Coolers & keeping the food safe out of danger zone :)

[phr1$k37]

Hello everyone!

We have many wonderful folks on this forum and I figured maybe we ought to share knowledge about how we camp to maybe help out others.

So I figured I would start thread about coolers and keeping the food chilled out of the danger zone for contaminated food = good trip to BAD trip.


Current Coolers:
Igloo Legend 48 Quart (~24 years old and still keeps ice for about 3 days).
Igloo MaxCold 50 Quart (~8 years old and keeps ice for about 4 days).
Coleman red 30 Quart (~15 years old, used for fruits and bread).

I favor the Igloo brand because of their rigid design - it is very robust. Both coolers have a tight lid and a snap-in latch to ensure no spillage of food should the cooler be tipped. Better yet it ensures that the lid is on tight so the cold air is trapped and moves down. The Legend is so durable that I taught my last dog (oversized but health 94lbs boxer) to bite the handle and drag it heh he.

Cold air travels downwards. So I usually pre-freeze some personal size water bottles to use as ice, I use the blue block ice layered on the bottom / side and a bag of crushed ice on top. With my old coolers I can get the 3-4 some times 5 days but I will freeze my foods (what can be frozen haha) to help the coolers keep cold. Pack tight and pack in the order you will eat food for less digging around. Usually I have "pre-cooked" frozen food near my 4-7 days of camping as to avoid danger zone. Summer camping in BC can have wild temps and blazing sunshine where even under shade the coolers will be soaking in heat.

So another trick I have is to use a towel, run down to the lake, river, etc soak in water and place on top of the cooler. This works to all the heat to soak up from the towel and keep the cooler cooler - the colder air travels down but hot air goes up.


I am actually looking to buy a new cooler. I hear lots of good things about the Coleman Extreme 5 day however when I went to look at one it just did not meet the build standards of the Igloos. What coolers do you have and would you recommend it?

[mdmead]

Have you considered going to a portable 12v electric fridge/freezer? ARB sells one, and I assume others do as well. I'm not talking about those cheap coolers that can only reduce temps about 30 degrees over ambiant, but a true fridge/freezer. These things are far from cheap, but they do away with the need for ice.

http://www.4wheelsupply.com/arb/portabl ... fridge.htm

[thevalleyboy]

How about going to something like this - we camp for 7 to 10 days often and the little 1.9 cubic foot fridge in the tent trailer is often not enough - my parents have an OLD unit like this - I am trying to "borrow" it permanently - their's works great even on the hottest days - can even freeze beer if the evenings are right!

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4 ... ?locale=en

I would love a bigger one however - maybe a 80L or somthing Canadian Tire WAKE UP we like beer! and cold meat! - otherwise my suggestion is to visit a RV graveyard AKA junkyard a pull a 7 or 8 cubic foot 3 way fridge - should run a couple of hundred only and carry that in the back of the van (of course take it outside to run it on propane) and instant cooler/fridge - keeps the beer on the right side on the thermo meter!

[phr1$k37]

Wow ... $700 + tax + shipping + the nice folks are the border adding a white / pink slip for more $$$.
But wow!?

I dont think I need to go that extreme yet ... it would still be cheaper for me to go can foods over buy a fridge that is almost the cost of a deluxe home fridge!

For the Canadian Tire fridge, I got one like that in hopes to chill blue ice blocks but it does not work. As mentioned already, 20C below the ambient temps or whatever. What I found to be better is use ice + blue ice blocks and in a smaller cooler have blue ice blocks with dry ice. Swap the blue ice blocks when the ones in the food cooler is done for.

[batmo]

I kept running out of ice on extended camps in the middle of nowhere so I got one of these:

http://www.boatandrvaccessories.com/CF-018DC.htm

very quite (hardly noticable) and it will also freeze. I run it off solar power so I didnt want to get a very large one but they have those also.

