r/camping • u/Useful_Ad_8735 • Jul 14 '25
Gear Question Coolers
Been camping and anytime I put food that needs to stay cool with ice the water from the ice gets into the ziploc or bowl.
Is there any cooler that you can have food in that isn’t touching the ice?
Is there any tip to avoid this?
Thanks in advance
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u/joelfarris Jul 14 '25
One word.
Rubbermaid wire racks.
Dangit, I messed that up.
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u/grumpvet87 Jul 14 '25
I island camp every year and we camp for over a week, and go through lots of ice. I have tried lots of things and i have found that any perishable food needs to be "at/below ice level" to stay out of the danger zone (too warm, where bacteria and spores can grow). I have tried to use plastic bins to hold the food but the plastic is too good an insulator to keep it cold enough (although it does keep it dry)
I now use my 3 quart metal bowl from my instantpot to hold my food away from the ice and water that melts (actually I have 2 bowls). the metal (aluminum) will radiate the coolness of the ice without the food bags touching the ice. It does get a little condensation in the bowl so I use a few plastic (yogurt) lids in the bottom to keep my food off the bottom and every day I will get the water out of the bowl with a papertowel or washcloth. This works VERY well.
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u/FishVonMisfit13 Jul 14 '25
Use those packs you freeze and freeze bottled water if your going for days if you can freeze some of the food for the later days and put on the bottom. it'll slowly thaw over the trip and help keep things cool
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u/xsproutx Jul 14 '25
I’m a big fan of those; have several of the “cooler shock” brands for the last few years and they keep things nice and cold. For reference, I live in Phoenix and did a 3 night camp up north a couple weeks ago where it was in the low 80s during the day. Came home and knew I only had a couple of cans of pop left so just put off unpacking for another day where it sat in my garage at 105 degrees. They were still nice and cold. Obviously the quality of the cooler matters and I have a nice one but yeh. I’ve done 5 day trips with just those and still had pork well within the safe zone
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u/FishVonMisfit13 Jul 14 '25
Nice! I'll have to invest in cooler shock those sound awesome. I just use whatever I can find at Walmart or the grocery store so far I've been fine but I'm located in PA and don't camp in the summer months. I do fall or early spring while it's still cooler out my boyfriend and kid can't stand being hot lol
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u/xsproutx Jul 14 '25
I’m not a big fan of being hot either but half of AZ is over a mile high with a large chunk over 7k feet, so you desert camp in the winter, mountain camp in the summer. It’s not shabby. Oh, my suggestion: if you look that brand up, they sell soft sided and hard sided packs. I bought the soft sided originally but they only lasted two years. Thick material but they ended up getting poked by things over time and the gel leaks out. The hard ones have been fantastic
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u/__Vixen__ Jul 14 '25
This. Unless youre in the desert than these work amazing. I only top up with ice on long trips. Freeze food in tupperware containers. Ice packs along the bottom and sides. Wet towel on top. Separate cooler for drinks/condiments. Keep it out of the sun.
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u/massierva Jul 14 '25
Fun fact. The ice at a 7-11 is kept at +20 degrees in storage. The ice at a Wallgreens is kept in the ice cream freezer at minus -10 degrees. Colder ice means that your cooler keeps product longer at a ideal temperature
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u/LucidDreamerVex Jul 14 '25
I'm Canadian, so am used to Celsius, and this comment really confused me till I realized you're obviously using fahrenheit 😅
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u/CivilWay1444 Jul 14 '25
Word. And those ice machines that sell twice the ice are pretty warm as well.
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u/ExternalGiraffe9631 Jul 14 '25
Box wine bags. Rinse them out. Fill them about 3/4 with water. Lay flat in your freezer. They make great, flat ice bricks that last for days without leaking. And as they slowly thaw you have ice cold water on tap.
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u/CodeAndBiscuits Jul 14 '25
Bottles of ice as others are mentioning. Also, put your food in gallon-size ziplocs. You can reuse them many times. They'll help keep things dry.
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u/Administration_Key Jul 14 '25
Some coolers have trays or racks that sit up above the ice layer, just for this purpose. The best option by far, though is to switch to a 12V fridge -- they can be expensive, however. Still, it's a game changer.
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u/Standard-Tension-697 Jul 14 '25
Yep, I have 2 yetis and a couple of other coolers and it was always such a pain. My wife got me a 12v fridge for xmas a few years ago and I have never looked back It is dual zone so can be all fridge or all freezer or a combo. It is a bougerv and has held up great and not super pricey.
Also it can hold more food and drinks since you don't have to worry about filling it with ice so my 37qt fridge holds more than my 70qt yeti. Plus I can take ice cream if I want.
I can plug it into the outlet in my truck or I usually carry a power station which I can top off with a solar panel when I camp.
I also us it for mor than just camping, if we are doing errands and I want to go to the grocery store and pick up some things and not go straight home I can, and not worry about ice. Road trips are easy to take drinks and stuff and not worry about keeping ice in it.
It also cools down quick, I can plug it in and have it to below 40 in about an hour.
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u/Feeling-Visit1472 Jul 14 '25
Which one do you have?
