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"Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right"- Grateful Dead "Hey bitch fuck with me what's up" Freddie Gibbs Summercamp Roo Grateful Fest
Good questio. I called about dry ice and they were giving me all these different ways to do it but I always trust experence over a lot of things. The dry ice place I called sells it in 10 pound slabs and they said that it would last about 24 hrs so I figure I need close to 50 pounds but I fear that will leave me with limited cooler space. Any ideas/advice? Maybe this is or isnt a proper place for this question
Best thing for a cooler is to freeze as much water or freeze able drinks(Gatorade and stuff) as you can before hand. Large blocks of ice melt slower than the smaller cubes. Buy some liter(or larger if you have room, like a gallon) bottles of water and freeze them in you freezer before you leave. When packing a regular cooler it is best to put the frozen bottles on the bottom of your cooler first, followed by cans and such, then the cubed Ice, then food. The frozen bottles of water and such will given a nice solid foundation of frozeness. Your cans will be stacked on, in between, or wherever they will fit around the frozen bottles. Next cover with bags of ice. Do not mix these steps up, Ice before cans=NO GOOD, cans before ice and everything fits nice. Last put your food stuff on top of the ice, where ever you can fit it. Stuff it in the ice, or even put some of it in the cooler, after you put the cans in, and cover it with ice as well. With food, you do not want to cross contaminate. Do not let raw meat come in contact with anything that will be put in your mouth before it is thoroughly cooked! Ziplocks work great sealing up meats, cheeses, veggies, and anything you want to put in your cooler. Melted cooler water and food do not mix. I would recommend a separate cooler for ice that you are going to make drinks with. It can be a small cooler, or anything, just so you keep you drink ice clean. Now, Dry Ice? I love dry ice when camping. "As a general rule, Dry Ice will sublimate at a rate of five to ten pounds every 24 hours in a typical ice chest", quoted from here. Do you have room for two coolers? Yes. Then designate one of those coolers as a dry ice cooler. ONLY OPEN THAT COOLER WHEN ABSOLUTELY NEEDED! Like once/day. Only put stuff in there that would not hurt if frozen, dry ice will make your cooler a freezer. Only have one cooler? Then put the dry ice on the bottom, cover with news paper, and place your frozen bottles or any thing frozen on top of the newspaper/dry ice. News paper will protected your frozen stuff from the dry Ice. Water will speed up the rate your dry ice melts! If using the dry ice beware of putting cubed ice in that cooler. When the cubed ice melts, it will then speed up the melting of your dry ice. 50lbs should be more than plenty enough to last all weekend. It depends on how often you open your cooler. The more you open a cooler with dry ice or any ice for that matter, the faster it will melt. I bought 20lbs last year on Wednesday and it lasted me until Saturday and so I had frozen bottles of water on Sunday. Find your local ice distributor and buy from them, they should have a better deal than the grocery store. Or click here.Try to get the slabs or blocks rather than the pellets. Like regular ice, surface area determines how fast dry ice melts or sublimates. It happens faster with smaller(pellets) then the larger chunks(slabs or blocks). Wear Gloves when handling dry ice. It melts at at -110F. That means it is -110F below frozen. That means it is -110F degrees to touch. It will freezer burn your skin in seconds. Always have good ventilation with handling dry ice. Dry Ice is frozen CO2, when it melts, it goes from a solid straight to a gas, in turn release carbon dioxide. Too much CO2 and we die. Never put that cooler containing dry ice in an enclosed area, like your car, without any ventilation. With that being said Dry Ice is a very safe product to use. I have it many times and have never been disappointed, rather the opposite. Just be smart and follow the rules.
A couple notes to add. - Keep your cooler in the shade (pretty obvious one there.) - Draping a damp towel over it will help it retain some coolness, but it also means redampening the towel occasionally, which is well worth it if you're near a water station. - Pack your cooler tight. If you have extra space on top, add as many frozen water bottles as possible, the more open space you have, the quicker everything will begin warming up in there. - Don't allow dry ice to come in direct contact with your plastic cooler, it may crack it. - If you do get dry ice (highly recommended) consider putting it in a Styrofoam cooler.
