Esky ice life

[whynott]

Hi i have a new 65 lt eva cool esky ,going to frazer for 4 days .Can any one tell me the best way to pack block ice for maximum life .My thoughts are 3 blocks on the bottom .Frozen meat on one side ,drinks on the other.Worried forzen product may defost .

Other thougt i had was 3 day dry ice with a sheet of cardborad on top ,Frozen product on bottom ,sheet of cardboard .then drinks so they wont freeze .

Anyother ideas .

[mackmauler]

ok ice box that small wont hold much ice with food/drinks inc, if you dont use dry ull have plenty of melting ice after a couple of days, ud want to make sure the meat was well sealed. id just get some dry and throw a couple bags of party on top, insulate it with some paper on top.

[Daintreeboy]

If it's cryovacced it will be fine the entire time even if it's defrosted before you go. That leaves the drinks as the important factor. To be honest you don't have a great deal of room for that length of trip. Can you get another one from a mate for this trip? That'll take care of the milk, drinks, salad etc.
Evakools will keep the ice for that long if say half the esky is ice.
Cheers, Mark

[NeilD]

I would go dry ice in a bigger block (7 day) with frozen stuff around it. A couple of frozen water bottles can be refrozen each night and used for a smaller day esky for fish etc. With plenty of dry ice you can chill drinks with out killing your esky. We would usually take a couple of ones a fair bit bigger than that and use one to hold ice and bait and pull down fish and drinks.
Block ice will not keep stuff frozen for long.

Neil

[saphire]

Where do you get dry ice from?

[JewseeTHAT]

Around these parts calling into Streets, or Pauls will get you dry ice. Any co that works with frozens are a possible source. Failing that, ring around refridgeration mechanics and ask them.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

BOC Gases usually sell dry ice. They make the stuff.

Cheers
Dave

[NeilD]

Brisbane ice sales etc. Most of the big ice places sell it around Brisso. A bit harder to find in the country areas.

Neil

[2iar]

Make your ice in containers like 10l water containers, 2l or 3l milk containers etc.
That way you won't have any melted ice in the esky, and you can use it for drinking water when it's thawed.

I've also heard that boiling the water prior to freezing helps it last longer, something to do with reducing the air in the water, resulting in more "compact" ice" and adding salt will prolong the ice (but forget about drinking it then obviously).

Having said all that, I reckon you'll need some dry ice for a 65l. Unless you keep it closed practically all the time - but let's face it, if the beer's in there that ain't happening and again, 65l is way too small :D

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

Mike

[Seahorse]

couple bags party ice on bottom, out of bag. put block dry ice on top of that still in paper. put in couple of frozen bottles of water. (milk bottles) and these can be put into other esky for drinks and refrozen in larger esky. just make sure u use all the space in the evakool. 3day block should be ok. the party ice will still be frozen when u get home. no glass drinks in the evakool ;D

[MrWong]

Dry Ice is awesome stuff! Just beaware of its inherent dangers - tricks for young players - Dont touch it it will burn your skin off! Dont leave the esky lid open to long it will escape as gas! and dont mix with water - it will smoke and turn to a bubbling mix of toxic gas. Ensure you keep it in the open - ie not in the cabin of a boat or back seat of a car! All common sense using some smarts it is a great tool. Whoever is your distributor should give you all the sagety implications anyhoo just be safe and all is good - OH and yes it will keep ya drumsticks cold!

Cheers
::)

[MulletGuts]

the general rule for the evacool is 1/3 ice. which for a 65 litre means about 20 litres of Ice (gee I'm good at maths).

you'll probably find this a bit tight in that size esky with other stuff, but they are very good. I have an evacool 110 and 3 x 5kg blocks will last for about 5 days in this weather so long as you're not in it all the time.

Couple of tips:
Cool the esky down before the trip. Chuck a bag of ice in it a couple of nights before and remove the excess water before the trip.
secondly, try not to add warm stuff into it. Cool down any beer you are putting in there with the water that you drain out of it. then chuck them in.