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u/Administration_Key Jul 15 '25
I have two Anker EverFrost coolers which I love because they're battery powered (and rechargeable via solar) as well as very fast to cool down. I've heard really good things about BougeRV too, though.
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u/Zee_Naa2139 Jul 14 '25
4 ½ gallons of frozen water, one in each corner, 2 more laid down. Fill with ice ¾ up. Cookie drying rack fits perfectly ... add sammiches & go!
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u/Jumpy_Salt_8721 Jul 15 '25
I bought the 45 qt Alpicool with the LG compressor with a COVID thank you bonus from the hospital I work for. Baskets help keep things organized. Also a very small drink cooler with ice packs supplements and keeps things organized. Then I can store full 12 pack sleeves of pop in the wasted space between the fridge and back seat, since the fridge can cool those down, then they can move to the drink cooler once chilled and my wife and kid won’t mess up the fridge organization.
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u/IdRatherBeDriving Jul 14 '25
In addition to all the frozen water bottle advice, two things. 1. Pre-chill the cooler for a day or two before the trip. 2. Don’t put anything that isn’t already cold into the cooler when you pack it.
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u/ReggaeJunkyJew4u Jul 14 '25
Frozen water bottle tech. I started doing this and haven't went back. It usually is only good for short trips though (like 2-3 days max)
step 1.) Freeze a bunch of water bottles over night
step 2.) Line cooler with said water bottles
step 3.)Load anything you want to keep cool into cooler.
Keeps ice from melting into everything else, plus you will have extremely cold water once ice starts to melt a bit.
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u/editorreilly Jul 14 '25
Frozen 1 gallon water containers. The kind you buy at the store. Preferably square so they fit the cooler better. It'll keep things refrigerator cold for several days. Lay a beach towel over the food on the inside so you aren't cooling off the dead air at the top of the cooler.
When I'm at home I use them in our garage refrigerator to fill in the dead spaces in the freezer or fridge. Thermal mass makes a real difference in efficiency. They also help keep food colder for longer if you have a power outage.
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u/MyloWilliams Jul 14 '25
Lots of coolers now have a grate shelf insert that keeps food above the ice line
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u/SouthernResponse4815 Jul 14 '25
Ninja makes coolers with a drawer beneath the main compartment that you can put food in to keep separate from the ice. Because it’s under the ice, it still stays cool. Not a lot of room though. My daughter bought me one for Father’s Day and it works pretty well.
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u/Outrageous-Pen-9737 Jul 14 '25
If the length of trip constitutes it, you could use dry ice in the bottom of the cooler. There will be no extra liquid at all that way.
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u/radgoldglitterdust Jul 14 '25
Yes! But caution with this as anything porous will aboard the gas from the dry ice!
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u/saliczar Jul 14 '25
I have this, and it works well. Keeps my wife's medications cool.
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u/SamePalpitation3151 Jul 14 '25
Thanks for that! I just ordered one! LOL. BTW, Target has the best price. $50 less than Amazon even!
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u/Brave_Cauliflower_90 Jul 14 '25
Use a vacuum sealer instead of ziplocks
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u/redundant78 Jul 14 '25
Vacuum sealing is the way to go - creates a watertight seal that ice water can't penetrate, and if ur worried about leaks just double-bag the important stuff!
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u/getdownheavy Jul 14 '25
Freeze various size bottles of water; 16oz 20oz 1 gal, whatever fits. Larger containers can last a few days if treated right, depending. Make a variety of sizes and pack your food & the ice bottles efficient and tight fitting.
They will melt without getting everything wet.
It does take the effort of freezing them ahead of time.
Wide mouth bottles are easy to shove ice cubes in; but they won't be as good as one big solid piece of ice.
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u/Feralest_Baby Jul 14 '25
I put my food in roll-top waterproof drybags inside the cooler.
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u/motopwnies Jul 16 '25
Oooh that's super smart. If it's good enough for on the kayak, it's good enough for in the cooler! 💡
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u/ladyxanax Jul 14 '25
I bought reusable ziplock bags and had really good success with putting my food in them and not getting water in them this last time I camped. I did try to keep them upright in the cooler and was very careful to make sure they were completely sealed after each time I opened them though. I even put marinating meat in one inside the cooler and had nothing leak out of it into the cooler and kept the leftover marinade in the cooler to take home to dispose of after the meat had been cooked.
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u/UnderstandingDry4072 Jul 14 '25
We put beers on the bottom layer, ice above them and keep food in plastic containers above the ice.
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u/tetcon Jul 14 '25
Yep, even the pricey coolers don’t fix that unless they’ve got built-in baskets. My father in law showed me a trick: grab a wire basket insert (Yeti-style ones fit a lot of coolers) or use stackable deli containers. way better seal than Ziplocs. Some folks even use a rack from a baking sheet to elevate stuff off the ice. Works like a charm.
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u/RedditBurner_5225 Jul 14 '25
We just bought a yeti so we can have a dry basket and divider. First trip we went on and no food was ruined.
