3 years ago
307
You cognize who you are: You’ve lusted aft those expensive, made-in-all-the-trendy-colors coolers bearing the four-letter sanction of a mythical beast that shall stay nameless. You privation one, you crave one, but … for that overmuch money, you could enactment successful a edifice alternatively of camping.
So present are 10 speedy tips for keeping your campout nutrient safely chilled, but inactive tasty, nary substance what benignant of cooler you’re packing into.
Pre-cook and freeze. You tin bash this fancy oregon easy, but it’s the definite mode to debar earthy nutrient going atrocious if you person a cooler disaster. You tin bash this successful sealing bags if you person that equipment, but it works astir arsenic good if you person lone solid retention containers oregon resealable integrative bags. To seal liquid oregon liquid-esque things similar chili, frost successful a quadrate instrumentality first, past bag, whether you’re vacuum sealing oregon not. Square items battalion space-efficiently into coolers (I accidental this having fed 185 radical meal 1 brainsick summer).
Check cooler condition. While you’re preparing, cheque the information of that cooler. Clean it out; marque definite the drain doesn’t leak and the lid closes tightly. And accepted coolers — i.e., the under-$50 benignant — don’t past forever. Maybe it is clip to outpouring for the much durable assortment aft all.
Pack cookware lids. If you pre-cook and frost each of your entrees, they assistance support the remainder of the items successful your freezer cold. But they whitethorn not thaw successful clip to devour them. Lidded cookware – for a skillet oregon boiling-water cookware — is much energy-efficient and volition thaw and vigor burgers, bacon, muffins, adjacent Pop-Tarts — faster. Depending connected the upwind and altitude of your camp, blistery nutrient mightiness sensation good.
Adjust the menu. The much tightly you tin battalion your cooler, the much it volition clasp cold. So enactment arsenic galore things arsenic you tin into quadrate containers oregon quadrate shapes. Think chopped ham alternatively than ham slices. Think frozen spaghetti-sauce bricks; noodles tin beryllium cooked on-site. Think “glop connected carbs” — curried chickenhearted connected instant atom oregon couscous. The carb information won’t request to beryllium refrigerated.
Pre-chill arsenic overmuch arsenic possible. If it’s acold going in, it’s much apt to enactment cool. So frost and refrigerate each the nutrient you’re packing 2 days earlier travel day.
Get crystal successful chunks. Loading a cooler for a azygous overnight tin beryllium done sloppily: First adhd food, and dump crystal cubes to capable successful each the small spaces. But it inactive works amended if each the nutrient going successful is frozen oregon cold. If it isn’t, each those small chunks of crystal person to enactment harder and melt faster. Better still: Freeze a rectangular chunk of crystal and marque country for it successful the apical of your cooler.
Divide and conquer. Given adjacent thermal efficiency, 2 tiny (or 1 mean and 1 small) coolers enactment amended than 1 large. Why? Because determination are things you’ll beryllium eating and drinking that aren’t damaged if they’re not kept arsenic chill arsenic others. Such arsenic beer. And fruit. And chips. Yeah, it’s bully to person each your nutrient and portion unneurotic (and indispensable to bash truthful successful carnivore country, erstwhile you indispensable unafraid each edibles truthful they don’t pull wildlife). But it’s adjacent nicer to not person nutrient spoil. Like a refrigerator, the little you unfastened a cooler, the much businesslike it is — truthful separating snacks and effect from main-dish proteins is simply a bully idea.
If you indispensable person acold beverages, support immoderate cubes successful a container connected the apical of your cooler to chill them, oregon designate a smaller cooler conscionable for them. Bring your reusable, insulated h2o flasks.
Made successful the shade. Granted, coolers often treble arsenic seating, but effort to support your camping refrigerator retired of the sun. In a pinch, you tin usage your car’s windscreen shield. You uber- prepared crafty folks tin marque an insulated screen and cushion.
Conquer chaos. If your campout is multi-day, de-chaos your cooler arsenic you hole dinner. This lets you get escaped of trash, bash immoderate indispensable reorganization, measure which meals are thawing and program a travel retired for crystal if needed. It besides lets you ponder whether chilled nutrient is adjacent indispensable and sustainable. Perhaps going the dehydrated way is easier, cheaper, and a much-needed dose of mindfulness successful a hectic world.
English (US) ·