If you are going to be camping and you are looking for ways to keep your food cold for an extended period of time, then you should pay attention to the information you will find detailed in this article. The information here will tell you all you need to know about a few different ways that you can go about keeping your food nice and cold while you are camping so you don't have to cut your trip short or leave the camp site to make food runs.
A clay pot fridge
The supplies you will need to make a clay pot fridge:
You can bring supplies with you to make a clay pot refrigerator that will keep your food nice and cold. The supplies that you will need to bring with you include:
- Two large clay pots with one slightly larger than the other
- Corks, duct tape, or plugs for the holes in the bottom
- A bag of coarse sand
- Water to add to the sand (or a bucket to carry fresh water in)
- An ice chest full of ice to keep food cool while you make the pot fridge
- A towel
Making your clay pot fridge:
You want to plug all of the holes in the bottom of the pots. Fill the bottom of the larger pot with enough sand that the smaller pot will reach the level of the larger one when you put it inside of it. Put the smaller pot in place. Fill the space between the two with the rest of the sand -- all the way up to the top. You may have to tap the sides of the outside pot to get the sand to go down all the way so there aren't air pockets.
Once you have all of the steps above completed, you will want to very slowly add water to the sand, working your way around the pot and allowing time for the water to absorb. Wet the towel with water and use it to cover the hole in the top of the inside pot. You want to keep the pot in a space with plenty of ventilation, and wait for the inside to get nice and cool before transferring your food into the inner pot.
Use a cooler and dry ice for refrigerator
You can also use dry ice in a good cooler to keep your food cold while you are camping for a short time. You should plan on using at least 10 pounds of ice for each 24-hour period that you plan to be gone. This makes dry ice a better choice if you are only going on an overnight camping trip. If you decide to use dry ice, then one thing that you should know about using it is that it tends to work better if you put it on top of the food instead of putting it on bottom of the food. You can obtain dry ice from a company like the one represented at http://www.unitedcityicecube.com.
A good tip for packing the ice chest when using dry ice is to fill the empty space in the cooler with something like packing peanuts or wadded up newspaper. This way, the dry ice will last you longer because it won't be used up as fast on trying to cool that empty space.
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