There is hardly anything more disappointing in midsummer than pulling a lukewarm beer or spoiled food out of the cooler. Keeping food and drinks really cold in very hot weather may seem like an impossible task, but it is possible if you strategically pack your cooler. That’s how it’s done.
How to pre-cool your cooler
You wouldn’t expect a room temperature freezer to keep things cold. A cooler pulled straight from your hot attic, basement, or garage isn’t as effective either. Fill it up the night before (or at least a few hours beforehand) with a full bag of ice to cool down.
For more information on how to package a cooler, see the following video:
Use block ice
Block ice melts more slowly than cubes and can help keep things cool longer. It can be difficult to find at your local grocery store or gas station, but you can make it yourself if you plan in advance. Just freeze water in a baking pan or cooler compartment.
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Wrap your block ice in an extra-large ziploc or trash bag before packing it – this can at least slow the leakage of water around your food when the ice melts. You may also want to put a piece of cardboard over your blocks of ice for extra insulation before placing food on or around them.
Freeze everything first (or at least cool)
Get a head start on cooling by freezing everything that can be frozen and refrigerating the rest. This works especially well for items that you won’t be using for a few days. Frozen food can serve as an ice pack and will slowly thaw in your cooler so it’s ready when you need it. Ditto for children’s juice boxes, water bottles and non-carbonated drinks.
For other drinks, make sure they’re chilled before putting them in the cooler if you want to drink them cold.
Separate food and drinks
If you have two cool boxes, keep food in one and drinks in the other. Both don’t get packed too tightly, which means you can hold more ice in each and layer it more easily (more on that in a second). Also, you will likely open and close your beverage cooler more often, and if food is packaged separately, it will be protected from warm air longer.
Stratify strategically
Stacking items randomly in your cooler and pouring ice on them is an inefficient cooling method and also makes it difficult to find what you’re looking for. You can help mitigate this by planning ahead. Put what you need last on the floor and alternate with layers of ice (or food and drink if you’re working with a single cooler).
Michael van Vliet or Camp Meal Blog Fresh from the network shared a helpful stratification strategy with Mel magazine:
- Coat the underside of your cooler with block ice.
- Put the last food you need first. If you have drinks (in the same or separate cooler), pack the cans tightly and horizontally with the labels facing up.
- Put a 1.5-2.5-inch layer of crushed or diced ice.
- To repeat.
This will keep you from digging around to find what you need as you work your way down from the top layer of food. Van Vliet also recommends mixing types of drinks in each shift so people don’t have to search the bottom of the cooler.
Keep the cooler closed
This is crucial to keep everything cold. The more air that gets into your cooler, the faster the ice will melt and the faster your food and drinks will warm up. Try to open the cooler as often as possible: for example, take out everything you need to prepare dinner at once and then quickly close it again.
Of course you want to keep the cool box in a cool and shady place as possible. Keep it in the back seat rather than in the trunk while driving, and move around around the warehouse as needed to avoid the sun.
This article was originally published in August 2020 and was updated on June 25, 2021 to keep the content in line with the current Lifehacker style.