Post by Vw'ndeadchick on Mar 21, 2011 8:04:06 GMT -5
i plan just about the same way as scrogg and jr do except. i pack one cooler per two people on the trip. we freeze water in gallons and three gallons size containers, i dont mess with anything smaller. no beer or gatoraid into these coolers, and we have one cooler with food in it. once were in tennessee and getting close to the venue we stop and pack the coolers with as much ice as they can hold, being that theres frozen gallons and ice only in the coolers. we usually just use ice from there for mixed drinks night one and by friday theres a give and beer will fit. for gatoraid we take a 5 gallon drink cooler and fill it with water and ice and dump powdered stuff in. we really havent had to buy any ice at the venue planning this way.
The amount of dry ice you need is going to depend on what kind of cooler you have, we've found that the wet ice/dry ice method holds for the duration of Bonnaroo in our 5 day cooler. Just a warning...fresh fruit stored with dry ice tends to get carbonated, not necessarily a bad thing, just weird if you don't expect it.
I'm new to Bonnaroo this year, but my plan is gonna be to have a big Yeti cooler or two...the type you bring on deep sea fishing trips. I'm then gonna freeze several gallon size ice cubes so they will melt slowly. The beer and other goods will go below the ice. The cooler will be locked to my car and in the shade.
The amount of dry ice you need is going to depend on what kind of cooler you have, we've found that the wet ice/dry ice method holds for the duration of Bonnaroo in our 5 day cooler. Just a warning...fresh fruit stored with dry ice tends to get carbonated, not necessarily a bad thing, just weird if you don't expect it.
Post by fearthestupid on Mar 21, 2011 16:22:53 GMT -5
When freezing water bottles, etc. pour out a little to allow room for expansion...if the bottle stretches from the ice, the water gets an odd flavor, and possibly releases pthalates, a plastic softener that is harmful to your health.
Post by 10goldbees on Mar 22, 2011 19:55:54 GMT -5
i think everyone has pretty much covered what you need to know about packing a cooler, so i'll just say that dry ice fizzy-apples are delicious!
and when you carry your frozen water bottles into centeroo make sure to put them in plastic bags or they'll get everything else in your bag soaking wet.
Rule number 1 - fuck store bought bags Use home ice trays and ice makers. Take a couple cake pans, cupcake pans, 9 inch round baking trays, etc and use those for making ice. If you plan properly you can layer the bottom of the cooler with a solid inch or two, keep larger sheets between gallon jugs, cupcake ones for on top/in between everything else. If you use some simple tips such as keeping the cooler in the shade, not opening it 15 times a day, etc you will have ice left over. I have done this on most of my campouts and it is insane to see big hunks of ice left over after a few days at Roo.
My personal setup (granted I have several coolers and a pickup truck) for Roo is one average/large cooler for nothing but ice. Two frozen two liters, 24 cupcakes, two 9x13's, two 9x9's, three 9 inch rounds and as many ziplocks filled with the homemade ice trays as possible. This is my backup cooler, as my food and adult beverage coolers dwindle down, I replenish the ice from the backup. My other coolers will have many of the previously mentioned ice formations in them to begin with too. If you start freezing at least a week in advance you will be set.
If enough folks do this, we can have a nice frosty ice cold pool party in June!!!!
Post by krstlpeach on Mar 23, 2011 23:53:51 GMT -5
Mike D,
You made me think of something my grandparents do... They wash out all of their empty half gallon cartons (milk, juice, whatevs) and make ice in them. Then, you just tear off the carton. I am going to make some fat ice bricks a la G-Ma. ;D
I bought a Coleman 5 day Cooler last year and it is one of the best investments I have made for Roo. I bought 3 coolers last year, one being the 5 day. We did not bring much food, but what we did have (and juice) we kept in the 5 day. We also kept some beer and water in there. We rotated out through out the weekend with beers and water, and had to buy ice for the other 2 coolers, but the ice I brought from home was still in the 5 day when Roo was over. I may buy another 5 Day Cooler to eliminate needing to being the other 2 smaller ones this year. But I'm telling you. 5. Day. Cooler. www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=6050A748&categoryid=8581&brand=
Cake pans? Great idea MikeD! I am so going to use baking trays. Wonder if the cupcake ice cube are small enough to fit into the camelbak?