[Kidhauler]

I just use my dads 24 foot travel trailer with a nice big fridge in it for food we plug the trailer in so that is not a problem. For drinks we usually have a coleman cooler with ice in it beside the trailer. Works well but is hard on gas mileage.

[mdmead]

I just use my dads 24 foot travel trailer with a nice big fridge in it for food we plug the trailer in so that is not a problem. For drinks we usually have a coleman cooler with ice in it beside the trailer. Works well but is hard on gas mileage.

Yeah, running out of ice was our problem so we bought a motorhome with a 3-way fridge! (OK, no we didn't, but I've sure become spoiled having it!)

[phr1$k37]

I feel like my thread has been hijacked to from being coolers to ... fridges ... hah ha. We got some good links for folks to surf and read. Keep them coming!

[LiftedAWDAstro]

We have a couple of the large (40 - 50 qt) Coleman Extreme coolers and for the first 3-4 years they worked awesome. They kept ice in them for up to 5 days. Now that they are 7 or 8 years old they don't keep ice for more than about 2 days. We always pre-cool everything that goes in the cooler which is now just beverages and sometimes a 2nd gallon of milk if we are going for more than a weekend.

We also have one of the Igloo 12 VDC coolers with the small fan and electric heat exchanger and will use that if we are on an electric site. It has a 110V converter so we just place the cooler on the picnic table and plug it into the outside receptacle on the camper.

Like Kidhauler and mdmead we carry food products in the 2 way fridge inside the camper. It is always at the right temp and the ice never melts...well until just before winter when we shut it down.

[mdmead]

I feel like my thread has been hijacked to from being coolers to ... fridges ... hah ha. We got some good links for folks to surf and read. Keep them coming!

Seriously though, what about going with a propane RV fridge? Find someone parting out an RV, and you can pick it up reasonably cheap.

[SoCalli V8]

This is an interesting topic, and I am enjoying every ones input.

At my weekends away in the Arizona heat at the river, I walk into the back door of a large hotel and fill up my 2 large coolers with ice early in the morning, from their free ice machines located on each floor. I have a custom made "pull along" radio flyer cart on steroids which makes transporting two large loaded coolers a breeze. For my smaller coolers and for car show weekends, I use these Techni Ice freezable packs, that chill over 24 hours, they keep the beer real cold.

[mdmead]

This is an interesting topic, and I am enjoying every ones input.

At my weekends away in the Arizona heat at the river, I walk into the back door of a large hotel and fill up my 2 large coolers with ice early in the morning, from their free ice machines located on each floor.

Smart man Darren!!

[Cobra]

http://www.colemancanada.ca/Catalog/COO ... n.products

this is what i have with me whenever i go camping (or on long drives) I normally keep all my perishables in it and have never had any food go bad. a couple times i've found ice in the bottom next to the cooler when it's on it's side but nothing in it has frozen yet. i normally leave it in my tent when there's power at the site haven't tried leaving it plugged into the van yet

[SoCalli V8]

This is an interesting topic, and I am enjoying every ones input.

At my weekends away in the Arizona heat at the river, I walk into the back door of a large hotel and fill up my 2 large coolers with ice early in the morning, from their free ice machines located on each floor.

Smart man Darren!!

Thanks mate.
I enjoy to camp at the Colorado River, (Laughlin, Lake Mohave) or at the desert (Glamis) year round, but during July, August, September, October when the temperature is 100 f - 125 f it can be to brutal on your body to be camping without no a/c, like in a hotel room. Many times my girlfriend and I would sleep at night on our lounge chairs half in and out of the cool river, and then on the beach under the stars. It`s a "nice/super hot" dry heat, with zero humidity most of the time.

[phr1$k37]

Hmmm I never tried sleeping with part body in the water ... interesting!
Propane / electric fridge I will need to think about it. I am not sure if I am prepared to go that route yet. I usually have 2 coolers - that is a lot to pay for hah ha.