Those who love to camp know that one of the best parts is eating food with others. However, there is a problem with cooking food when you are out on a camping trip. You might want to keep food cold while camping.
So we at adventureix took it upon ourselves to figure out the best way to keep food cold while camping, all for you. We will share these tips with you that are tried and tested by us to give you the best results.
Along with giving you some tips on keeping food cold while camping, we will give you some alternatives and food guidelines. This is so that you can enjoy going out on a camping trip and eating some good food with your friends or family. Like how you can insulate tent for summer or to heat a tent there are steps you need to follow.
Best way to keep food cold while camping
As I have mentioned already, we have 14 different but important tips that will guarantee you to keep food cold while camping. Each of the 14 steps we have for you are interconnected, meaning you should follow one to the other for the best results.
Keeping food cold while camping is essential because this helps to keep food fresh and last longer. Also, some foods need to be cold. For example, a cold beer or ice cream is much better than a warm beer and melted ice cream.
1. Buy a quality cooler
Before you start to keep food cold while camping, you will need to cool your cooler. Nothing will stay cold for long or at all without a cold cooler. Moreover, for a cold cooler, what you need is a quality cooler.
To know which cooler is of higher quality, you need to look for one with greater insulation than most. In general, coolers made from high-end steel or fiberglass tend to be better than most.
There are also electric coolers that need to be hooked to your car’s battery. On the other hand, coolers made from styrofoam do a lackluster job to keep food cold while camping or outdoors.
2. Chill the cooler
Once you have gotten a high-quality cooler and are thinking of going on a camping trip, you will need to chill the cooler. Different quality coolers need different amounts of time to fully chill.
To keep food cold while camping, you need a cold cooler because this will ensure your food stays cold longer. The process of cooling a cooler is rather simple and straightforward. Interestingly you won’t even need anything special for this process.
We have two ways to do so, and both yield similar results. The first way is to place a cooler somewhere away from sunlight and fill it with ice cubes or blocks bought from the store. The second is placing the cooler in the fridge overnight.
3. Get the right ice
Even though you have chilled your cooler, you will need to place some ice in it to keep it cold for a greater amount of time. While you could put the ice you bought from the stores to chill your cooler the first time, I would advise against it.
I disagree with using local gas station loose ice because it will melt much faster and fail to keep food cold while camping. Instead, you should use larger ice blocks to keep your cooler ice cold while camping.
4. Freeze the drinks and meats
Another useful tip on keeping food cold while camping is to freeze your food or drink before your trip. When we say freeze your cold water and drink, we mean for you to completely freeze it solid.
This will have benefits from multiple slides when you go camping. One of the benefits is that the frozen food and frozen water bottles will act as ice packs or ice blocks and keep everything cold longer.
To freeze your food, such as vegetables, meats, and even prepped meals, you will need to leave them in the fridge for a full day or two. For the drinks like beer and water, you should only freeze about 80 or 90 percent of them since you might need some in an emergency.
5. Pack the food cooler right
Anyone familiar with going camping and other outdoor activities will know that there is one simple rule; layer your food in a particular manner. If you want to keep food cold while camping, you will need to layer your food.
The general rule is that the foods that need to stay cold the longest should be placed at the bottom of the cooler. The perishable food or the delicate food should be placed at the top. If you want to keep bread fresh while camping then place it at the top.
Also, you need to package all your meats and vegetables correctly. Anything going inside the cooler should be layered twice with plastic bags. The meats and fish should be covered in aluminum foil to avoid cross contamination.
If you want to defrost something, just place it at the top of the cooler. For additional cooling, place some ice or ice packs in between the layers of meat. Since you will need some space for the ice, don’t overfill the cooler with food.
6. Pack the food cooler tight
One of the better tips we can give you to keep food cold while camping is to pack your cooler as tightly as possible. The more space you have when you pack your cooler, the more air will circulate and warm your cooler faster.
Therefore the best solution to keeping your food cold while camping will be to pack the cooler tightly and leave as little space free as possible. If there is any free space in your cooler, simply fill it with either ice, ice pack, or food.
7. Make some prepped food
Another shortcut you can take when you try to keep food cold while camping is making pre-made meals. With pre-prepped food, you can freeze them, which will last much longer than raw meats and vegetables.
The pre-cooked meals last longer because you will kill much of the bacteria when you cook the food, which causes them to go bad.
8. Make homemade ice packs
Even though we told you to use ice from your home or store to keep food cold while camping with a cooler, there is another option. This new alternative is to use ice packs or dry ice packs. You can either buy them or make them, which is the cheaper option.
The biggest benefit of using ice packs is that they are rather flexible, meaning less cooler space wastage. Additionally, the ice packs are easily reusable after cooling them in the fridge. They have no worries if you want to make them since the process is so easy.
Here is an easy-to-understand video on how to make ice packs.
9. Bring non-perishable food
By this point, you have learned that there are many things you need to do before you go camping. We will discuss a crucial point; always have some backup options. This is specially true when it comes to food while camping.
Even though you have frozen your meats and vegetables and brought some pre-cooked food, something could always go wrong. Therefore, you need to bring some food that won’t spoil. Our top suggestions are canned and dried foods such as canned tuna and dried fruits.
10. Place the cooler somewhere shady
One of the top ways to keep food cold while camping is to place it under shade. The shadows of the trees and such will help keep your cooler cold longer. It is common sense that if something is placed under the sun, it will heat up faster due to light and warm air.
If you have a problem finding some shade, then make your own. You will need a tarp or blanket to cover the cooler completely.
11. Bring a second cooler
As mentioned above, you should always have some backup for food and camping. One of the best tips we can give you on keeping food cold while camping is to bring a second, maybe even a third cooler, just in case.
There is no law saying that you are only allowed one cooler for all your food when you go camping, or is there? No, the answer is no. There aren’t any laws saying you can only bring one cooler. The second cooler can help you to better organize all your foods.
12. Open the cooler only when necessary
This is another simple but common tip for how to keep food cold while camping. You should only be opening your cooler when you need to take out some of your food or drinks and not any other time.
My advice on taking out drinks from the cooler would be to take a couple at a time. Since nobody only drinks a can of beer or soda at a time. Additionally, if you pack two coolers, it will be more helpful since you won’t have to open just one too often.
13. Dry ice is useful
Coming back to how you can keep food cold while camping, there is another alternative that you could use. However, we didn’t mention this since there are some issues with this option. But first, you need to learn what the alternative is, called dry ice.
Firstly dry ice is VERY cold since it’s made from carbon dioxide. Secondly, when it melts, it releases CO2 gas as cold air, harmful to humans and pets. Finally, when dry ice melts, dry ice will increase the pressure of the cooler, so you shouldn’t use too much otherwise, the cooler might burst.
14. Use extra insulation
Our final tip on how to keep food cold while camping we can give you is to use insulation. Since more insulation means the cooler stays cold longer. At the beginning of this article, I wrote that coolers with better insulation will help you keep your food cold while camping longer.
Food safety tips and guidelines
Now that you have a better idea about keeping food cold while camping, you need to know about the guidelines on food safety. Just because you freeze your food and place it inside a cooler doesn’t mean it’s completely safe.
One of the most key safety tips is to wash your hand before and after doing anything related to food. You can use the bottled water you packed or use water from a nearby stream if it’s safe.
Another common guideline is not allowing cross contamination of your food, especially the meats and fish. Chopping boards and plates you use for your meat and fish shouldn’t come into contact with any other food to prevent bacteria contamination.
Also, remember the correct temperature to cook all your poultry and other meats; otherwise, you might get food poisoning. And I know that is something everyone wants to avoid while camping.
Why keep food cold while camping?
We have been preaching the importance of keeping food cold while camping to you in this entire article. But why is it so important? There are several factors why it’s important to keep food cold in general. Here are some of the basic reasons:
- Prevent bacteria growth: There are a bunch of bacterias that grow aggressively when food isn’t kept in cold storage, such as e-coli, various fungi, a.histolitica
- Avoiding preservatives: Nowadays, it has become fairly common to use preservatives to keep food fresh longer. However, with frozen food, we can avoid the usage of chemical means altogether.
- Ease of transportation: By freezing your food, you can easily carry the food over long distances.
- Soothing to the taste: There is just something pleasing to the tongue when you eat frozen food on a summer day. This is especially true when keeping food cold while camping and then eating it.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
There are multiple different methods of keeping food cold while camping. For example, you can buy a better-insulated cooler or pack layers of ice blocks and ice packs between meats and vegetables.
If you want to store food while camping in your cooler, what you need to do is correctly layer the food. By the proper manner, we mean you need to place the foods that need to stay cold longer at the bottom while others can be placed higher.
The best choice for food is anything that can be cooked easily and stored for a long time. Here are some of our recommendations:
● Bread
● Pasta
● Canned sauces and food
● Frozen meats and fishes
● Pre cooked meals
Firstly freeze all the raw meat ahead of time at least 12 to 24 hours in advance. To prevent cross contamination, you need to double pack all the raw meat in plastic bags. Also, you need to pack all the frozen meats at the bottom of the cooler to keep them chilled longer.
Conclusion
To wrap up our discussion on keeping your cold chilled while camping, all we have to say is that follow our tips as closely as you can. Moreover, you might have some personal tips that work best for you, which you should follow.
Basically, all you can do is take all the precautions possible and, at the same time, have a few backups just in case. Altogether do what you can and enjoy your hike or adventure to the fullest with your friends and family.