7 *MUST-KNOW* Cooler Hacks to Keep it COLDER for LONGER
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2024
- These are my top camping cooler hacks to keep your food colder for longer! These tips are really simple, but go a long way at camp. See below for the items mentioned…
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Amanda Outside: Sharing camping and hiking tips and food ideas so you can get outside more... and eat great food while you're at it!
I hope these tips are helpful! You can grab my Camp Cooking Starter Kit mentioned in the video here: go.amandaoutside.com/camp-cooking-starter-kit
What bags are you using..I'd live a link if possible
My two cents. Don't waste ice to pre cool your ice chest. Use a half gallon or one gallon jugs of water frozen, when done precooling, just put them back in the freezer. 2nd, Don't use ice packs. You can't using them for anything other than cooling and when they are no longer cool they are a waste of space. Again use frozen jugs of water. As the jugs of water slowly melt you can use the water in a pinch for drinking, cooking, and cleaning if needed. I just got back from a 14 day camp in the mountains of New Mexico. 80qt ice chest outside 100 percent of the time and at the end of 14 days, three of my four one gallon jugs still had a large chunk of ice in them.
use frozen vegetable packages over night. They'll keep enough to put back the next am.
Add 1 cup of salt per gallon of water before freezing the milk jugs. The water can't be used for cooking or drinking but the ice does melt at a slower rate when in the cooler. I simply refreeze the milk jugs after each use.
I so agree water bottles can be frozen ahead of time and if they defrost drink cold water
Excellent, I do the same.
I do the same. It's good to drink.
I use dry ice in my large yeti (as mentioned by yeti to do). Put it at the bottom of the cooler wrapped in newspaper then a towel. Bag of ice on top then food. This actually keeps the bag of ice frozen for days (I’ve done 5 …in Florida).
yes, dry ice is usually my go to for camping and keeping things frozen or cold for days
Where do you get the dry ice?
@@taylorbruch4703local ice places.
Most grocery stores will have some up front.
Yep this is what I do when going to the Dry Tortugas.
HI, love the channel. Recently went camping for a week. Took 3 coolers. Made liners for the coolers out of foil bubble wrap. Thanks TH-cam. Made layer blankets out of the same material. Then I made meal kits. Vacuum sealed them. Froze them for at least a week in advance. Made ice bricks in small rectangular containers. Vacuum sealed those too!Pre-chilled the coolers overnight the night before. Then layered the ice, food, and a "blanket" each layer contained one days worth of meals. Separated the food by day of the week. Cooler number 1 first 4 days of camping. Cooler number 2 last 4 days of camping. Do NOT open second cooler for ANYTHING ahead of schedule. Keep coolers in shade as much as possible. 3rd cooler is for drinks and snacks, some of which were frozen too. Phenomenal results. Only had to buy ice for the drink cooler.
Awesome advice. The only thing I could add is to learn to like powdered milk. If you can cross of keeping milk fresh, that would eliminate a big worry.
I pre make a casserole several days before camping, freeze it and it helps keep cooler cool until thawed.
Frozen meal prep is the smart way to go, this way the food itself is the ice and you don't need as much to supplement.
I found that covering the cooler with reflectix makes ice last longer. Even in the shade, indirect and reflected rays of the sun can heat surfaces.
Cool idea! 😀
Sorry for the pun 😅
When we were camping years ago, we had several coolers the largest sat behind nd my husband, everything prefrozen and it was only ope ned once a day and recovered immediately. Our initial fill of food stayed frozen for 10+ days, half our trip! Unfrozen item were in another clean cooler. Two coolers had straight ice blocks or loads of ice. As that melted it was used for drinking. 6 people, 24 days, cross-country and back, ZERO Montezuma revenge episodes. Commercial ice is e purified.
I have seen the reflective used, but also a cooler cozy.. the person made it out of an old comforter. Worked well, they put it on the food cooler they only went into once a day…I will also set my cooler on a 2x4 to keep it off the ground. Don,t know if it really works, but at least it’s not sitting in dirt
@@68hilaire A reflective surface is more important than inches of padding insulation. Especially when in partial, direct or partial sun.
Great tips! I have a hard sided cooler and the day before camping I buy 1-2 bags of ice and pre-chill the cooler. At time of packing it up, I drain the water, dump the ice for later, add a frozen water filled former juice jug to the center and pack it tight. All drinks chilled and some food frozen. Fill in areas with the ice. Lasts 3 days easy even in warmer weather.
We love our Yeti coolers! We use a big gallon of water that we just keep re-freezing, and it saves us from having to buy nearly as much ice on our longer trips, since it keeps things cooler, even as the normal ice melts.