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u/thecheeesseeishere Jul 14 '25
I put a rack at the bottom of my cooler, then another rack with legs on top of that one
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u/BreadfruitOk6160 Jul 14 '25
I bought a little plastic trash can (Walmart) that takes up about 1/3 of my cooler, I keep the stuff I want cold but dry in it. I have a really shitty ice chest(looking at you Igloo!) that I keep my pantry type food in ( no ice) and this littler one for paper plates, paper towels, snacks, chips, etc. And I drain my water daily and get new ice.
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u/AtOm-iCk66 Jul 14 '25
Put food in a tupperware or similar.
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u/jenakle Jul 14 '25
This is what we do. Jars and bottles that don't matter can go right in/on the ice. Lunch meat, cheese, fruit I put in a large Tupperware container on top, don't even really need the lid just a tray to keep them from getting soggy.
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u/Own_Win_6762 Jul 14 '25
We used two coolers:one for cold, including milk, meats and cheeses. Frozen solid gallon jug, then lots of other ice. Two tall skinny buns that sit taller than the ice level, and a lot of zip top bags. Second one is "cool" for produce, eggs, peanut butter (the car is too hot for it to sit out) that we don't want wet. It only gets a gallon jug and a clip-top rectangular tray that sits above other things.
When the gallons melt, we replace them with a Costco milk jug (taller than std) with the top cut off so we can fill it with ice. Same with the rectangle tray, but it melts much faster (not as much ice to keep it cold, and not as good of a cooler). Note that the "cold" milk jug stayed more than 50% frozen for 11 days! (Igloo that looks like a Yeti).
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u/Reggie_Barclay Jul 14 '25
Put the ice into waterproof containers like a dry bag for rafting or freeze water in large beverage bottles.
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u/procrasstinating Jul 14 '25
Freeze water bottles or Tupperware containers with water. Bags of ice always end up as cooler soup.
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u/StudentDull2041 Jul 14 '25
I use one with a drain plug and periodically drain excess water. I also pack in such a way that stuff like that doesn’t get submerged. Also put ziploc bagged stuff together inside Tupperware
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u/agitatedcupcake Jul 14 '25
Bottles of water are the best! Especially since most camps do not have the best water for drinking and cooking. We have a system in place for our snacks and food prep to help with the ziplock water problems. I bought a stack of the small meal prep containers and make small charcuterie boxes. Cheese and fruits or crackers veggies and hummus. Meals are divided also. We do use zip locks to add them to the cooler but this way we are not trying to open all the snack, fruit or meat ziplocks and then throwing them back in. Much less chance of things not being sealed properly. It has worked pretty well for music festivals and river rafting. Grab a box and go, no having to make up extra packs during your trip.
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u/KungFuBucket Jul 14 '25
If you’re using a cooler, I assume you’re car camping. We went on a month long road trip last year with an electric cooler and solar setup.
- electric cooler is great because you don’t have ice taking up additional space
- plugged it into a solar rechargeable battery for power. On travel days the battery charges from the car and on camp days we put out the solar panel.
- solar battery also has built in inverter for charging electronics or running small 110v appliances
It’s a bit expensive, but never having to worry about soggy food or going on an ice run or having to dump the ice melt made it worth it.
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u/RingAroundtheTolley Jul 14 '25
We freeze juice pouches and use them to drink or cook with. Water bottles, too
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u/ExcellentPlace4608 Jul 14 '25
It's hard to avoid but I start out by leaving the ice on the bag and putting the food on top. If you have a good, thick-walled cooler, your food will stay cold.
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u/crazymom1978 Jul 14 '25
Ninja cooler. We just bought one this year and it is a game changer! It has a drawer that has zero ice go in it for things that need to stay dry. In the area that you do put ice in, it is so well insulated that a bag of ice can last up to 5 days in 30C+ heat. They are pricy, but worth every cent!
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u/flychinook Jul 14 '25
I bought tall plastic food containers (eg: Tupperware) that closely match the inside height and width of my cooler. Food goes in those and stays dry. As a bonus, this also helps insulate the food from temperature changes when you grab beers.
These ones have a minimal taper and fit like a glove in my 50qt Maluna cooler.
Tip: spend extra on the newer style ultra-clear containers, they tend to be more rectangular for less wasted space. If you're unsure, take your cooler in to Walmart and test-fit.
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u/FN_Fan Jul 14 '25
I got tired of dealing with the moisture on multi day trips and switched to an electric fridge/freezer. I still have my yeti and rtic, but the primary for the campsite is the portable fridge. (For non electric camping I bring a Jackery power supply. In the winter I bring 2 jackery’s and a diesel heater. lol
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u/fcb1313 Jul 14 '25
I use a kohree electric cooler. If I'm going to be off grid my battery will run it for several days.
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u/MixIllEx Jul 14 '25
This is a tip to avoid what you are trying to avoid. It’s unpopular practice, but I gave up coolers years ago for camping.
I just take shelf stable ingredients to make meals out of.
Beer stays home and drinks are water or powder mix.
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u/Stouts_Sours_Hefs Jul 14 '25
Beer stays home
This is not the way to camp.
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u/twilightmoons Jul 14 '25
In the heat, alcohol isn't good for hydration, especially higher-alcohol beers and liquors.
