keeping cooler cold

[ijason]

hi everyone i am in the market for a ice chest to take food camping with me. what is a good way to keep my food cold for a few days. without allot of water in all my food. any tips would be great. as i am a new camper.

if i freeze my stuff before putting it in the cool that should help.

thanks
Jason

[dhazard]

A few quick suggestions.

1 Use block ice.
2 Keep the cooler in the shade
3 Use one cooler for food and only open it when you have to.
4 Use a second cooler for the beer and pack it with all the ice it can hold.
5 Place a damp towel over the cooler.
6 Cool everything before putting it in the cooler.

[Wos]

I clean out 4 litre (1 gallon) plastic milk or juice jugs, then freeze them solid. Even in a cheaper cooler one jug will still be icy 4 days or so even in the hot interior of the car.as it melts I use the water for washing up. Using multiple one litre (one pint) also works but they melt faster as they have more surface area. Keeping the cooler under a blanket or making a styrofoam cooler cozy also helps.

[TPMcGinty]

Don't they sell 5 day coolers that are supposed to keep your food cold longer but cost a little more?

[jeep_bluetj]

For my typical 'beach' food cooler (the 'dry' cooler, as mentioned earlier, the beer cooler is a 'wet' cooler).

1. Freeze a milkjug full of water (as mentioned) - throw it in the cooler.
2. Freeze all the freezable food EXCEPT what you plan on using the first day.
3. Keep it out of the sun.
4. Don't open it much. Open the beer cooler instead.


I'll get 3 days out of a food cooler that way easy.

For a 100degree desert trip, the only difference is I don't freeze water, I freeze 6 big bottles of gatorade and all the food. The gatorade has a ton of salt in it, reducing the melting point. Therefore the 'cold' is 'colder' and it lasts a bit longer. Keeping the sun off the cooler is imperative out in the desert. (It's also really nice to have an icy gatorade on the last day... )

[fireaunt]

So, can you put salt in a gal. milk jug and expect it to stay frozen longer? However it might be tricky to get the right amount - I think freezing gaterade is very ingenious.

[oklahomajewel]

Jason,

If you're looking at new ice chests in the store, don't go cheap and buy an off brand or one that is not marked as a 5 day or whatever the new stickers say .

I definitely agree with freezing the ice blocks. I reuse either liter juice bottles or milk jugs. I keep a couple in the freezer all summer, ready for camping. I've used these for up to four days and it works pretty darn good! It's also a good thing to reuse before sending them to the landfill.

We've had bad results from using Techni Ice , a refreezeable ice substitute kinda like Blue Ice so don't even waste your money.

[Sonetpro]

We use a Igloo 70 qt 5 day cooler with one of these stainless steel racks.
The rack is about 75% the size of the ice chest. All of the drinks go on the bottom in the water and everything else goes on top keeping it dry.



http://tinyurl.com/4ex46k

[WarPony]

I am a firm believer in the Igloo Marine coolers. We go canoeing on weekends and had great success with them. One trick I have stumbled onto is this: When you empty the bags of ice into the cooler, use the plastic bags to cover the top of the contents before you close the lid. It sound stupid but it works pretty good. Oh, I also use an old burlap potato sack dunked in the water to cover the top while it's in the sun.

Jeff

[caseydog]

Don't they sell 5 day coolers that are supposed to keep your food cold longer but cost a little more?

Yeah, I bought one. I can't tell any difference.

[prohandyman]

Didn't Kevin or someone do a cooler test last year?

[sdtripper2]

Jason:

I did a sort of unsientific test last summer "prohandyman".

Here is a thread that may answer some of your questions on coolers.
The many links are worth a read to see what others do-do to keep things cold.

I have also found that the use of dry ice to keep a block of 10 pound ice cold
seems to work best for my cooler needs.

[prohandyman]

Thats the one Steve. Sorry, I couldn't remember who did it. The use of the insulating wrap got my attention. Since my cooler sits in a slide-in drawer, I'm thinking of covering the interior of the compartment with the wrap, to shield out the heat. Thanks for all your efforts.

[sdtripper2]

Dan the foil or should say plastic foil covered insulation is the same as
what cars can have for reflecting light off the windshield.

I have used my chest more sense that test and the foil makes a difference.

I have sheets cut to put in the coolers to use instead or added with a cold wet
towel to keep the cold into the cooler and the heat out.

I also cut sheets to put around the 10 pound block ice and the Dry Ice combO
pack to keep the cold as long as possible. This little trick seems to work well
too.

[starleen2]

Also watch out for those drain spouts. Go for quality. The last thing you want to happen is for the valve to malfunction and have it drain inside of your camper as the ice melts.