And my camping buddies call me a cooler geek …. This is a whole new level - good info , thanks
Oh my gosh the home made ice blocks are so smart! That is genius! We can’t buy blocks of ice around here just bags of ice cubes so I’m definitely doing this next trip! Thank you so much for this tip
I freeze any foods that can be frozen. I like to organize my cooler so that everything I need for each meal is in its own bag (reusable bags of course!). Then all I have to do is grab that bag. I also layer the bags, so the last meal's bag is at the bottom, next to last above that....first meal on top. This cooler is off limits to everyone else as there is nothing that they need in there...all the snacks & drinks are packed separately. Yes, very type A...but I haven't lost any food this way.
I am 38 years as a caterer with the same problems as a camper keeping food fresh and cold outdoors sometimes for all day if it's like a motorcycle club that wants 2 meals at a campground. My system is colder and more reliable than a refrigerator and that is filling a cooler a third with ice and a third with water. The water will get so cold you can't put your hand in it for long. Everything goes in watertight ziplock freezer bags and you bury it, usually a one gallon water is enough to get started then you get melt
Hey! I really appreciate these videos! I consider myself a pretty experienced camper and thought I had it figured out but you've given me some great ideas for organizing and making camping even better! I'm totally going to use your camp cooking starter kit! Thanks for all the cool content.
I like to use reusable freezer packs also ( Artice Ice Chillin Brew model) and disperse a few frozen water bottles throughout if I need it. I'm also a big proponent of a separate cooler for drinks and food. One tip that helps to keep the cooler out of the sun when there's no shade ( like out on the boat, on the beach, etc) is to put a folded up beach towel right on top. I find it helps to keep the sun from heating up the top too much.
If you have a fast flowing stream you can set stones in the stream bed so that some stones set below a flat stone, or stones , cause the water to flow over the top of the raised flat stones . This causes evaporation , which is what your fridge uses to chill stuff at home ..... A waterproof box under the edge of the raised stone , or your drinks tins or bottles can be cooled . It is possible that this technique was used to make ice cream in antiquity .
Such helpful tips, thank you!! I'm super new to being self sufficient when camping so I appreciate the tips that are kind of common sense because I don't know if I'd think of them or not 😂 There's a lot to consider and I am super grateful to you for all the details and all the beginner friendly videos ❤ You've inspired me to get out there more and especially by myself or just one person. Right now, I camp once a year and tag along with a big group so things aren't necessarily done how I would prefer. I've been very grateful to go once a year but I'd like to actually make reservations myself and maybe....maybe one day try disperse camping!
Icepacks are suppose to be used inconjuction with ice, and also sprinkle ice with coarse salt will lower the freezing point of the ice.
Perfect timing! I just bought myself a Yeti Tundra (45) and I'm going camping with my brother here in Maine in June. My last cooler was a freebie from someone's yard-sale rejects, so I'm looking forward to having an easier time keeping things cold. Gotta keep those end-of-day gin and tonics icy... :)
You're going to love the Tundra! Such a good cooler that will last a long time. 🤗
Thank you For the stasher bag trick. I LOVE them I have 2 with prepped food and 2 for left overs so I have lunch the next day it's been a game changer for me traveling
For ice, I use clean empty rectangular 72 ounce plastic juice bottles, plus one larger square plastic jug. They stack well, there's no meltwater to deal with, and fit well in my cooler. Plus after they melt, you can drink them, if for some reason you need to. I've not tried the packs as I am not sure what chemicals they use or how bad they are for the environment, although obviously I am using plastic in any event.
oh my..another video I saw years ago and adopted them as my practice. I also used to be a forklift driver in a large drive in freezer. I can validate, the fuller the freezer was, the easier it was to maintain a frozen temp. Air tries to equalize pressure so if you open the door, the dense cold air gets pushed out / warm air replaces it. Lesson: Keep it full even if you need to add empty (air tight) containers.
Suddenly a video popped up when checking for camping videos in US.. & now i am in love with both of you.. you are so cool and Nick is competitively cool.. the music and your laughter both race in getting all the peace to audience mind.. keep rocking..👏👏👏👏
I see the yellow egg containers. They always take up so much room. My answer to them is, and I know, not available to all, but I bring unwashed chicken and/or duck eggs. Unwashed eggs do not require to be kept cold and last a week or two. Once they are washed, they then need to be kept cold.
Great video!!! I've given ice to people in the back country that bought a $20 ice chest and thought it would keep ice for 5-7 days.....
Retired Wildlife State Trooper Lt.
