How do you keep your food cold?

[Diveralan]

I was wondering what methods everone uses to keep their food cold. I have a good ice chest but even using block ice I have to replace the ice every two days or so if it is hot out. Freezing empty 2 liter soda bottles worked a little better and you can drink the water as the ice melts. After a few days you are still back to buying baged ice.

I have been condersiding trying dry ice. If I keep the chest sealed except to remove food at meals how long would it last? What should I do to keep it from freezing the food?

My goal is on a week long trip is to spend as little time and effort as possible trying to keep my food cold and out of the water. Any thoughts or sugestions.

Alan

[renodesertfox]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

One way to keep ice from melting - get colder ice. My local grocery store carries dry ice. That stuff is C-O-L-D!! A reasonably small chunk of it will freeze everything near it for the next day or so. If you try it, put a piece of corrugated cardboard underneath it in the cooler to keep it from direct contact with the plastic walls of the cooler. Don't put it in contact with anything that might explode if frozen (glass bottled beverages, aluminum bottles or cans etc)! And wear leather gloves when handling dry-ice!

When you have to buy ice on an extended camping trip it is almost certainly better to buy block ice than small cubes. If you happen to need gas for your automobile one needs to remember where the gas-stations are so it also pays dividends to remember where the stores are that sell block ice as well! And larger grocery stores usually sell dry-ice! Just be very careful handling and using dry-ice!

Keeping your food out of water, check out Loc'n'Locs from Walmart or other major store. We also use freezer zip-loc bags for storing food in. For determining how long food will last in a cooler, it's best to do your own testing. Coolers are different, climates too are different. What may work in western Nevada may not be the same in sunny Florida. Normally when we're out for a week long camp we try to only go to a town mid-week to replenish ice. And we take two coolers....one for food and another for beverages!

[GeoBigJon]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

I do the block ice, and ziploc freezer bags. I feel keeping your ice chest in the shade also helps if possible. I found keeping the chest out of direct or near direct sunlight extends the life of ice a good bit. I have never used dry ice to keep camping stuff cool, but transporting frozen game it does great.

[guitarzan]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

If you already don't, use two coolers. Put food in one with block ice or those frozen bottles, and then wrap that cooler up in a blanket, and cover it with something light colored or reflective. Don't open it until you have to. How long it lasts depends on the cooler and how often it's opened.

Also, start out with the cooler already cool.

[GeoBigJon]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

Also, start out with the cooler already cool.

That helps big time too.

[LITTLEfish]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

We originally started with just a foam ice chest, we'd get the food nice and chilled in the fridge & swap the ice out before we hit the road. One trip across New Mexico taught us that this was not the way to efficiently keep food cold haha.... the block ice melted and well that was that :(.

We stopped at a truck stop in Los Lunas and came across a 12volt-travel catalog showing 12volt coolers. That was just about 2yrs ago now, we got home and bought a 40qt cooler, haven't looked back. It runs on 12 volt and works even in the desert no more lost food for us! We like it because its got handles, mostly animal proof and plugs right in to the lighter socket. We mainly use this as a refrigerator but it can be used for deep freezing just about anything you could think of.

We bought the cooler because there is no supply of Dry Ice out here and the only supplier that will ship it requires you to hold a license to handle it :(.

Some info from the site

Model Number MR040F-U1 Power consumption 0.7 - 2.5 Amps Volume 40 qt. Equivalent cans (12 Fl.oz) Weight 48 lbs. Inside Dims 14.5" x 10.5" x 14.4" Outside Dims 25" x 15.5" x 18.5" Freezing Ability From 40°F to below 0°F

Cooler

It only uses about 10watts of power average according to the paperwork, so far we've spent 6days using the cooler plugged in without an issue starting up come time to leave.

Hope this helps you out!

**edit**
comes with a 2yr warranty .

[renodesertfox]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

What's the name of the catalog? What's the website? Sounds great Littlefish!

[tplife]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

We use dry ice on longer trips (since as a chemist I get it free) for a separate cooler for frozen (already marinated) meats and homemade block ice in the regular 54-quart cooler. We have a 12v portable fridge we use on long road trips, but not for camping as the 12V power draw is not as cost effective as simply using ice, and we don't carry a generator to recharge the battery. One way to keep your food cold longer is to use the drain plug on the bottom of your cooler periodically to drain off the water. Your ice will last a lot longer since the frozen ice, the items inside, and the water are all working together to achieve equilibrium and reach the same temperature. That means your ice melts faster due to the warmer temps and huge surface area of the water.

[LITTLEfish]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

Name of the website is www.12volt-travel.com

The catalog used the same picture as on the site so I'll assume it was a catalog they made and sent out. However I have I've seen an add for them in RVtrader if I recall it was last October's edition.

[tplife]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

Name of the website is www.12volt-travel.com

The catalog used the same picture as on the site so I'll assume it was a catalog they made and sent out. However I have I've seen an add for them in RVtrader if I recall it was last October's edition.

That fridge (40-qt. model) draws 3.5-5 amps per hour per specs. You must have a pair of big golf-cart batteries and generator for that setup. I have the 18-qt model and it uses a lot more power than it's worth vs. ice.

[LITTLEfish]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

After it gets cold it only kicks on to maintain that temperature, maybe for 10minutes every couple hours.
No I don't have multiple batteries but I do have a yellow top optima battery, I guess with a regular run of the mill battery a few days would be pushing it without starting the vehicle.

**edit**

How does it draw more than its rated for?
Power consumption 0.7 - 2.5 Amps

[renodesertfox]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

TP you are correct in that ice blocks are more cost effective. We have had this same very conversation a year ago and a year before that, it's just another option to think about. In the dead of summer I'm at high elevations and the camping is nice and cool evenings and very nice days, never hot! In the winter we camp in the desert and then it's cooler then so ice blocks is the way we will always go. The 12-volt system is food for thought!

[tplife]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

But it never takes away the good feeling of reaching down under the water and pulling up that ice-cold (birch) beer! :cool:

[Diveralan]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. This looks like it will require combining many techniques to achieve the maximum benefit.

Alan

[MikeB]

Re: How do you keep your food cold?

I am upgrading my cooler this year to increase the amount of time that ice will last. The Yeti Cooler http://www.yeticoolers.com/categories/Tundra-Series/ is what I have my eye on. They are spendy ($300 to $500) but ice will last over a week. They are also bear proof. They are lighter than the Iowa RotoCast coolers but at least equal in quality.