If we're hiking, I'm tired enough I fall asleep fast and don't need alcohol before bed. Ain't carrying anything that it's essential, anyway. I'd rather take another lens than a can of beer.
If we're car camping with the family, I'm not going to drink around the kid, because I'm the one who needs to be responsible in case something happens.
If we're on a dive boat (basically camping on the water), if you drink, you're done diving for the day, and I love my night dives too much to do that. By the time I'm out of the water, washed up and clean, I just want to sleep to rest enough for a 7am dive.
The powdered drink are the way to go - my go-to for breakfast is hot oatmeal, an energy gel, and a liter of Gatorade before hiking the day. Slow digestion, quick burst of energy when I need to get packed up and moving, and lots of electrolytes for the day.
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u/Stouts_Sours_Hefs Jul 14 '25
In the heat, alcohol isn't good for hydration, especially higher-alcohol beers and liquors.
Yes, this is blatantly obvious.
If we're hiking, I'm tired enough I fall asleep fast and don't need alcohol before bed
If you're using alcohol as a means to fall asleep, that's alcoholism. Anyone in that situation shouldn't be bringing any sort of alcohol anywhere.
f we're car camping with the family, I'm not going to drink around the kid, because I'm the one who needs to be responsible in case something happens.
There is nothing wrong with having a couple beers around your own child. In fact, if you're able to do that and do it responsibly, that's setting a great example for your kid. Kids should know that alcohol isn't for the sole purpose of getting blasted. And if you think it is, again, that's alcoholism. I'm not encouraging that. I can drink 2-3 beers over the course of 2-3 hours while sitting around the fire and still be completely coherent and able to respond to any kind of emergency situation. Im not going overboard. Not that I'd want to - nothing worse than sleeping in a hot tent on the ground with the spins. I did that when I was a much younger man. Those days are over.
Stay hydrated during the day, but nothing beats a long day of camping, like finishing it up with a couple of cold brews around a fire. Some of us also enjoy the taste of beer. We're not drinking it for the purpose of getting drunk.
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u/twilightmoons Jul 14 '25
The hydration but is not obvious - can't tell you how many times people have tried to "explain" that beer is good for you on a hot day. Some just don't know any better, but some, mostly the older generation, drank like fish and took it as a personal insult if you didn't keep up. When I had a boat, I had to explain to someone that no, he can't come aboard with a 12-pack and drink it all in an afternoon when it was 105 on the lake.
I don't drink much at all. One drink is enough for me, I just get sleepy. If I have one drink a month, it's above average for me. Two drinks in an hour or two, and I just want to curl up in bed. At that point, I know I'm not in a good state in case of problems. As far as the kid - I make wine and flavored vodkas at home (for gifts). He's been around it all his life, he understands responsible behavior.
There are a lot of us that just don't drink, we don't make alcohol a part of every event. I understand that there are others that do enjoy it. I'm not saying that no one should drink - I'm saying that it's not necessary to do so.
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u/Stouts_Sours_Hefs Jul 14 '25
I wasn't trying to imply you're an alcoholic. I just dont like when people try to demonize beer as a whole because some of us do genuinely just like to sip on a couple cold ones without doing it excessively. As we know, there are plenty of people who abuse it.
You're right, though. Lots of ignorant people out there that are not educated enough to know what hydration means.
All that said, for me, relaxing at the fire with a cold beer is peak camping. Right up there with a hot percolator coffee in the morning (dont come at me, French Press purists).
We all have our own camping rituals, though. Do what makes you happy (unless you're the idiot two sites down from me over the 4th playing rave music at 11pm and then again at 8am - dont be that guy).
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u/pip-whip Jul 14 '25
Freeze gallon jugs of water for the start of your trip. The water stays contained and won't flood your cooler. Depending on outdoor temps, how many jugs/containers you use, how good your cooler is, and how often you go in and out of it, they shouldn't melt completely for up to three days.
You can also choose how you organize your cooler to keep sealed containters that can become immersed on the bottom layer. Also, you can drain the water out of your cooler as needed.
I have a couple of plastic boxes with lids that I specifically purchased to use in my cooler into which I can put other items. Two can go on the bottom layer. One large flat one can go on top of everything else.
Some coolers come with trays and racks. But honestly, I would prioritize size of cooler and quality of insulation over these because there are other ways to solve the water problem.
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u/thefinerthingsclubvp Jul 14 '25
I either double Ziploc things, but more and more I've been using snap and lock containers and they've been a game changer, nothing gets in.
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u/funchallenge Jul 14 '25
Old ice cream pails. Make sure to drain excess water off as needed, maybe once a day.
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u/eazypeazy303 Jul 14 '25
There are plenty of coolers with a dry basket now. You could also get some dry bags and pack stuff in there.