Prize???
Another option is to crack the eggs into a wide mouth container and just plan on having scrambled eggs. You can mark “#eggs” lines on the side of the container.
Going camping for four days this weekend. I have a Coleman extreme cooler rated for five days. I am going to experiment with adding rock salt to the drinks cooler. Possibly the food cooler.
Great hacks. I cover my cooler with a cargo pad to insulate it even more.
This is great! I just invested in a yeti roadie and I’m so excited to see how it will keep up this summer! Side note - I made your jambalaya recipe tonight at home (testing it out before camping) and it was DELISH!!! Thank you for all of your amazing videos and inspo☺️🙏🏼
You're welcome!! I'm so glad you liked the Jambalaya recipe. It's definitely one of the most popular on the blog!
1 thing I do that really works well for me is freezing entire cases of water solid. I picked up an igloo built as thick as a yeti and I still had frozen waters a week later. And this years camping trip was a pretty hot 1 with days around 90-95 degrees.
Love the tips! Going to look into the flat large ice packs. Icy wet coolers are horrible and these sound like a perfect solution. We always have 2 coolers even for 2 people. We always have one for drinks and I can't recommend it enough.
Yea the drinks cooler is so helpful!
Love your videos! Another tip: Wrapping everything in a space blanket (including ice) in your cooler will make it last way longer. It's a little noisy, but it's an amazing trick if you can't restock ice on your trip.
I was just about to say that
Great tips and easy to follow pacing. Loved learning cooler prep!
Yes! Bags! Gotta have 'em! Also having huge blocks of ice in the freezer has come in handy during power outages haha
Excellent video! I thought I knew it all but actually learned some things. Thank you!
Excellent info on ice cooler efficiency- thank you 😊
Another great video Ms Amanda
Always full of helpful tips and delicious meal options
Thank you again 👍🏻😃
You are so welcome! Thank for commenting!
Thank you, I really enjoy and look forward to your videos and content.
Nick has a great gig!!!! Great food prep tips!
Great tips! I save reusable ice packs that come free with a medication delivery, but if the Cooler Shock brand is better, maybe I should get some. We always bring a separate drinks cooler too. I recommend putting some of the snacks with the drinks, or in a separate soft cooler. Also an insulating layer or container inside the main food cooler is helpful if you have something extra sensitive to temp change.
Love your camping ideas!!!❤
I asked for this video last year, so glad it's here! My biggest issue is the nasty water that everything always ends up floating in; I'll have to try out those freezer packs.
Another great video, saved to my "Camping Prep" playlist! ☺🏕 I did not know about the ice to food ratio! These tips are ALL so important, thank you!
Yesssss love your CAMP COOKING STARTER KIT!!! 🥰I'm looking forward to using it again this year!
Nice cooler-opening skills! hehe
a few other videos i watched suggested ice blocks also and i was wondering where to get those. I have silicone baking moulds i put in the freezer just now for our trip tomorrow! Thanks for that visual!!!!!
Great vid! Love the cooler packs! Its been my experience that the color of the cooler (hard-sided or otherwise) impacts ice retention. So, I purchased my coolers in lighter colors. 😉
Great tips and techniques!
Amazing review‼️
These tips will be helpful this year as im still learning how to camp better
I would love to see a video like this about your fire tips! At least in my part of the country (Virginia) it's illegal to move wood (to prevent pest spread), but the wood that's sold near campsites is often a) way more than needed for one night, b) not as dry as one would hope. Do you buy wood near every campsite? Do you carry some around with you? Do you collect it? Does desert life reduce some of these issues?
Outstanding tips 👍🏼🤠
I always learn something from your videos. Didn't know about the Cooler ice shock bags. Gotta get some. Also Didn't know about the 2 3rd rule for food to ice. Good to know. Thanks Amanda 😊🧊
You're so welcome!! Glad you found some helpful tips 🤗
I have the cooler shock bags & they are great.
I have every size cooler shock they make lol but the real trippy part is I have two of those meatloaf molds I use only for ice blocks also. Amazon is a hell of a drug.😂
I recently learned about this product (Cooler Shock Ice Packs) and am using/testing it out this weekend. Great video on your tips...keep them coming!
How did it do in your tests?
@@Toyeboy89 This product did surprisingly well. One cooler was configured differently so I had the ice pack against the side instead on the top/bottom.
Place cooler in a deep freezer, put a few blue ice packs in bottom, pour 2 inches water let freeze 10 days Place frozen items in cooler with some dry ice one day before trip.
Fill with chilled items
Top end coolers ( otterbox, Kong, Orca) 10+ day of ice retention.
