How To Keep Food Cold While Camping: 5 Amazing Ideas
Camping is divine to the people who love to be outdoor most of their time. Nothing is more calming than sitting on a grass field, completely soaked in nature, surrounded by trees and mountains, listening to the birds chirping while the breeze touching you softly, I mean just imagine!
But when it comes to food, maintaining a healthy diet and having wholesome food at camping can be a big challenge.
Of course, you can’t rely only on canned or processed foods all day long during your camping journey because of the fact that fresh food it will get stale and can’t be consumed for extensive camp trips.
We all know that camping can only be a healthy activity when you get all of its benefits. If you camp more often but are consuming unhealthy, packet foods during camping, your health will start declining and who wants that?
But if you take fresh and cooked food with you there is a risk attached to it; it’s going to perish which could cause you food poisoning. And who wants that either?
Since you have made to this article it means you are looking for ways to keep your food and beverages cold while camping, fresh for a long time while camping. Let me tell you the fact about food: It has a specific healthy lifespan. After which food starts losing its benefits, gets rotten, and becomes toxic for health.
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Different foods and beverages have different shelf life. Therefore even if you know what temperature keeps food fresh, it is necessary to acquaint yourself with some more information like what food items will perish earlier and which will stay fresh till the end and how do you need to pack them.
This will help you to plan what foods to consume first to make your camping smooth and mess-free. Let’s get to know-how:
1) If you Are A Camp-Aholic, Get Yourself A Quality Cooler
Yes, invest in a quality cooler. Eventually, you will realize that this was the best investment you had ever made. If you camp for 2 nights or more than 6 days, high-quality coolers can be your ideal go-to gears that will keep the food cold and prevent it from decomposing.
When I said quality cooler, I meant high-end coolers; thick-walled, properly isolated, and even with extra wall insulation to lock the cold inside for longer.
Coleman‘s rolling coolers, Yeti tundra large coolers, Igloo Yakun, and Pelican Elite are some of the best options that provide longer cooling for food and drinks.
They also come in different sizes which allow you to store your food as per your need.
If you are planning to stock your ice, food, and drinks in one cooler, take a bigger one that would be sufficient for you. Good quality coolers do maintain the standard, but you can take some extra steps to increase the efficiency of your cooler.
2) Make Your Cooler An Ice-IN Freezer
Keeping chilled drinks, cans, and food packs in your cooler is a smart choice, but that’s not what will keep them cold, you have to put ice in it to make it long-lasting.
Here is what you can use to make your cooler an artificial freezer:
Ice Blocks:
Add ice blocks at the bottom of a chilled cooler to make its base well-chilled. Pour some salt on them to get the best results. Larger blocks will not thaw as fast as smaller ones, and adding salt will further decrease its melting point and keep it frozen for longer.
You can freeze large blocks at home by putting a water container in your refrigerator.
Ice Bags And Gel Packs:
Additionally, you can add ice bags or gel ice bags (ice cube plus rubbing alcohol) to your cooler to add a long-lasting cooling effect. Make sure to use rock-solid ice packs that had been kept in the refrigerator for more than 5 days.
This is a very useful trick that will keep ice solid for more than 2 days. But it highly depends upon the material of your ice pouches. Therefore, always use non-toxic, heavy-duty, and leak-proof pouches which come with additional construction layers.
If you are using frozen bags it can help you in several ways like when the water in ice bags melts it will keep the water reserved and you can even use it for drinking and dishwashing etc. It won’t create any puddle of soggy mess around your food.
Dry Ice:
Dry ice is another quick solution to preserve frozen foods and you know what, it lasts the longest without leaving any wet residuals. But be careful while handling it, wear gloves and avoid direct touch because it can cause frostbiting.
Use it wrapped in a piece of cloth, towel, paper bag, cardboard or even newspaper can serve the purpose. Plus use larger blocks of dry ice to keep it last for up to 4 days.
Pre-Chilled Cooler:
Chilled cooler prevents any temperature transition when ice is transferred to it from the freezer. That is why it’s always best to use the pre-chilled cooler to better trap cooling than a lukewarm cooler.
Keep Cooler In Dark, Shady Places:
Once you reach your camping site, now it’s time to unload your camping gear. But make sure you are not putting it right under the scorching sun. Find a shad place to keep your cooler protected from direct sun exposure or heat.
In addition, you can cover it with a piece of wet cloth, it will add an extra layer of fabric that will absorb direct heat and keep it cool for some extra hours. For added benefits, add a thermometer to it, it will help you keep track of the cooler’s temperature and you would be able to find out what food is going to perish first. Especially when you are tent camping.
Organize Your Food Items:
Make sure while layering your food, drinks, and ice in a cooler place frozen items first between the layers of ice, then layer other foods that aren’t frozen but you want to keep cool, and then top it up with ice bags.