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u/BrentsBadReviews Jul 14 '25
I have a bison cooler with a wire rack. This sits nested above items in the cooler: https://www.bisoncoolers.com/collections/accessories/products/dry-goods-tray
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u/SuperBigDouche Jul 14 '25
This is why I switched to using a DC fridge and solar power station. Started with a little 350 watt-hour station with an 80 watt solar panel and a cheap fridge off of Amazon. Granted, it’s a big investment compare to a cooler and ice. I’ve upgraded since, but my first setup cost me about $400 if I remember right. And because it wasn’t a very big power station, I was reliant on good sun all day to keep it charged. Wouldn’t recommend it though unless you do a ton of camping for longer periods of time where keeping ice becomes too difficult simply because the upfront cost. My full camping setup is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.
Though I did see Ninja made a cooler with drawers under the main cooler body to keep things cool and out of the ice. Might be worth checking out something like that
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u/Relevant-Crow-3314 Jul 14 '25
Car fridge is very fun but uses a lot of power. I think Iceco makes an aluminum cooler that uses reusable ice packs and keeps ice cream cold. It’s expensive though
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u/shakedownsunflower Jul 14 '25
Just pay attention to the stuff on top and put more solid things on bottom that can get wet like ketchup bottle. Use block ice If possible. I also usually have all my lunch meat/cheese in individual ziplock bags then put all that in a gallon ziplock
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u/er1catwork Jul 14 '25
Ninja has some intercrops that have a “dry drawer” to keep some of your food from getting wet…
https://www.ninjakitchen.com/products/ninja-frostvault-45qt-wheeled-cooler-shark-flexbreeze-portable-fan-bundle-white-zidFB245WHF Ninja FrostVault™ 45qt Wheeled Cooler & Shark™ FlexBreeze™ Portable Fan Bundle (White) Coolers - Ninja
Not sure I’m sold on then but interesting though…
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u/Cheyennedonna Jul 14 '25
I actually just bought a cooler that will solve that problem for a lot of the foods that I don't want floating around in ice and water. It's a Ninja FrostVault and it has a drawer that pulls out at the bottom. Supposedly will keep everything below 40° in that dry storage drawer. As a matter of fact I was testing it today. Building it with probably about 20 lb of ice cubes and two 1 gallon bottles of drinking water that were frozen solid. The thermometer in the dry zone drawer says that it is in the refrigerator zone right around 35° and I know once I put the food in there it will stay cold. I did pre-chill all my food and the drinks that will go in there. I do have a smaller cooler for drinks so that the big cooler only gets opened when we need food to cook or eat for meals. I feel confident that my food will not be floating around in water.
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u/muggins66 Jul 14 '25
Use frozen gallon water jugs and keep the ice cubes in the bag. Open a small portion of the bag to get ice for drinks. Use the cooler drain as needed.
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u/misstrish3 Jul 14 '25
I keep the gel packs from meal subscriptions and use those to pre-cool the cooler. Then I add what others mention - the frozen water bottles. I use some ice but rely mostly on ice packs and gel packs. Other tips shared here are great also!
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u/Miguel-odon Jul 14 '25
Ziploc stuff stays on top of ice. I try to arrange it with the opening up. Put all the small ziplocs into one giant (2-gallon or bigger) bag so it is easy to locate with minimal digging around. Freezer bags, not storage bags.
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u/Warm_Kaleidoscope665 Jul 14 '25
Wire rack with legs exist and work well if you’re using cube ice. Just look at “canning supplies” and you’ll find them cheap
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u/pheonixkat Jul 14 '25
Ninja is running tv commercials on something exactly like this right now but I can’t remember what it is called exactly. Saw the ad yesterday
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u/PrinciplePatient7143 Jul 14 '25
Ninja just came out with some janky thing. Don't know how effective it is though
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u/HalliburtonErnie Jul 14 '25
Layer of dry ice, folded towel, several layers of cardboard, then all your food. Bing bang blammo.
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u/yellinmelin Jul 14 '25
I usually have a couple watertight Tupperware’s that I use to put things like deli meat, cheese, vegetables in. Bc yeah, nothing like a ziplock bag full of your food and gross cooler water lol. Also I always use a cooler with a drain spout and drain the water once a day or so. Great for putting out the fire at night.
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u/bam_bam_ann Jul 14 '25
Something we started doing recently is that for items that will be consumed in one meal, we will vacuum seal and sometimes freeze the item ahead of time, depending on what it is. For example, we vacuum seal skirt steak and chorizo and then freeze, so it will keep through the 2nd or 3rd day.
It's also convenient to divvy up ingredients and keeps them super fresh. I've prepped dips like guacamole ahead of time and it doesn't brown when vacuum sealed. Recently parboiled a bunch of potatoes and separated for different breakfast meals.
I still take a plastic-lidded container that "floats" on top of the ice for any small amounts of leftovers. It's not perfect, but it's been super helpful with certain foods.
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u/Froptus Jul 14 '25
The problem with freezing bottles of water is that eventually they melt. What are you going to do if you're camping for long enough for that to happen? At that point I usually go to the nearest store for ice. That's why I use ice. How can you re-freeze water bottles when your camping? Every store sells ice.
My cooler has a ridge/lip that runs around the inside of the cooler, above the ice level. I cut a plexiglass shelf that sits on that lip. It keeps my food above the ice/water level. It's worked great for years. Drinks/sealed items go in ice below shelf. The coolers with wire shelves that sit above the ice sound like the same thing. I'll buy one of those when it's time for a new cooler.