I would like to suggest placing a seadek mat specifically made for your Yeti Tundra. Ebay has tons of it. Since you’re using yours as a seat plus you yourself said so that placing it under the sun would heat the top up right away, my light colored Seadek Mat seems to repel it every boat adventure & the sun beating down on it.
Used to have 100ltr esky, made blocks of ice leading up to the trip, blocks lasted longer bags of ice. Prechilled everything that was going to be taken, esky was left in the shade and we use to cover it with blankets. Plus make the visits to the esky short and quick.
Doing all this, we would get about 4 to 5 days before buying a bag of ice during summer, which would be in the 30s during the day.
Thank you so much, it never occurred to me there would be a minimum of ice to be better 😮💖
Love this channel and all the tips! How long does it keep the frozen things frozen for?
Thanks for the video; I tried this method and the Gsi coffee rocket; my paper filter ripped, will try again
What are your thoughts on a long road trip as far as a cooler. I may go on a solo trip in spring. Do you have use an plug in cooler? Thanks
just bought two Roadie Yeti's for my car camping... one for the beverages and one for the food.. I'm hoping their blue ice inserts can keep stuff cold for 2 to 3 days... about to test it out this weekend. I too don't want to use lose ice as it messes up the food.. Just going to stick some frozen bottles of water to go with the blue packs .
do you freeze protein that you will use a couple days out? or take all of it fridge ready? and how long will protein last like that? are we good for 3 days?
I have a large chest freezer in my garage (where I keep the bodies heh-heh) that would work for prechilling the cooler. Also, wouldn't waste ice. Good idea!
I dbl my meals the week before and freeze half. Then stack a week of frozen meals! Keeps!
Great stuff TY for shearing. sub'd
Do you think the ice packs you have last longer and work better than the hard plastic ones Ie the one's yeti sells ?
I'll be using my yeti(don't have one yet) as an off grid frig for my outdoor kitchen. I live 24/7 out door but have a garage with a chest frezer. I'm hoping it will save money one energy bill. What's you're thought's ? Would you just go with a very small mini frig ? I only need 2ft L x 1ft W x 1ft H.
The way I pre-cool my cooler is to first let it sit outside overnight (it is much cooler here at night than during a summer day) a day before the trip. Then I save some of those medicine cool packs a neighbor gets their Rx mailed to them & have had in the freezer for a week so they are really, really cold. In the morning we put several of those med-packs into cooler to let the cold soak into plastic walls of cooler. If it is warm/hot out we swap out med-pacs mid day. Then when packing the cooler we use frozen water bottles to avoid having food go for a swim. On way home from trip we have cool water to drink. Oh, I took one of those bubble envelopes a product was shipped to us in & I cut it open flat, then trimmed it so it was slightly bigger than the opening when lid of cooler is open. I tuck the bubble wrap into the top of cooler to help keep cold air in, which expanded time there was still ice.
bubble wrap! 💡awesome idea
so we can just lift the corner, not expose everything to hot air...
New subscriber. I wanted to help you reach your 100K goal. Your thoughtful, poised, and grounded approach to camping won me over. I use a 12v compressor fridge, so I am curious as to why you do not. Thank you.
I always try to position my vehicle so my cooler can reside on the North side & always be in the shade or on the North side of trees or heave brush!
A white or light colored cooler will help reflect light/heat from the sun as well .... every little bit helps.
We Have a small freezer in the garage turned down as low as it goes. I freeze go-ice there so it's several degrees colder to start & also freeze everything that leaves frozen when we leave in that freezer for the same reason. The house fridge/freezer needs to be warmer too keep stuff from freezing. Start colder, stay colder longer
Is there a way to keep... say a bacons in the cooler for atleast 3 days? How should I store it in the cooler? Should I freeze the bacon itself as well? Also, is there certain type of bacon I should shop for?
Great tips. Also why not put a reflective cover on the cooler to minimise it getting heating by the sun?
I would like to mention with everyone else.. not having the cooler directly on the ground.. a pad helps too.
How does it look fully packed with the ice packs?
How about lining inside the cooler the reflectix?
Thank you. We are glad we found your channel you are so useful.
Welcome to the channel! So glad the videos have been helpful!
I make and use blocks of clear ice.
For trips longer than a day I like to take a mix of frozen and fresh meat. For those who drink put your bottle/flask of whiskey in the freezer before your trip.
Cool 😎😎😎
I've never seen you guys use a canopy in any camp trip
Do you guys just burn under the sun?
