Shearlock looks for ways to give them extra cushioning without taking up too much space, such as encasing tomatoes in bubble wrapping or slipping a few avocados into a cheap tube sock. More fragile items that needn’t or shouldn’t be frozen-easily bruised fruit and vegetables, condiments, eggs, and the like-go toward the top of your cooler. Put the most delicate foods on top with extra padding However, Odell adds that while she also likes to organize her cooler’s contents with baskets, she sometimes goes without them if she finds that she needs more space. Not only are these containers lightweight and available in different sizes, but the holes also allow for cold airflow, while the solid bottoms keep spills or spoiled foods contained. If yours doesn’t already have a basket designed to perch along the lip, Shearlock recommends stacking inexpensive, plastic Sterilite baskets-the kind with solid bottoms and holes on the sides-on top of the shelf risers. The more organized your cooler, the quicker you and your camping buddies can grab stuff from it. “You’ll probably need two or three of those to go across the bottom of the cooler,” she adds, “and the most important thing is that they’re all the same height so all the stuff above them sits evenly.” Organize with baskets or bins (space permitting) Her preferred risers measure about 5 inches or a little higher, so they’re just a bit taller than her block ice, and are made of vinyl-coated wire, like these cabinet shelves from The Container Store. To avoid such yuckiness, Shearlock places shelf risers in her cooler to form a barrier between the frozen stuff at the bottom and everything else. Nobody wants to deal with a bruised tomato or head of lettuce floating amidst a pool of slowly melting ice. Keep other foods away from the ice with kitchen shelf risers Lay those items on top of the ice or wedge them in between blocks if you have the space to do so. (She tries to vacuum-seal frozen foods as much as possible for additional protection, but if you can’t, using foil or keeping the food’s original plastic packaging is fine.) Hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, and other frozen foods that should stay as cold as possible until you cook them are fine to place right atop your block ice, Shearlock says. Shearlock likes using cut-up plastic milk jugs to make blocks that are about 4 to 5 inches high, while Odell usually freezes water in 64-ounce plastic juice bottles and puts the whole container in, since those can then become drinking or cooking water later on in the trip. Line the bottom of the cooler with block iceĬubed ice may get things colder than block ice, but block ice lasts much longer-which is why both Shearlock and Odell recommend DIY-ing big chunks and putting those in your cooler first. “If you want to bring hamburgers, and they originally came in a cardboard box, that box is going to get mushy and disgusting anyway,” says Odell. Not only will this process make it easier for you to find stuff inside your cooler, but it will also save space while cutting down on cross-contamination, leaks, and other messes. Label everything with a Sharpie marker and painter’s tape, which Odell has found leaves less sticky residue than duct tape. Her Outward Bound teams rely on a combination of zip-top bags, Stashers, Nalgene wide-mouth bottles, and repurposed Talenti containers. To help everyone identify the items they need quickly, Odell recommends transferring all of your food from its original packaging into something lightweight and sealable before putting it in the cooler. Opening your cooler as little as possible-both as you’re packing it and during your trip-will keep things colder for longer. (No need to fully freeze foods that you ordinarily store in your fridge.) Label and package (or repackage) your food ahead of time You should likewise pre-chill anything that you plan on packing to get it as cold as possible without ruining anything, says Mary Odell, director of program and safety at the Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School. By the following day, all of that ice will be melted be sure to drain it before you start packing your food. To give your cooler a head start, let it sit overnight in a refrigerator (if it’ll fit) or filled with a few bags of cubed ice, which Shearlock says can chill the interior of the cooler to a lower temperature and more quickly than block ice. “I’ve also done enough food for two people to last 10 to 14 days.” Chill your cooler and food before you pack “Those are great for most of us who go out for a long weekend to a full week,” she says. Carolyn Shearlock, the boating enthusiast behind the blog The Boat Galley, who spoke to us for our cooler guide, says that she has gotten a lot of mileage out of coolers of that size.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |