covered the lid with a sheet of the foil bubble insulation but that often ended up on the floor somewhere in the vehicle. This worked for me for several years and I still have the last incarnation of that ice chest which I use often. I also replaced the drain cap with a valve and short length of hose so I could drain off the water without removing the chest form the van, cuts down on lifting and rearranging the cargo hold to get it out of there.


And heres a pic of my favorite mobile ice chest stand;

[len19070]

I use and love these old Coleman coolers.



I have 4 pretzel containers that just fit in the top Ice section. I freeze them and use them like a 25lb of block ice.

If you look at the latch on the cooler you'll see that it is a clinch lock, like an old double pane window lock. It gives a good tight seal.

I really think this helps a lot.

Also I stay out of it, freeze all food that can be frozen and keep it in the shade.

It will last 5 days.

Another way is to use the Blue Ice. No melted water. I bought a bunch of them last year at the end of the season at the Dollar Store.

Happy Trails

Len

[nevadatear]

but if I could only find one! We had one of those coolers for camping as a kid and I would love to find another!

[rebapuck]

Looks handy, but wouldn't all the cold air drop out at every opening?

[bobhenry]

Is it my imagination or do the round drink style coolers hold ice better.
We all know a circle has less outside area per cubic volume is this the secret. I take a round drink style cooler full of ice to replenish the 2 square food coolers and while the square ones are melting away there is very little water in the round one. And there are very few raccoons that know the limric "righty tighty lefty lucy"

[len19070]

I use and love these old Coleman coolers.



I have 4 pretzel containers that just fit in the top Ice section. I freeze them and use them like a 25lb of block ice.

If you look at the latch on the cooler you'll see that it is a clinch lock, like an old double pane window lock. It gives a good tight seal.

I really think this helps a lot.

Also I stay out of it, freeze all food that can be frozen and keep it in the shade.

It will last 5 days.

Another way is to use the Blue Ice. No melted water. I bought a bunch of them last year at the end of the season at the Dollar Store.

Happy Trails

Len

Kind of a re-post but...

Last Thursday night I loaded up my Vintage 30+ year old Coleman Stand up cooler with cold food & Beverage using my 4 Peanut butter Pretzel containers filled and frozen.

Used all the common sense practices.

I left Friday am and returned late afternoon Monday.

Cleaned up and put things away, removed the Ice jugs to thaw, and after an hour out in the hot sun decided to take a photo of them.



Only about half the Ice was gone after 4 solid days.

Yes I'm told there inefficient, yes when you open the door all the cold runs out, yes its 30 year old technology.

Reality vs Internet Theory


REALITY WAS.

It lasted 4 full days and only half the Ice was melted.

Internet Theory

It's an inefficient system.

I'll go with Reality, 4+ days is good enough for me.

Happy Trails

Len

[nevadatear]

Our friends just returned from a 14 day raft trip (independent) down the Colorado/Grand Canyon-- trip of a life time. He shared with me what they did for ice as they had to carry all their food for 14 days.

He started with a very large Yeti cooler (yeah, top end, most of us can't afford but they are SERIOUS rafters), then put 6 inches of water in the bottom and had a friend who is a milk delivery guy (yeah they still exist in small towns) put it in his big walk in freezer. He started with an inch or so of water and added water to it after each layer was rock hard, so as not to get the "frozen over lake" effect. He had already computed how much ice he could put in the bottom and fill completely with food and remainder of ice, which gave him the six inches. He then added a very thin layer of the insulation, the white packing type stuff, then put in all the pre frozen, food, topped with another layer of insulation, then dry ice, which completely filled the cooler.

The chest was covered with a quilt at all times, and hosed down whenever possible. Melted ice/water stayed in the cooler, did not drain off. Food remained frozen or very cold for the entire trip, and at the end of 13 days, when their food they needed was gone, there was still 3 inches of ice in the bottom which their fellow rafters gladly chopped up to keep their beer cold for the final celebration.

Most folks don't have access to type of walk in freezer necessary for this technique, but if you do... something to consider.

I have been very happy this summer using my combo of bubble foil insulation added to the inside of my cooler, block ice frozen in milk jugs and "cooler cozy" we are going 3 days without any ice added when other in are group are going on daily ice runs. But we know the milk man too...so...

[rasp]

cold cooler??? let me tell you about last week. my son in law brought me three 10 lb blocks of dry ice for our trip. which i put in my colman extreme 70 quart cooler. in the 5 hour drive the bottom of the cooler was very frosty on the bottom and was stuck to the blanket it was sitting on. my wife thought the food on top was not cold enough and rearranged the inside, forgetting the towel that separated the dry ice from the food. by the next day the eggs had frozen and exploded, the wine froze and exploded everything else just froze.

who says it is hard to keep things cold.

[8]

I use foam coolers. Not the crappy $1 ones that can barely stay in one piece from the weight of the contents. I use 1 inch thick foam ones from Publix, a supermarket chain. The larger one costs $9. I went camping several years ago with one of those and some regular coolers. After two days of close to 100 degree heat, it was the only cooler with ice in it. And it was mostly ice. When they are new, the foam top presses on tight enough that it won't blow off in the back of my pickup. I've read a tightly sealed cooler works better. A lot of coolers have a safety feature where if a kid were trapped inside, they can open the lid just by pushing. It makes for a poor seal.

The only disadvantage is you cannot sit on a foam cooler. But if you do, it's only $9 to buy a replacement.