I'm a semi pro BBQ guy and oddly enough we use coolers to rest meat in after smoking or BBQ and they keep meat amazingly hot even after 16 hrs or so ....the meat actually continues to cook and hold temp for about 2 hrs
Turn down your freezer temperature and create colder ice for your cooler. Also, the ice that comes out of your freezer will be the same temperature regardless of whether it is water or a chemical variety.
I use dry ice to keep the regular ice from melting as fast.
My one comment is that yes, a good quality cooler is super nice to have but it isn't essential.... like at all. A quality sleeping bag, tent and pad are way more imporant than a $500 cooler. A $200 or even the $130 ozark trail cooler is good enough for most people for most things and when the ice melts you just get more! Definetly one of the places to be cheap in my opinion.
Great hacks if you can't afford a yeti!
I watched a video whereby the consumer saw’d a Yeti in half and it was just thicker walls of styrofoam, so I imagine if you surround your existing cooler down into a styrofoam one, you’d basically get the same effects without spending all the money. I used to work for a styrofoam factory and the extra insulation you’re getting with the Yeti name doesn’t cost that much unless its manufactured at a Yeti plant. A good seal is a MUST! I always leave my ice to melt and if I lift the lid and mosquitoes fly out, it fails the seal test. Always make sure your seal is kept structurally sound, never compromised. Lots of insulation and a most excellent seal far outweigh the cost of a Yeti, in my humble cooler opinion. Great video!!❤
When we go camping, we put ice cubes or blocks of ice in zip lock bags so when the ice melts, the water is contained.
How do I keep my RTIC 58 ultralights rope handles from. Banging on the sides when traveling in Jeep? Annoying as heck!
Bungee cord accross the top stretched enough to put the right amount of tension on the rope handles?
Look for an ice vending machine. They're often half the price of buying from businesses. And the ice is often free of bubbles. Buy from the machine in bulk (bring your own bag). Use a sturdy bag with no leaks. This keeps the ice and melt water out of contact with the cooler walls. I find this makes ice last a LOT longer.
I freeze any drinks that can be frozen. Like the coconut water
Is that a Marmot tent or Agnes?
even with the foam coolers dont get cold enough to store food barely gets to or stays at even 5 degrees
As a single senior citizen, I could NEVER use coolers: the weight is totally prohibitive. One of many reasons I “camp” in a Sprinter van with a fridge. Wonderful recipes, though!
I just put mine in the car, then load the food right before I leave and it stays in my car the whole time I’m camping.
I only use cooler shock ice packs in my coolers never ever use bagged ice in a cooler unless its exclusively for drinks
Prechill cooler everything you put in the cooler needs to be cold if your close to water dip an old towel in it and place over cooler it's like a swamp cooler
You know daisy sells sour cream in smaller squeeze bottles also if you just freeze a bunch of 20oz water bottles you have ice that’s also drinkable water when it melts avoiding watery mess
the greatest cooler camping hack is to just camp without a cooler. fresh fruits and veggies will last several days, and after that there are plenty of dry and canned food options. cook meal portions accurately and youll be fine for a long time. camping isnt about the food for me tho, at least not primarily.
I freeze bottles of water before hand supplement the ice with them. They melt and obviously you have more water to drink.
We keep 2 frozen milk jugs of water we keep in our chest freezer that we pull out and put into our big cooler about 3-4 hours before we pack it and head out on our trip. I swear we get an extra day out of our ice.
Ok tips.
In Alberta we have to keep our coolers in our vehicles cause Yogi bear just loves ‘em. This makes it challenging as the car/truck gets hot. Any tips/ideas?? Thanks. Love love your videos. You put a lot of work into them
I have an Engel cooler (better price than YETi, similarly amazing quality that has (apparently) bear proof latches. I keep it under the table during the day and put it in the car at night.
PS: I am in BC.
What is few people.?
I never use ice, I can make big useble ziplock bags full of ice,which I drink as they melt.. freeze everything you can prechillwhat you can't freeze, I store the lid off of my little icebox in the freezer..
We do that too! Freezing water in freezer ziplocks lasts longer than cubed ice. However, I’m sure those shock bags last even longer. We also freeze some of our water bottles to act as ice until they thaw. Cheap hacks!
@@Jenn-RH
💡!
now I'm thinking about making designated area in the freezer drawer- same bottom size as our cooler (corner with a help of two carbord sides) and placing freezer bags with water and frozen food planned to bring layered together so water freezes in... complementing shape with minimal air pockets... great for things that would be used last (and our cooler has a thick divider/layer, possible to use vertically and horizontally so I'll experiment what's better)
I hope I explained well, being not native English speaker :)