FJ Cruisers of Northern California

For those of us who still use ice and coolers - Keep your food colder!

http://camping.helium.com/how-to/10454-how-to-keep-food-cold-in-an-...

I really can not believe i didn't think of this years ago...doh!

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Permalink Reply by Bz on June 25, 2010 at 12:04pm

Slick tip! Thanks for sharing this!

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Permalink Reply by Boss73 on June 25, 2010 at 12:09pm

I had heard of this before but not by using a 1 gallon conmtainer. it more like smaller water bottles. But this is a grea solution I will try this on my next trip.. Thanks for the post Esty..

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Permalink Reply by Bozly on June 25, 2010 at 12:28pm

Good find for sure!!!

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Permalink Reply by 5AND5TORM on June 25, 2010 at 1:36pm

I recall some people that used to do this in old milk cartons.
I am going to try this in some flat tupperware so I can put a layer on the bottom like I would dry ice. Besides, there is no way I can fit a gallon jug in my freezer.

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Permalink Reply by opg4759 on June 29, 2010 at 2:57pm

I used to do this years ago. While the salt does change the freezing point, if you just use pure water you have more at that end of the trip.

The other key is to freeze any foods you can and place those on top of the non freezable foods, they will thaw over time and again keep your food cold. Ice blankets also work well.

Or you just find some disposable income and buy a fridge.

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Permalink Reply by caddo on June 29, 2010 at 3:24pm

We've been doing something similar with but without adding salt. Our standard setup is to freeze one 1 gallon container and a couple of 16oz water bottle with some loose ice (from the kitchen icemaker) packed into the coleman xtreme 5 day cooler. It worked pretty good for a week long trip and usually by the end of the trip we will still have some ice left.

The downside of not adding salt is it melts (slightly) faster, but the upside is if you need water you know you have 1 gallon of it.. and the frozen water bottles are good as daily drinking water when it gets warm.

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Permalink Reply by Romanski on February 14, 2011 at 11:36am

although you may gain some time, you add unnecessary weight to your rig and reduce your cooler space. 1 gallon of clean, drinkable water can go along way. I would pack more efficiently and try to get more stuff frozen for the journey.

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Permalink Reply by manoweb on February 14, 2011 at 6:04pm

By the way this is called an "eutectic system" that allowed the ancient Romans to prepare gelato by carrying snow from the top of the Etna volcano in caves where, mixed with salt, would allow to keep a lower temperature for longer.

PS I always freeze 3 or 4 gallons of water and that is enough for my 3 to 4 days maximum camping trips. I do not need cold for longer, actually with this system, I need to remove the frozen stuff from the cooler in the morning in order to be ready for dinner.