Will you be spending some time outdoors and plan to do this with a cooler of chilled drinks and snacks? You will need to learn to pack a cooler the right way. While the quality of a cooler has a role to play in how long it keeps your drinks and snacks cold, equally important is the way you pack your cooler.
To the average person, packing a cooler is simply putting some food in the cooler, adding some ice, and closing it. This notion might be widespread. Nonetheless, packing a cooler the right way is not that simple. If you are looking to pack a cooler like a pro, you are on the right page. You simply need to follow the tips in this article.
Table of Contents
Choose a Cooler #
The obvious first step in packing a cooler is to choose one. This is more important than lots of people realize. If you go out with the wrong cooler, it might not be so easy to get the right results regardless of how good you are at packing a cooler.
If you have an old cooler, you might need to get a new one. This is because of the improvement that cooker insulation has gone through in the past years.
Make Use of Two Coolers #
While it is alright to pack food and drinks in the same cooler, if you want to efficiently pack your cooler, you might need to pack drinks and foods separately. If you are moving to a small group and do not have a large budget, you might opt for packing your foods and drinks in the same cooler. On the other hand, if your group is fairly large, you will do very well to pack drinks and foods separately.
While overtime both coolers will get warm, there is a huge likelihood for the cooler housing drinks to get warmer faster as it will be opened severally. Furthermore, you will be going through unnecessary stress if you have to search for drinks under the foods in your cooler. That’s not all. Doing this will also increase the likelihood of the temperature of your cooler increasing very rapidly.
Get Your Cooler Ready #
Before going ahead to store foods and drinks in your cooler, there are things you must do a day before an event. They are;
Get Your Cooler Into the House: You do not have to wait for the day you will be using your cooler to arrive before bringing it out. This is important if your cooler is usually stored in a garage or a hot attic. When you do this, you can drop the temperature of the cooler considerably says The Cooler Talks site.
Take Time to Clean it: Not everyone is super-careful. There is a likelihood that you did not do justice to your cooler while cleaning it after using it the last time. This means you have to take it out and clean it properly before using it again.
In addition to washing your cooler with soap and water, get it free from germs with a disinfectant spray. Doing this will keep your foods free from contamination.
Food Preparation #
In addition to getting your cooler ready in the right way, there is also a way to prepare the food you will be putting into this cooler.
Prep Food:
Packing your cooler like a pro involves maximizing space. To maximize space, you have to prep food before backing. This includes chopping your veggies. Furthermore, if you do not have to use all the condiments in a container, move the portion you need into a smaller container.
Take Out unwanted Packaging: Always take out any packaging you do not need. It might seem cool to move foods around with its packaging. This type of packaging, however, can up a lot of space. Going by this, ensure you only move with the things you need. If you will be making use of five eggs, feel free to keep the carton at home.
Freeze Food Items: If you will be making a long journey, you should freeze a huge proportion of the foods you will be going on your trip with. While at this, avoid freezing any foods that you need at arrival. However, if you do not have any plans for eating your food on the first night of your trip, it is okay to freeze everything. It is also okay to freeze bottled water. While freezing bottled water, the water contained in the bottle should not be more than ¼ full so expansion can take place.
Refrigerate Food: Since it is impossible to freeze every food, those that will not be frozen have to be refrigerated. To get the best from the use of your cooler, you should not pack any food that is not refrigerated.
Video Credit: skisdotcom
Conclusion #
When packing your cooler, it should be put into your car after every other thing has gone in. Furthermore, you should place block ice at the bottom of the cooler. Once you have the surface of the cooler packed with an ice block, go-ahead to put in foods. Fill every available space with ice cubes to prevent air from getting in.
Everything in your cooler should be placed vertically. This way, you can prevent leaks from occurring if anything gets broken. Your breakfast and dinner should not be kept in the same position. You should keep your dinner on the left side of your cooler and breakfast on the right side. When you do this, you will not need to make so much effort when it is time to eat.