You may also want to read: 12 Camping Storage Ideas You Wish You Knew Earlier
Keep Your Cooler Locked:
Yes, if you find any option to lock your cooler, do it. Because this way you won’t open it frequently and ultimately heat won’t come inside that faster.
But don’t worry if you can’t lock it just try to keep it closed until you need it. And when you open it take out whatever you need all at once. This trick will also keep cool inside.
Mini-Sized Fridge That Can Fit Into Your Minivan:
If you can get an electrical fridge, it will do the best storage. But since it requires a constant power connection which can be challenging. Therefore, water coolers are the first choice of campers.
3) How To Keep Drinking Water Cool
You cannot deny the importance of freshwater but when you camp at sites where no clean water is available, it’s better to bring along plenty of water for drinking purposes.
Carrying water gallons can add up to your camping gear, which is not pleasant but you can do a smart hack by freezing your drinking water.
Freeze half of the water bottles and put them in a big-sized cooler, add drinks. Milk boxes and beverages in between.
This will be your water cooler that keeps all kinds of liquids cool. Plus, if you want chilled water you can take out some icy water from the cooler and mix it with lukewarm water.
The best part of this trick is, by the time when water bottles start melting, you will have clean water for drinking even at the end of your trip.
4) Keeping Half-Cooked And Frozen Meals
Once you are done with preparing an artificial refrigerator, it’s time to start thinking about your food. You can take along any kind of food, but it requires proper packing.
Therefore, do thorough research about your favorite foods; which one perishes quickly, and which one has a better shelf life.
For instance, Raw meats, poultry, and marinated chicken can stay up to 2 weeks if frozen but once defrosted, you have to cook them quickly.
Whereas cooked meats, chicken, and prepared foods are perishable, only last 2 days even if provided proper cooling.
Vegetables like broccoli, celery, onion, capsicum, cabbage, etc will last up to 7-8 days and need a little cooling. Soft cheese will remain fresh and usable for up to a few hours but hard cheese lasts longer than a week if kept cool.
Fresh Fruit Juices are required to be consumed quickly after you squeeze them from fruits. But fruits can stay longer.Eggs mixture requires cooling and should be utilized within 2 days, but canned olives, mushrooms, and cocktails can stay fresh at normal temperatures.
Dried foods, jerky meats, and sausages don’t require any cooling. These are healthy and protein-enriched but you will need to consume a lot of water with such foods to keep yourself hydrated.
This is an awesome option for half-day hikes. Even if you love freshly cooked foods, it is advised to keep healthy and nutritious packet foods as a backup option.
Panda Tip: Storing food in Freezer Bags is Best
Storing your freezer meal in a plastic bag is just the best idea. It takes less room up in your freezer, and, thawing freezer meals by placing the freezer bag in a pot of warm water is, by far, the fastest way to thaw a freezer meal.
It’s always better to take some half-cooked or prepared foods along with you. So you can take them out, heat and prepare a meal even on the 4th day of camping.
Visit our article “21 No-Cook Inexpensive Foods You Can’t Ignore” to take help with the selection of foods for camping.
It has plenty of no-cook food ideas that can be your ready-to-go meal of any time. Healthy eating is what’s required whether you are home or not.
5) Some Quick Tips How To Keep Food Cold While Tent Camping Without Cooler And Fridge
Final Recommendations
Use Thermal Bag: If some of your foods are left out because they are not fitting in the cooler, you can put them in thermal bags.
It keeps the food cold for up to 3 hours, but if you add small ice sacks with the food it can stay cold for up to 10 hours.
It is good for those times when you are going on a day trip or for hiking.
Put Your Food In Running Water: If you are camping near running water, this trick comes to your mind naturally. As running water is always cool, it will keep your food cool too. Pack your food in sealed bags and hang it in running water, you need to keep an eye on your food too because chances are any animal will steal it.
Dump It Underground: It’s from one of the old methods when electrical appliances weren’t invented. Underground is moist and colder comparatively and when food is stored there it keeps the food cool and protected from the sun.
But make sure to pack food in sealed or zip lock bags to prevent it from worms and insects.
Evaporative Cooling: If you are planning on carrying abundant fruits and vegetables with you and are a huge fan of salads and juices then try this method.
It will keep your vegetables and fruits fresh and cool for days. But it demands your attention and work on it at least thrice a day. Put your vegetables and fruits in a mesh or porous sack and dip them in cold water then hang them in a shady but airy place.
This evaporation process will keep the fruits and vegetables fresh as the water will act as a resistor to heat leaving them fresh for days and add a perfect tase in your meats and salads.
I am sure, following these beneficial tips on How To Keep Food Cold While Camping will keep your food cold and fresh.
No matter if you are doing car camping or tent camping, these ideas will work magical, and Now get ready for your outdoor adventures without worrying about hot weather because you can enjoy your chilled cocktail near any stream!