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u/ElChupathingy Jul 14 '25
Search for reusable ice cubes. I think Iceco makes them. Basically just plastic cubes with water in them.
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u/Lusinsimesc Jul 14 '25
if you don't have a limited budget, buy a cooler that include elevated dry storage inside like Yeti Tundra, RTIC Hard Coolers, if yes, just make some waterproof boxes or bags to maintain food
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u/Karona_ Jul 14 '25
Been using Ziploc for years and can't recall ever having that issue unfortunately, perhaps a better ziploc?
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u/SympathyAnxious5668 Jul 14 '25
Pack food in canning jars, been doing this for years, no leaks! Takes some prep but works wonders.
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u/Mottinthesouth Jul 14 '25
- Make ice blocks with recycled cartons. Blocks last longer. Top off the cooler with regular ice to fill in the gaps.
- Periodically drain the water from your cooler. Water surface causes ice to melt faster.
- Freeze foods you won’t need right away.
- Use jars with screw lids, and other airtight snap containers for food.
- Use a shallow wide plastic container for gathering small ziplock items, butters, cheese, greens, etc. Keep at the top of the cooler. Mine fit neatly across the span and worked sort of like a shelf. Coolers used to come with a bin like this at the top.
Edit to clarify - don’t freeze foods in jars. Jars are great for most of everything else you can’t freeze.
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u/Takara38 Jul 14 '25
What brand ziploc bags are you using? Are you making sure they are sealed? Only asking because I use Ziplock brand bags and haven’t had any issues. The coolers are usually mostly water by the end of the trip, yet no water gets into the bags.
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u/AfraidofReplies Jul 14 '25
I put ice packs on the bottom so that there's an inch or two of clearance between my food and the melt water. I then put the containers least likely to leak/be ruined by water. So all the stuff that most needs to stay dry is at the top. If there's something like raw meat that absolutely must stay cold, it gets doubled bagged and put on the bottom, or eaten the first night while things are the coldest and the tempss are the most stable
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u/earthcolap Jul 14 '25
Put ice it cooler, put a metal rack on top(preferably one with legs. Can use frozen water bottles as legs instead) then food on top
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u/jennuously Jul 14 '25
Something do is I have those reflectix car window shades that I cut up and put in the bottom along the sides and over the top of my cooler. This helps keep the ice in ice form longer. I don’t freeze water bottles. I don’t use them and they just roll around taking up space. For water I use gallon jugs and I don’t keep them cold.
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u/Stealth48z Jul 14 '25
Tons of options, as almost everyone has mentioned, freeze water bottles of some sort.
You can get super good freezer packs (I have yeti and they are something special I must say, though very heavy so harder to bring)
Other suggestion is dry Ice costs a bit but it really does work great.
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u/ginabina67 Jul 14 '25
I would double bag the ice in ziplock freezer bags and pack it around the food.
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u/Gadgetskopf Jul 14 '25
This insert solved all my camping cooler-based issues. Keeps food/ice/water all separate, AND you can remove the melt (ice water is SO refreshing when you're camping in the upper 80s) to make space for more ice without having to remove any of the contents from the cooler.
We do have a smaller cooler for drinks. Those are supposed to be floating in ice-melt.
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u/Chopaize Jul 14 '25
Ninja has a cooler with a dry zone on the bottom. Ninja FrostVault™ 50qt Hard Cooler with Dry Zone, Slate Gray
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u/UnleashTheOnion Jul 14 '25
I actually just came across a Ninja cooler during Prime Day that has a drawer for you to keep dry items! I was looking at Ninja coffee makers and their cooler was a suggested item.
I'm not sure if links are allowed in this sub, but the listing is titled "Ninja FB151BL FrostVault 50qt Hard Cooler with Dry Zone, Integrated Fridge-Temp Dry Storage Drawer". There's a smaller 30 qt version too.
We switched to a Dometic electric cooler and Ecoflow to power it, because we hated dealing with ice. The anxiety of it melting and the wet factor were too much hassle for us.. But if we had found a cooler like this Ninja before, we probably would have tried it.
I hope you find what you're looking for!
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u/Brief-Floor-7228 Jul 14 '25
Car camping? Let me offer you the expensive version. I have a ecoflow delta 3 powerpack and I plug in a 35l iceco dual zone cooler. works great and since you don't have to put ice into it all the space is useful for food. I can have a freezer zone and a fridge zone.
200w of solar keeps it all powered but you can also plug in the ecoflow into the car. ICECO also sells a battery pack that that will power the cooler but then you don't get all the other power options with a solar generator.
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u/neomateo Jul 14 '25
Use a solid block of ice and put it inside two garbage bags, on inside the other. This is my go-to and keeps everything dry and cool for days.
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u/mimijeajea Jul 14 '25
Pre chill the cooler Freeze anything that can be frozen and not used till later I use metal wire rack. And then layer ice. Wire rack. Then food. Then gel packs. On day 2 I rotate so it become ice. Gel packs.and the wire. And then foods that needs to kind of thaw out a little. My gel packs will keep my ice frozen for about a full 48 hrs. Ive left camping trips where my bottom layer was still freezing cold and I never needed to top up with more ice.
