No electrics and no freezer for ice blocks! any suggestions?

[lisad123]

Going wild camping with my sister hopefully this summer.
I have checked the site and there is no freezer for ice blocks. Im wondering how we will manage for a week? Any suggestions? Is there a type of cool box you can run off a car battery?

You could store milk in a bucket of water.

Bags of ice cubes work brilliantly.

Cost £1 normally. Even when the ice melts the water still cools the food.

You need a washing up bowl, a large cloth and some water.

1. Put a couple of inches of water in the bowl and stand your beers milk in the middle.

2. Dip the cloth in the water and wring it out so it's damp.

3. Drape the cloth over the top of the beers milk with the edges in the water.

Keep the whole contraption outside the tent during the day. As the water evaporates from the cloth, it cools whatever is under it and more water is drawn up through the cloth. Add more water to the bowl as necessary. You can place a brick in the bowl and balance cheese (well wrapped) etc. on top so it's not in the water.

interesting about the washing up bowl, but i'd second the bag of ice cubes if you're going to be out and about during the day. we just did that on a five-day trip and it worked beautifully.

You can get gas powered cool boxes

you can get cool boxes that run of car batteries

*if you're going to be out and about

*as in, if you're going to be passing a supermarket.

"Summer", you say.... you should be fine, the wind and rain should keep it all nicely chilled

love the bowl / cloth suggestin , shall try that next time we go.

i usually just use tinned EVERYTHING and a small carton of uht milk per day as i cba to find a supermarket whe we're away....... someimes just buy meat on the day if we're having any, but also have become very fond of corned beef!

An icey tec cooler box

put 1bag of ice and half a cup of salt in the bottom of your cooler. Pref in a sealed bag (like a rubble sack, sealed with duck tape).

The salt lowers the temp below freezing as the ice melts, and you will be able to keep frozen stuff for a day or so, other stuff will keep lovely and cold, as bottom of the cooler will be frozen.

Freeze your milk before you go.acts as an ice block.

expliquer about the salt, if you pliz. what it a rubble sack?

Rubble sack. Basically a rubbish sack that is strong enough to take rubble.

ooh, cheers. although i have looked at science of ice/salt and it looks like a no-win situ to me.

Buy UHT milk sticks off Ebay for tea. Eat tinned or powdered everything else.

aitch, we have used the ice + salt method at scout camp to act as a freezer - 24 hours on, frozen stuff still frozen.

The only tricky bit is keeping your foods dry and away from the salty water! Hence the rubble sack (available at supermarkets).

You also need to put your cooler in the shade and cover it with a tarp of something similar. Do not open until you need to .

the science bit:

Ice has to absorb energy in order to melt, changing the phase of water from a solid to a liquid. When you use ice to cool stuff, the energy is absorbed from the stuff and from the outside environment. When you add salt to the ice, it lowers the freezing point of the ice, so even more energy has to be absorbed from the environment in order for the ice to melt. This makes the ice colder than it was before - we measured it once at -15 deg C. Ice itself is just 0 deg C. Ideally, using salt crystals rather than table salt (like dishwasher salt?) The larger crystals take more time to dissolve in the water around the ice, which allows for even cooling.

If you can find some, dry ice would also be an option.

so what's in the rubble sack? the food? the stuff i read said that the melting point is now higher (lower) so it's a no win plan, but am happy to learn that's wrong if so.

Put the ice and the salt in the rubble sack (or double bag in smaller ziplocks bags) to act as freezer blocks. They take the temp below freezing, and you will still have some ice in icy water after 24 hours. Obv cant use the ice, but it does super freeze the air (and food) in the icebox

and the ice is out of its bag, yes? (stupid question alert)

These won't last for a week but should keep you going for a few days milk-wise. I always buy a few one pint cartons of milk and freeze them. They act as ice packs and slowly defrost so you've got milk for coffee and lovely chilly milk for cereal!

Mind you, we only ever go camping for 2 - 3 days at a time...!

aitch, yes, take the ice out of the bag, chuck it in new bags with salt, seal it and give it a wee shake. Et voila.

Try it at home with a themometer in the cool box, just to reassure yourself.

I think I might try the double ziplock bag method this time as then you can put icepacks on top as well as on bottom - cold air sinks.

Ice costs 99p a bag usually, so a bag of ice every other day should keep you going.

You can buy gas powered fridges - like this that also plug into mains if you have electric on site. We use them in Scouts, attached to the gas. They work really well.

I second what DOtty says too - freeze your milk, it will defrost slowly and provide cold pack. But it will only go for about 24/36 hours.

i really should have a thermometer in the cool box anyway, shouldn't i? literally never thought of that.

We got a fab electric coolbox from halfords, runs off car battery. They do them in three sizes and it's like having a fridge in the boot. Really pleased with it.

how do they work? do you have to have the car running for it to charge?