Dry Ice

[pauldeandean]

Any advice on using dry ice to preserve food in a cooler while camping?

We are traveling to Vancouver, Canada for a wedding and then off to Banff and Jasper National Parks for a week of camping.  We've cooked and frozen homemade chili and a spagetti sauce but won't be using them for the first 7 days of the trip.

Is using dry ice in a 5-day cooler a good way to preserve the food or should we just keep adding ice to keep the food cold?

Thanks,

Paul

[Tall Tom]

Dry Ice will keep it frozen Paul.
Trick is to remove any excess space within the cooler.  Fill up empty space  with food, newspaper, towels, reg ice (block ice lasts longer), etc.  You get the idea. Also, do not open the cooler unless absolutely necessary until you start using the contents.  Also, pre-cool the ice chest for 24 hours  prior to packing it with food and dry ice.  Use regular ice  for this. Water filled and frozen gallon milk or juice jugs are a great and cheap substitute for block ice. Place Dry Ice on top of other items.  Also use gloves when handling Dry Ice.

[brainpause]

Dry ice on top to use as a freezer, dry ice on bottom to use as a refrigerator.

We used to do this and liked it. There was a lot less cleanup of icy water at the end of a trip too.

One caveat: It can carbonate some things, like fruit. We thought some fruit had gone bad until we realized it was just infused with CO2, like a coke, and had a fizzy feel in the mouth.

Larry

[Dee4j]

Dry ice on top to use as a freezer, dry ice on bottom to use as a refrigerator.

We used to do this and liked it. There was a lot less cleanup of icy water at the end of a trip too.

One caveat: It can carbonate some things, like fruit. We thought some fruit had gone bad until we realized it was just infused with CO2, like a coke, and had a fizzy feel in the mouth.

Larry

maybe a smaller seperate cooler for the stuff to keep frozen

[perterra]

Make sure its stored in a well ventilated area. It sublimates at about about 3 or 4 lbs a day (rice or pellets at a higher rate) and a lb equals about 200 liters of gaseous CO2. It also works pretty well at keeping mosquitos away. Just open the chest and set it up wind a hundred feet or so from you. The blood suckers hang around the ice chest instead of the people.

[Dee4j]

Make sure its stored in a well ventilated area. It sublimates at about about 3 or 4 lbs a day (rice or pellets at a higher rate) and a lb equals about 200 liters of gaseous CO2. It also works pretty well at keeping mosquitos away. Just open the chest and set it up wind a hundred feet or so from you. The blood suckers hang around the ice chest instead of the people.

and add water for a really cool spooky effect..

[perterra]

I never tried the water. :-()  Last experiment I had with it was coke would freeze solid in something like 3 1/2 minutes, beer 5.

[tlhdoc]

I use to use dry ice, but now no one near me makes it.  I would have a few milk jugs with frozen water in the freezer/cooler, then add the frozen food, then put the well wrapped dry ice on top.  I would get about 20 pounds of dry ice.  Until the dry ice is gone everything is frozen very cold.  It will take a few day for the food to thaw out, after the dry ice is gone.  I would take food out of the freezer/cooler the day before we were going to eat it, as long as the dry ice was still in there.  One thing we would do is have ice cream bars at the beginning of the trip.

[Camp&Fish]

My limited experience with dry ice is that it freezes everything in the cooler.  It's great if that's what you're going for and is probably ideal for extended trips.

Just be careful with dry ice.  It is very cold and can cause thermal burns if not handled correctly.  Also, don't stick your head down in the cooler.  That fog is pure carbon dioxide and will displace all of the oxygen, making it difficult to respire.

[MotherNature]

Sorry if this post asks about the obvious; I'm still a little confused.

Since the dry ice is so cold, will it cause the cooler plastic to become brittle and crack?  Do you always have to wrap the ice up or can you just put it in as is?

Since it sublimates, could the gas leak out of the cooler lid and accumulate in a vehicle and cause health problems (my coolers are kind of old and yes, I know I'm paranoid - having children does that to a person!)?  Should I drive with the windows open?

I understand about it keeping frozen things frozen; is there any way to use it to cool drinks without totally freezing them?  I read the post about keeping it on the bottom of the cooler, but how much of a barrier should go between it and the drinks?

Again, sorry if I'm restating the obvious; I'm a bit slow in the morning :morning:

[Calstate361]

I tried it for the first time for our last trip. I purchased it at our local Bel-Air and the manager that got it for me said to keep it in the brown paper bag he gave it to me in and said to add a hand towel or bathtowel between the bottom and top of the cooler.   It was great and froze the stuff in there.  He also said to use gloves when handeling it.  The only thing I didn't like is that it cost me $20 for 2 small blocks, which might have run more than just using ice; I didn't figure it out.  The store manager also mentioned the bottom and top of the cooler thing as mention before.

Try it, you don't know until you experience it yourself.

Joan

[brainpause]

Sorry if this post asks about the obvious; I'm still a little confused.

Since the dry ice is so cold, will it cause the cooler plastic to become brittle and crack?  Do you always have to wrap the ice up or can you just put it in as is?

Since it sublimates, could the gas leak out of the cooler lid and accumulate in a vehicle and cause health problems (my coolers are kind of old and yes, I know I'm paranoid - having children does that to a person!)?  Should I drive with the windows open?

I understand about it keeping frozen things frozen; is there any way to use it to cool drinks without totally freezing them?  I read the post about keeping it on the bottom of the cooler, but how much of a barrier should go between it and the drinks?

Again, sorry if I'm restating the obvious; I'm a bit slow in the morning :morning:

If you are driving with the air conditioner on, I'd be surprised if the CO2 from the cooler would be enough to cause a problem.

Just put a parakeet on the floor, and if he dies, there is a problem.



Larry