Put Ice In Your Cooler The Day Before
Pull your cooler out of the garage or basement a few days before you plan to use it. A cooler is filled with foam and the foam is going to be room temperature when you pull it out of storage. If you wait until the day you plan to use your cooler to fill it will ice, the cooler will start out warm and the ice will melt extremely quickly after you put it in the cooler because the cooler itself is warm.
The night before the cooler will be used, fill it with ice to cool down the cooler. If you don’t want to waste money on bagged ice, fill an old milk jug or a couple 2-liter soda bottles with water and freeze them ahead of time. Store the frozen jugs in your cooler the night before you use it and it will be cold the next day when you fill it with ice. The bagged ice will last much longer if the cooler is already cold when you fill it with new ice.
Eliminate Air Space
Another easy thing you can do to make ice, food and drinks stay colder longer is to make sure your cooler is full when you put food and drinks in it. The more cold food, drinks and ice that are in the cooler, the longer everything will stay cold. Empty air space will result in everything inside the cooler getting warmer faster. If you get tired of buying bagged ice, try buying blocks of ice or freezing milk jugs filled with water. Large blocks of ice take up more space and won’t melt as fast as bags of ice.
Keep It Out Of The Sun
Keeping your cooler out of the sun will help keep your food and drinks cold. Coolers often sit in the sun on the beach or in the back of the boat for long periods of time. If you can store your cooler out of the sun, everything inside will stay colder longer.
Start With Cold Drinks
Don’t put warm food and drinks in your cooler. Purchasing cold drinks or putting your drinks in a refrigerator a day before you intend to put them in a cooler will help the ice in the cooler last longer.
If you want the ice in your cooler to last as long as possible, try the above tips. Most of us buy ice when filling a cooler. The last thing you want to happen is spend money on ice one day and pour water out of your cooler the next day. Make sure your ice lasts for a few days by thinking ahead this weekend.
