dry ice + coolers = ??

[hopeisb4u]

Okay, so we are about to leave on our week long fort trip. We'll be in a tent, and have a couple coolers. One with drinks & the other with food. I noticed at Publix last night, that they sell dry ice. I googled using dry ice in coolers, but didn't find any information where someone had actually done it.

Is this something that we could do?

Anyone ever used dry ice in a cooler before?? Give me any information that you have please. 'Cause i'm totally lost on this one, but if it will keep my food cold for days, without everything getting soaked...well it sounds good to me!!

Anyone know the pros and cons over using regular bagged ice??

 

[chartle]

Okay, so we are about to leave on our week long fort trip. We'll be in a tent, and have a couple coolers. One with drinks & the other with food. I noticed at Publix last night, that they sell dry ice. I googled using dry ice in coolers, but didn't find any information where someone had actually done it.

Is this something that we could do?

Anyone ever used dry ice in a cooler before?? Give me any information that you have please. 'Cause i'm totally lost on this one, but if it will keep my food cold for days, without everything getting soaked...well it sounds good to me!!

Anyone know the pros and cons over using regular bagged ice??

I have heard of people using dry in coolers. The only real caveat was not to use plastic lined coolers only cheap Styrofoam. The plastic in a regular cooler can crack due to the extreme cold.

 

[becky1960]

Dry Ice wont last much more than one day, if you keep the cooler sealed it will last longer, but as long as you open it, it will disipate. It might be easier just to buy bagged Ice and refill as it melts. It would take about a 10 lb bag a day.

 

[hopeisb4u]

thanks for the info!

Looks like i'll stick to 'wet' ice!

 

[aandabooks]

Get one of the 5 day coolers. About $40 at Wal-Mart for a 60 can size. Works well as long as the kids aren't continously opening a closing it.

 

[Rhonda]

We have always had one cooler set aside for dry ice. It's just a normal Coleman-type cooler. We keep 10 pounds of dry ice in it, with the frozen stuff (meat) closer to the dry ice, and the other cold food (milk, eggs, etc) further away from it.

Then, we have a wet ice cooler, with drinks.

The dry ice usually lasts 3-4 days, depending on how often we open the cooler. It's very nice to use, because it doesn't make a mess as it melts! It just evaporates!

 

[Specularius]

One word of caution: DO NOT CARRY DRY ICE IN THE CONFINES OF THE VEHICLE!!

Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. When it melts, it evaporates and releases a lrge volume of CO2 into the air. In the confines of a vehicle, it could displace all the oxygen. This could have catstraphic results.

Now that the warning is over with, it is great for keeping things frozen. For frozen groceries that you plan to use once at FW, pack with dry ice and duct tape the lid of the cooler. That will help the dry ice last longer. Be sure that there is no air space in the cooler, fill with crumpled newspaper or towels. This will also make the dry ice last longer. Do not open the cooler unless you have to. Doing these things, dry ice could last as long as 5 days.

 

[hopeisb4u]

One word of caution: DO NOT CARRY DRY ICE IN THE CONFINES OF THE VEHICLE!!Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. When it melts, it evaporates and releases a lrge volume of CO2 into the air. In the confines of a vehicle, it could displace all the oxygen. This could have catstraphic results.

okay....i think i will stick with regular 'ole ice. That stuff sounds a bit scary!!

Plus...i'm getting total conflicting information. Some people say to leave the lid ajar with dry ice so the ?fumes? can escape, and others say to tape it up.

yeah...i'm sticking with regular ice.

Thanks ya'll!!

 

[Christine9125]

We have 1 cooler for ice and drinks and one cooler that is like a fridge-it plugs in. We have our meats and food stuff in there so it does not get yucky using ice.

 

[TuckerZ]

I saw your post and had to comment According to dryicenetwork.com, one other interesting thing that happens when dry ice is placed with perishables is the drinks become carbonated. As dry ice "melts" it turns to CO2 Gas, thus carbonating your drinks.

 

[homebrew2]

I saw your post and had to comment According to dryicenetwork.com, one other interesting thing that happens when dry ice is placed with perishables is the drinks become carbonated. As dry ice "melts" it turns to CO2 Gas, thus carbonating your drinks.

Is that before..... or after the tooth fairy visits.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Is that before..... or after the tooth fairy visits.

You might also think about buy'n a little compact/dorm fridge. We have one we take everywhere with us, (course ya gotta have sparks to run it) that way we dont havta mess with ice.
Keeps food longer and beer cold,

 

[becky1960]

We have used Dry Ice over the years and will last as they say about a day if open the cooler several times. I think the best way to use it is to pack what frozen items that you wont be using for a couple days and seal it with duck tape in styrofoam cooler. It will last a few days untill you need it. Russell Stover ships their candy in summer with dry ice but it is gone when it arrives..

 

[hopeisb4u]

Thanks ya'll!!! It has been over a year since I posted that question, and I'm still getting some awesome feedback. I never ended up using the dry ice that week. I'd probably be more open to using it if ever i actually saw someone else using it... 'cause I'd like to see all the do's and don'ts... ya know! ~ Those little mini fridges are great! I have a small compact car, so I'm not one of these people that take a lot of things camping.. but that doesn't mean my car isn't packed as much as I can! hahahahaha ~ wow.... I haven't been to the fort in a long time!! I think we'll be there for Halloween, i should check on that!

Again, thanks for all the info, ya'll!!!

 

[krimi]

We used it in June combined with reg ice. We had some foods with major freezer burn..and drinks frozen solid. Not a good thing for beer. I think some combined and underneath reg ice will give you more cooling time. Just keep it from touching anything.

 

[Disneylitch]

Why not just buy a small refrigerator with a freezer in it. They are about 4 ft tall I would guess and reasonable. Particularly this time of year. I know Target and WalMart sell them. That way you could use the coolers for drinks and put the perishables in the refrigerator. Just a thought.

 

[retired and happy]

About carbonating drinks...I used to go to church with a guy who brought an Igloo water barrel to all our outings. The hit of the outings was his rootbeer made from syrup, water and a slab of dry ice. By the time we were ready to eat, the dry ice would have bubbled it's way throughout the liquid and made very good carbonated rootbeer.