Hey Scrog, I figured out a great plan for perfect camelbak ice cubes. I froze two cases of half pint poland spring bottles. I simply used scissors to cut the plastic off at the middle, and popped one of those bad boys right into the camelbak. The cupcake tray isn't a bad idea though...
I was lying in a burned out basement With the full moon in my eyes. I was hoping for replacement When the sun burst thru the sky. There was a band playing in my head And I felt like getting high.
Post by rideincircles on Apr 4, 2011 11:56:17 GMT -5
As crappy as it is to mention, it's good to have a bike lock to lock your cooler to a table or something if it's outside. Last thing you need os to find it missing after getting back from camp. It can get really hot inside cars during the day at Bonnaroo. I am completely with the freezing blocks of ice for Bonnaroo.
Also, having a 5-day cooler is imperative. No cheap cooler will suffice through the weekend.
One (strong) suggestion for anyone using dry ice. When you put it on the bottom, put some towels over top of it. Also, bring an ice pick or something to hack away at the ice block with. By day 2 the entire cooler will likely be a block of ice. However, it'll likely help keep ice in there for most of the weekend in GA.
I would do what Scrog suggested and use dry ice for one cooler that won't be opened a lot.
I saw a question/point above about where to get dry ice. Here you can buy it at the local grocery store (Harris Teeter, Wegmans, Giant). I'm pretty sure Kroger has it as well as Publix.
Cake pans? Great idea MikeD! I am so going to use baking trays. Wonder if the cupcake ice cube are small enough to fit into the camelbak?
Hey Scrog, I figured out a great plan for perfect camelbak ice cubes. I froze two cases of half pint poland spring bottles. I simply used scissors to cut the plastic off at the middle, and popped one of those bad boys right into the camelbak. The cupcake tray isn't a bad idea though...
Duh, frozen spring water bottles would be perfect! Great idea, Thanks! I posted a link(click here) that Ice distributors are on. You get a better deal at the distributor than at the store. I say shop around. If you can, get the blocks(large chunks) over the pellets(small broken pieces), the large pieces will last longer.
My dry ice concerns are as follows...there is a certain odor that comes with it..handling it...etc.
Most people I have asked were puzzled as to why I would even consider this idea. How good of an idea is it? I just want to wake up each day and not drink a warm beer/water/drink.
Dry Ice is odor less, it smells like CO2, what we exhale. Some say if food is left open and is able to absorb the CO2 while in the cooler, than it will taste different, I have not had that problem, yet. When handling Dry Ice use gloves, not latex ones, but good protective gloves. The surface of dry ice is a lot colder than regular ice and will cause a freezer burn in seconds, trust me do not handle dry Ice with out gloves, I say trust me, because I know, from personal experience how quick it can cause a freezer burn. Wrap dry ice in newspaper, it can freeze and crack the inside of your cooler. Never store dry ice in your refrigerator/freezer, it will cause the freezer to turn off. If used like I posted before, dry ice is a great addition to you coolers.
Dry Ice is odor less, it smells like CO2, what we exhale. Some say if food is left open and is able to absorb the CO2 while in the cooler, than it will taste different, I have not had that problem, yet. When handling Dry Ice use gloves, not latex ones, but good protective gloves. The surface of dry ice is a lot colder than regular ice and will cause a freezer burn in seconds, trust me do not handle dry Ice with out gloves, I say trust me, because I know, from personal experience how quick it can cause a freezer burn. Wrap dry ice in newspaper, it can freeze and crack the inside of your cooler. Never store dry ice in your refrigerator/freezer, it will cause the freezer to turn off. If used like I posted before, dry ice is a great addition to you coolers.
