How do you keep your fresh food cold?

[supremecampingstore.com]

Do you use ice in a cooler or a refrigerated cooler or something else?:confused:

[caheaton]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

36 qt Coleman 5 day cooler for us (though the ice averages 3 days for us...still, not bad).

Craig

[caheaton]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

Interesting...sounds like the Coleman Xtremes have improved since we bought ours (many years ago, I believe it was when they first came out). Sounds like an upgrade may be in order... :D

[Joyous56]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

HS, you are the man....your food storage system is way too high tech for me, but I applaud your ingenuity.

[tplife]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

I think he meant to say, "So Few Pandas, So many recipes!".

[Mike]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

By the way, don't overlook the fact that most food really does not need refrigeration for short periods of time. Living in the generation where refrigerators are often used unnecessarily as food storage pantries, we tend to think anything not in a can needs to be refrigerated.

Here are some foods that can last three days without refrigeration (at temps 75 degrees F or less):

• Fresh eggs (better if never exposed to refrigertion, but even cold from the store are OK.
• fresh fruit
• fresh vegetables
• whole muscle beef (not ground) rubbed in salt and marinated with vinegar or lemon juice or other acid based marinate
• breads
• high acid fruit juices
• hard cheeses
• Beer - yes BEER. Drink the good stuff and leave the washy light stuff at home. Traditionally beers were not refrigerated.
• summer sausage
• some bacons and other sausages cured with sodium nitrate, BHA, BHT or sodium benzoate (Yikes!, but yes)
• shelf-stable milk (before opening) and canned evaporated milk
• Kool Aid is better at room temperature than cola

[fandwbai]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

If you would take and wash the cooler down with vingar real heavy get it good and wet (no water) then wad up some news papers and let them stay for several days the take and wash out the cooler with baking soda water, then rinse with clean water it get all the smell out most of the time hope it works for you.

[West Texan]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

For car camping I use a 7 day cooler with 80 lbs ice. In West Texas, it will stay cold for about 4-5 days if I keep it in the shade. For backpacking (and I have not tried this yet) I read that you can make a precooked meal (I am thinking one of my favorites - Beef tips in red wine and mushroom sauce) and freeze it in a ziplock bag. It should thaw out on the hike for your meal on the first night. In my neck of the woods, would really have to watch hiking times with the weather, if it is hitting 110 to 115 outside I might not try that.

WT

[ppine]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

In warm weather coolers. Sometimes several of them. Enough to put an elk or an antelope in. In cooler weather keep things in the shade, in a stream, or in a snow bank.

[rjkgr]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

i personally use an ice chest and we buy ice on the way up to the camp site and then we have another ice chest with ice and we replace it when it melts i dont know if you want to do that but thats how my family does it

[actad]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

Mini fridge in the TT is electric or propane. New Coleman Xtreme cooler gets maiden voyage this weekend.

[hwc1954]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

The Coleman Xtreme coolers are pretty amazing. I load mine up with frozen water bottles and bag ice. I intentionally leave it when I get home and there is still ice in the frozen water bottles five days later.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: How do you keep your fresh food cold?

Do you use ice in a cooler or a refrigerated cooler or something else?:confused:

Currently, I use 5 and 6 day coolers with ice. I start with frozen rectangular bottles of water that used to hold juice. I place 2 across the bottom of each cooler than place as many bottles standing upright as possible in each corner of the coolers. I surround the interior side walls of the cooler with gelpack lining (the kind you can cut off as needed. WM or KMart sells them). After I put the food in, I place small gel packs into crevices as needed. Finally, it's time to pour the ice cubes atop and I'm done. On site I place the coolers either in a tent or under a tree to keep the sun off. If I 'member to pack a fleece throw I place that atop the coolers to keep the cold in and sun heat off.