Waterproofing your cooler food?

[tardgenius]

I dunno about you guys, but there's always ONE day when I forget to drain my cooler and get more ice. Do you guys have any tips on keeping my food from getting water-logged? Maybe a particular brand of tupperware that is super water proof? Thanks!

[ConnieH]

I have a little wire shelf that I put in the cooler - ice sits below it, food can sit on top. Not exactly optimal cooling with the ice below the food, but it works.

[Elderberry]

When we used coolers we put everything in its own double-zip lock bags. i.e. one bag inside the other, use the heavy duty freezer bags.

[BetaBox]

we have moved to a food saver. Expensive, but after all the years, it's really paying off for prepacked frozen meals of various sizes. No worries about bacon-steak-blood-water.

[snake]

i freeze juice jugs full of water and freeze juice. no ice. no mess. and i can drink both as they defrost.

[StevenGoodman]

I use bottles also. Once the bottles run out I put the ice in a sealed plastic box. Ice in a box will only keep things mildly cold. If you want to really cold use the zip top bag trick.

And it is nice to have one cooler just for drinks, which don't care about getting wet.

Martini Steve

[EB]

No worries about bacon-steak-blood-water.

Baconsteak Bloodwater is the name given to me by the Souix. How weird.

[theCryptofishist]

No worries about bacon-steak-blood-water.

Baconsteak Bloodwater is the name given to me by the Souix. How weird.

I use it for sauce on my Beersteak Tartar.

Beefsteak Tartar.

Hum. I won't make a politically correct joke here.

[Cassidy]

No worries about bacon-steak-blood-water.

Baconsteak Bloodwater is the name given to me by the Souix. How weird.

You made me laugh so hard I'm pretty sure I'm getting fired tomorrow... Thanks!

Also, I bought a food-saver (suck the air out of the bag thingy) last year but it took me a year to learn how to make the thing work 90% of the time. Freezing pre-cooked food to bring this year. We'll be using the double-zip baggies (gallon size) to dump all of the playa-ice in so we can drink it as it melts (filling up the camel humps). And considering some dry-ice for the foodstuffs cooler this year.

[BetaBox]

[quote="EB"][quote="BetaBox"]No worries about bacon-steak-blood-water.[/quote]

Baconsteak Bloodwater is the name given to me by the Souix. How weird.[/quote]

I lol'ed while in the bathroom stalls at work.

[Boijoy]

I put all my food in ziplocks & use a deep plastic container inside my cooler & put ice & frozen water bottles all around it. Sometimes a couple cubes of ice get in there but no biggie.

[alexamonkey]

Keeping food out of icewater:

I use plastic strainers upside down in the bottom of the coolers containing food I don’t want sitting in water. One can also put canned beverages in the bottom to elevate the food. You lose some cooler space, and the food won’t be ICE cold, but you save your food! This is particularly handy for produce, which you don’t want super ice-cold, or soggy!

If you are bringing melons, these also make great ‘elevators’ inside the coolers. A watermelon can sit in icewater without dying.

Foodsaver. Yes, expensive, but so is losing your food. We borrow one from a friend. Ziplock bags WILL open if sitting in water too long, plus they keep air inside, which makes it harder to keep the contents cool, and spoils the food faster. Foodsaved bags can sit in icewater all day long without consequence. Consider pre-making as much food as possible!

Soft Coolers: Try small soft coolers inside larger coolers for certain foods you don’t want sitting in ice water, like cheese, lunchmeat, etc.

[AntiM]

We have a strict rule, NO beverages in the same cooler as food. Ever. Too many people rummaging around for drinks, letting the food warm up. We do have a foodsaver, but I'm still getting into the habit with it. In the meantime, we double-bag. Also, we never bring raw meat, it is canned or precooked and/or frozen and sealed.

Quick trick to make sure your cooler isn't left open too long. Take a deep breath and hold it while you open the cooler. When you need more air, it is well past the time to close and recover that ice chest!

[alexamonkey]

I was thinking of beverages in the bottom of coolers as an elevator and storage of the extra beverages- hopefully, by the time you need them, the food you are elevating has been eaten! You are right, definitely NEVER beverages for immediate consumption with food!

[Lassen Forge]

Easy!

Make a "Dry cooler". I use one of those taller than square Igloo 5 day gigs. Bent a piece of expanded aluminum (used to be attached to a screen door) to make a "U" shaped tray the width of the cooler. You put 2-3 (maybe 4) bags of ice in the bottom (not in bags, as it makes it difficult to drain down when that damned plastic bag is blocking the drain!!) , then the "U" shaped metal screen (feet down, of course, into the ice), then the food. Works most excellently. Finally... I also have a plastic floor grate (thick black ABS plastic with slots - think I got it from some recycled house place or something) that is the same size squaare as the inside of the cooler, and it goes over everything... which keeps the cold down into the (now dry and unwashed) food.

Credit (major, huge, unending kudos type credit) goes to Oregon Red and the CO of mash who taught me this trick. I tried it for the first time this year, and absolutely cannot fathom camping without it. I may try to make a Dry Ice version of it next year (might help the contact sublimation issues I have when freezing Vodka bottles) but we'll see.

[CapSmashy]

Our process:

1. Ice goes in a 2.5 gallon ziplock bag. 1 bag = 1 7lb bag of crushed ice or ice block. Make sure it it standing reasonably upright in the cooler.
2. Food stuffs are bagged in ziplock freezer bags or in their food saver packages.
3. Extra dry storage, ziplock goes inside of a snap lock container.

This keeps the food stuff nice and cold and out of any cooler melt. As the ice melts, pour off the clean ice melt into an empty water jug for use in showers, around the kitchen or for making a frosty cold electrolyte beverage on a hot afternoon.

This method does not work as well for canned drinks. It gets them cool, but does not get them cold like packing them down with ice will. We maintain a pretty strict cooler discipline policy so the ice melt out of the drink cooler is still suitable for showers or in the kitchen. Just has a little playa mixed in.

[gypsy68]

For me, I find that it doesn’t matter how well I bag up the food, at some point water is going to get in. I have found a plastic container that works pretty well. They are the ones with the sides that snap down. The brand I like the best is Lock & Lock. It seals really well. I can put it in the cooler and not worry about water getting in. Or if I have something liquid in them, I don’t worry about the liquid dripping out. I have used other brands. I just make sure to test them out.
The following is how I test containers do decide how well they seal. I put a little bit of flour in the container, then fill the sink with water, and let the container sit in the water for awhile. If the flour is not wet, then I know it’s a container I can use for the ice chest, or for liquids.

[unjonharley]

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I found a waste basket at Dollor Store that fits in the cooler.. Makes a good dry compartment.. Could add a cover on it..

[NessaZee]

I bring some of my jar collection. they can just float around. masking tape and indelible marker to mark the lids. No huge amounts of plastic to deal with after.

[NessaZee]

I bring some of my jar collection. they can just float around. masking tape and indelible marker to mark the lids. No huge amounts of plastic to deal with after.

never had to deal with a broken jar. Some of my collection has been there and back a few times!