Here's maybe a weird question...what's the smallest cooler you can effectively use for dry ice? I just got a 70qt Coleman cooler that's 18" wide x 31.5" long x 16" tall. I intend to get another cooler so I can have one with regular ice/drinks that can be opened more often, and one for dry ice/food that'll stay mostly shut. I'm trying to figure out whether I should use the 70qt as the dry ice cooler and get a second smaller one, or if this is too small to be useful for dry ice and I need a bigger one as my second. This is all just for one, possibly two people btw.
Second question... if dry ice gives off C02 and I get supplies an hour or two from Roo, do I have to drive with the windows open and/or is it even safe to have in the car? I've got a van so its not like I can lock it in a trunk. Since I'm likely traveling alone I don't want to pass out on the highway!
I've never used dry ice. I just freeze gallon jugs of water and line the bottom of our cooler.
We use an Igloo 100 qt 5 day cooler. It's the best. We use it for everything. Only cost about 60$ too.
Anyways, after the frozen water I then add the beer. We bring more that is just kept in the car and added to the cooler when needed. But my husband like a cold one while setting up the tent.
Then I add the food. I put everything in plastic containers. No bags or boxes. Then I throw a few more water bottles on top.
With this I don't think we even bought ice until we were on our way home. The gallon jugs stayed frozen until we took them out to drink.
whofalls-I am driving up from florida, like 11 hours and I get my DrY Ice on my way out of town, one of my last stops.
mizvalentine-If you transport a cooler with dry ice in your car, It would be best to say leave your windows open or at least open them every hour and let fresh air in the car. If you become lightheaded, or experience dizziness, or any signs/symptoms CO2 overdose. OPEN THE WINDOWS! Any size cooler will work with dry ice. The smaller the cooler the less dry ice it will take to turn that cooler into a freezer. If you use the same amount of dry ice in a larger cooler, it may not turn the whole cooler into a freezer, but it will keep every thing cold. I might just freeze large chunks of ice, gallon jugs and water bottles and such in the bigger cooler and buy a smaller cooler for the dry-ice-not-open-too-often cooler.
mizvalentine-If you transport a cooler with dry ice in your car, It would be best to say leave your windows open or at least open them every hour and let fresh air in the car. If you become lightheaded, or experience dizziness, or any signs/symptoms CO2 overdose. OPEN THE WINDOWS! Any size cooler will work with dry ice. The smaller the cooler the less dry ice it will take to turn that cooler into a freezer. If you use the same amount of dry ice in a larger cooler, it may not turn the whole cooler into a freezer, but it will keep every thing cold. I might just freeze large chunks of ice, gallon jugs and water bottles and such in the bigger cooler and buy a smaller cooler for the dry-ice-not-open-too-often cooler.
Post by ghostofelectricity on Apr 7, 2011 10:57:05 GMT -5
I have used dry ice the past couple years with mixed results. Last year, we lined the bottom of our cooler (150 qt, i believe) with dry ice, put a layer of frozen water bottles on top of it, and then our other beverages on top of the that. Then we decided to top everything off with ice cubes; very bad idea. The cubes froze together in a block along with a bunch of the other beverages. We did have chunks of ice left on Sunday though.
This year I'm contiplating modifying that method by eliminating the ice cubes and adding additional frozen water bottles on top of the dry ice. I'll also wrap the dry ice better.
Any thoughts? Does dry ice only freeze the items that it touches (or are close to), or will it lower the temperature in the cooler to a point where everything freezes? I've read conflicting reports on the matter.
Does anyone have suggestions on what 5-day cooler I should buy? I've read a lot of conflicting reviews. And I don't want to have to buy ice everyday. Any thoughts?
I've had the best luck with freezing 1 gallon jugs and using a 5 day cooler. I've tried dry ice in the past and it makes my food taste funny, IMO. The best jugs are at the dollar tree. They are squarish, so they make better use of the cooer space. They also don't make puddles when they melt. This works just as well as dry ice, IMO, without the funky tasting food.
