How to Pack a Cooler for Camping
Camping is one of the great American pastimes and can be fun for the whole family! Keeping food cold is one of the major issues of camping, especially if you're staying for a few days. By following these easy steps, the contents of your coolers can be more accessible, and will remain cold for the length of your trip!
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Things You'll Need
- Cooler
- Ice
- Two-liter bottles of water, frozen
- Contents of the Cooler (food, drinks)
Instructions
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Prepare the Contents of the Cooler
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1
Create a list or menu of all the food items you will be taking on your camping trip that will need to be kept in the cooler.
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2
Clean at least four plastic two-liter bottles. Fill them with water and freeze them. These do not have to be soda bottles; juice bottles or milk jugs will work just as well.
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3
Purchase all the food at least twenty-four hours before you will be leaving for camp. Refrigerate all items that will need to go into the cooler. Any meat or water that will not be used for several days can be frozen.
Pack the Cooler(s)
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4
Wait until you are about to leave for your trip before you pack your coolers. They should be the last thing you pack before you load up and leave!
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5
Place the frozen soda bottles in the cooler. For coolers over 36 quarts, I would recommend using two frozen bottles.
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Place your food in the cooler in the order that it will be used. You can keep track of this by using the list you made. Anything that will not be used until near the end of the trip should be on the bottom/ Items that will be used first, or frequently, should be placed on top.
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Leave at least three inches of space between the food and the lid of the cooler. Fill this space with ice, and close the lid immediately.
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Load up your coolers and be on your way! While camping, follow the simple tips at the bottom of this article to prolong the life of your ice and the temperature of your food. Enjoy!
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Tips & Warnings
I would recommend packing at least two coolers, one for drinks and one for food. I use three, one each for drinks, food, and meat. The drink cooler will most likely be opened frequently and have to be restocked frequently. To maintain temperatures necessary for proper food storage, drinks need to have their own cooler.
Instead of packing a lot of bottled water, you can drink the water you froze in the two liter bottles. If you do pack bottled water, freeze about half of them and use them to keep the cooler cold.
Always keep the cooler in the shade, and on really hot days, cover the cooler with a wet towel. The evaporation of the water will help keep the cooler cold.
Don't drain all the water out of your cooler. Cold water will keep food cold just as well as ice. Only drain the cooler when it is becoming an inconvenience, or right before refilling the cooler with ice.