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u/j__magical Jul 14 '25
I love the Cooler Shock ice packs. They last a long time, and no ice melt to deal with.
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u/Kielbasa_Nunchucka Jul 14 '25
cold and dry storage coolers, drinks in their own cooler, and frozen water bottles or ice packs over ice
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u/RedditorNumber-AXWGQ Jul 14 '25 edited Jul 14 '25
As others have said, but my version just cause. Pre-chill your cooler, pre freeze jugs of water, get a small sheet of dry ice, and a small rag.
- Put the frozen jugs of water in the middle-ish as a divider.
- Wrap dry ice in rag and place to one side.
- Push the jugs to the side of the dry ice to form two parts.
Then I put long-term stuff on the side with the dry ice, the "frozen" side. Things that come in twos like sausage packs are great. Ground meat won't be used until later is good. Things like that. On the other, "refrigerator" side, I put stuff I'll use right away or in the beginning.
I've gone well over a week with this method. The dry-ice doesn't last for too long, but it gets that area cold, including the water jugs. No more water-logged things and extra water for emergencies. I also use a side cooler for drinks, keep it out of the sun as best as possible, and chose the color white to help. I was determined.
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u/rtmn01 Jul 14 '25
Electric cooler with solar charge panel. Ice is not reliable for more than a day or two.
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u/AccordianPowerBallad Jul 14 '25
Expensive option - I bought an Anker powered cooler 2 years ago, it's changed me completely. It will keep things at about 30 degrees for about 40 hours in the summer on battery power.
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u/YidArmy76er Jul 14 '25
Take a look at the reusable ice packs, fill them up, freeze them and then you can unscrew the lid and empty them when they defrost. They're great, we use them all the time.
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u/apple4jessiebeans Jul 14 '25
I try to double up on the ziplocks and rotate the food throughout meal times. I keep food in 1 cooler, and do drink separate and drain the water when I can from the cooler. I put the food Im going to cook that day on top anything else. I also lay a layer of ice then a small kitchen towel on top then the baggies of food then more ice. And repeat. The towel will soak up the water and stay cold. Its awesome. Don’t do the microfiber towels. Cotton works better. At Walmart 6 bar towels for 4 bucks. Totally worth it
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u/LasagnaLowrider Jul 14 '25
Has anyone had any experience with the newish Ninja Frostvault cooler? Looks great, rotomold, and a dry drawer for food that keeps around fridge temps for days? Looking into getting one but they are a hefty price
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u/Chirpyandderpy Jul 14 '25
Small chunks of dry ice is a game changer. stays very cool and when it melts, no water=no wet cooler! most convenience stores sell them. they’re a couple bucks more but worth it!
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u/TeenaKaye Jul 14 '25
We just got back from a 10 day camping trip, the new Ninja Vault cooler is a game changer. We were in Western CO and Eastern UT, so hot conditions. We drained off the water and added fresh ice every other day. Some things even stayed frozen. I don’t think we will ever camp with another cooler. The vault in the bottom stays cold and keeps things fresh without the wet. If you are looking for a new cooler, this is the one to get!
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u/NeedToBeBurning Jul 14 '25
We use a plastic bucket to keep food in so it doesn't get wet. Was like $3 from Walmart.
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u/dr-brennan Jul 14 '25
I recently went camping during the summer and froze two 1 gallon jugs of water, they lasted for about 75% of the trip. I have a Yeti Haul so I also bought a ice pack divider that fits our cooler plus other flat ice packs. I used no loose ice in my main cooler. You could also buy baskets that fit your cooler to keep the things that absolutely need to stay dry, dry.
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u/Ambitious-Flan-5454 Jul 14 '25
A brand named Lock & Lock makes waterproof BPA free plastc containers. Reasonably priced. Various sizes, small to large. I have several larger ones used primarily for camping. I can attest they are waterproof. Check out Amazon.
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u/flowersandpeas Jul 14 '25
3/4 fill containers (we use rectangular plastic juice bottles - think juicy juice - brand doesn't matter) with water and freeze them solid, put the lids back on. Freeze your meats at home, too. Lay the bottles in the bottom of a designated cooler with the frozen things on top of the bottles. Keep it out of the sun and away from coolers that are for drinks and snacks (which also do better with blocks of ice). You want that designated cooler to stay closed as much as humanly possible.
We'll sometimes have 3 separate coolers - 1 for drinks, 1 for snacks, condiments, side dishes, and the Don't Touch It! designated cooler. It practically doesn't matter what brand cooler you're using as long as that One stays closed.
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u/Icanandiwill55 Jul 14 '25
I just bought my son the Ninja Frostvault cooler for his birthday. It has a drawer for food so the ice is never near it. He used it that weekend and said it kept the ice really well.
