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Keeping food and drinks chilled has forever been a question for nearly every camper and outdoor person since 1954, when a patent for the first ice chest was submitted.
We all use a chilly bin, cooler, esky, or ice box for different purposes, but there is always the same goal that’s aimed for: keeping the contents as cold as possible for as long as possible!
Who has experienced the fatal chilly bin flood where all of your food gets wet and soggy as your precious ice melts? Or my personal bugbear is searching for a tomato, only to find its fallen to the bottom of everything and is squashed between a bottle of beer and a packet of ham.
Luckily after countless trips using multiple coolers, we have some helpful tips and tricks to allow you to get the most out of your cooler.
Choosing the right cooler
Let’s start with choosing the right cooler. We all adventure differently so what someone else uses, may not be right for you. Many of us will faint at the price of a good cooler, but like everything, you definitely get what you pay for. A respected brand like Icey-tek and Yeti pride themselves on making a quality product that has the following benefits that many other knock-offs don’t have:
- Food grade liners
- Quality insulation that is in the sides, bottom and the lid
- Quality gasket or seals around the lid
Many other coolers will miss the bottom section or not completely insulate the sides or top, drastically reducing the ability to lock in the cold.
Next is having a plan or process for how you pack your food and drink into your cooler.
You will see a theme appearing throughout our blogs that most things we do are thought about and a process exists. Knowing how you have packed your food is vital when needing to find it later on during your adventure.
If you’re using only one cooler, then ensure your go-to items are easily accessible. You want to limit the time your cooler lid is open, so knowing where something is before you open the lid is key to getting the most out of your cooler.
The size of your cooler does not follow the old saying…bigger is better!
We see too many people trying to carry 90L coolers full of ice, food, and drink struggling to lift it. The most efficient cooler is one that is always full. It’s extremely hard to cool open space.
Think about how long you typically camp for and how much food you need. Consider having multiple coolers to suit overnighters and extended trips, or plan to resupply your cooler midway through your stay.
How does a cooler actually work?
Once you understand this, you may change how you pack your items and not even use loose ice again. The insulated sides, top and bottom work to lock in the inside temperature.
We all know “heat rises,” which makes sense that “cold drops.” Most people empty bags of ice into the bottom of a cooler, expecting it to keep that delicate ham to stay fresh at the top. It’s never going to happen.
We haven’t used loose ice for years as we got sick of constantly having to replace melted ice every day or so.
By freezing down a 2L ice cream container or a large juice bottle and having that at the bottom while layering good quality ice packs throughout your food, ensuring you have something at the top will allow you to have a long lasting cooler with near-even temperatures throughout the cooler.
We also add an insulated sheet or towel at the top on the inside. This reduces the suction effect when you rip the cooler lid open, pulling all that cold air out and making your ice work harder when you close the lid again.
A tip to know is what you’re looking for before opening; open the lid slowly to reduce the suction effect, and only move the corner of the towel where you are getting something. Block ice will stay colder for longer compared to loose ice. If you have to have loose ice for drinks etc., get a second drinks cooler just for that.
There is no calculation for how much ice vs. food we know of except for this simple point. The more ice you have in the largest blocks possible, the cooler your bin will stay. For our 56L Icytec, we use a 3L juice bottle, a 1.5L fizzy bottle, and 3-5 ice packs.
We will freeze everything we can, like meat, to help maintain the cold. The day before going on a long trip, we will load other bottles of ice to pre-chill the cooler ahead of packing the food, new ice blocks, and packs. We believe this extends our cooler by a further 1-2 days in summer.
When on camp or adventuring, we will look after the cooler by ensuring we keep it off the ground; we keep it in the shade and away from the hot side of a tent. It’s essential to be aware of the sun moving through the day, exposing your cooler to more heat. It’s a good idea to move it if needed. We will also cover the cooler with a towel or blanket, which provides a little more insulation.
All of this sounds like more work, but once you have it sorted, it isn’t too much work. It pays off when you are at the end of your adventure, and you still have cold food and drink.
Opening your cooler often and for long periods will affect your cool time so consider this when you send one of the kids to get you a beer. Imagine them standing there with the cooler lid open, debating who’s the most powerful Pokémon and can they beat a T-rex in a battle. Ask us how we know this…
To finish up our talk on coolers, we learned how to extend the use for a 6-day camp on the edge of Lake Tarawera, which is a thermally active area meaning the ground is hot. We do this camp during Easter each year; the spot is only accessible by water and, in our case, by jetski, so we don’t have the option to be replacing ice every day. We can complete the entire camp and leave with a cold chilly bin.
You can check out this adventure HERE
Thank you for reading this. Feel free to check out many more adventures from us and other New Zealand campers here on our Facebook group: NZ Fun Adventures Camping
If you love what we do, please consider “buying us a coffee” to help us fund our endeavour of helping New Zealander’s get outdoors! All donations go towards the running of NZFA.
Happy Adventuring!
Jono & Chloe
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