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u/BlackFish42c Jul 14 '25
There are some coolers like Yeti, RTIC and many more that offer a wall barrier. This allows the ice to be on one side and the food on the other side. Biggest issue is some people want to put their beer and pop in the cooler with the food. I keep my beer and other drinks in a separate cooler. This allows my food like hotdogs, eggs, bacon, cheese, chicken and steaks to remain cold all week long. . The drinks stay cold in ice or ice water mix just fine, I don’t drain the water I just add more ice.
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u/valley_lemon Jul 14 '25
I use gel-based ice packs, the kind we get with our meal kit deliveries that are meant to survive two days in a UPS truck in the sun. They freeze rock hard, stay frozen a long time, and as long as you handle them carefully they don't leak. I like to put one on each side of the cooler and then one on top, so warm air will rise and then cool again.
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u/choochenstein Jul 14 '25
Dry ice. All the cooling, none of the water.
I use dry ice in my “fridge” cooler and can even keep a few things semi-frozen for a day or so.
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u/Klaryce888 Jul 14 '25
I use an adjustable wire shelf that can be half or the full length of the cooler and put the ice underneath so the food sits on top.
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u/DodoDozer Jul 14 '25
Buy a grate. And attached some legs to it Or buy one of those cabinet shelf / grates that lets u have separate stacks / space savers
Works for me
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u/hikerjer Jul 14 '25
Been looking for one. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
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u/DodoDozer Jul 14 '25
Found my shelf insert at TJ Maxx
This could work might require some zip ties and glue for a custom fit but u get the idea
There won't be an " off the shelf" buy I believe
Pun intended
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u/Similar_Ad3506 Jul 14 '25
Get a rack for the cooler or we freeze water bottles and use those for the majority of the "ice".
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u/Buffalo_River_Lover Jul 14 '25
I have a gallon jug in the freezer. I've used it the last couple of times, along with a bag of ice. Yeah, everything was always getting wet. This time, over the last week, I kept dumping ice cube trays into gallon Ziploc freezer bags. I'm using 3. It seems to be working. So far, second day, and nothing is wet. And everything is cold.
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u/Buffalo_River_Lover Jul 16 '25
Well, it didn't work. Ice melted, bags leaked, and everything got wet anyway. Oh, well. It was worth a try.
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u/Interesting_Whole_44 Jul 15 '25
Some can be fitted with hanging baskets to keep food above the frozen water slop
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u/through_the_trees92 Jul 15 '25
I use Gallon freezer bags instead of the zipper seal kind. They will not leak and keep your food dry. Also if you have two coolers, one for drinks and one for food will help. Also keep your cooler out of the sun if possible. Open the plug daily to drain the water especially before adding more ice.
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u/pppowkanggg Jul 15 '25
I got a disposable aluminum cake pan, filled that with water and put it in the freezer. Also some basic bottles of water. Put those in the freezer. I put the whole frozen cake pan in the bottom of the cooler upside down, put the foods in, then the frozen water bottles on top of everything.
As the cake pan water melts, the pan is like a shelf that keeps everything above the meltwater. The frozen water bottles do not make loose water when they thaw. They make refreshing cold bottles of water to drink.
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u/pinchechin0 Jul 15 '25
Some coolers have accessories like a wire basket that sits on the internal ledge, above the ice. It’s been helpful with things kept in ziplock bags, etc.
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u/Old_Dragonfruit6952 Jul 15 '25
We have a wire rack that keeps our food off the bottom of the cooler . We also use Lock Lock containers to keep oir food dry . They make tall containers . We use one for our deli meats and cheeses. One for veg. Etc.
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u/Old_Dragonfruit6952 Jul 15 '25
Addition . Remember to chill your cooler for 25 hours before you initially pack it. Freeze some bottles of water and set them inside the night before . Chill / freeze all items that go into the cooler.
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u/KittyGlitter16 Jul 16 '25
I have the big gray igloo cooler from Costco. There’s a basket on half of the cooler that keeps things out of the ice. I also usually double bag things in freezer bags to keep the water out if there’s no room in the basket. Or I have a small cooler that I keep raw meat in. I’ve ended up with raw meat juice in other coolers and now just want it separate from everything.
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u/Aggravating_Smile556 Jul 16 '25
Definitely invest in a decent cooler not saying you have to have the $400 for and keeps everything blah blah blah for a year but find out that they cheap Trails doesn't keep s*** cold in Florida
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u/Aggravating_Smile556 Jul 16 '25
Has anybody tried adding cotton balls to their water before they freeze it I've seen several places where claims that if you add cotton to the ice the ice last five times as long
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u/BreakfastShart Jul 16 '25
Powered coolers are the sheet. Depending on conditions and temps, you can get a couple days from a charge. Enough sun and a single briefcase solar panel can keep it running forever.
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u/Cyanidedelirium Jul 17 '25
Late to the post but one thing I do when hunting to keep the water off the meat is I buy block ice and as the ice melts since it's a solid block your stuff is above the water and stays that way for days in my cheap igloo
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u/RabidBadgerMonkey Jul 17 '25
Ninja frostvault has a separate drawer for things you don't want to get wet. No idea how good they are though.
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u/-Bob-Barker- Jul 14 '25
Freeze bottles of water instead of using ice. Then you can drink the water or refreeze it. No melting. Just some condensation.