Ice mixture for 1 week+

[FitToHunt]

Hey gang, curious to find out the best ice/ mixture that will last the longest. I had read that a 50/50 mix of wet and dry ice works the best, so last year that is what I went with. I left it for about 1 week in September in Wy in a basic igloo cooler. To my surprise when I got back to the truck with my elk quarters, I found the that dry ice was completely melted and the regular ice was still intact... If anything , would have expected the opposite. I wonder if the dry ice somehow insulated the wet?

So, this year I upgraded my cooler to a 165qrt marine grade igloo. But, if I can get away without the dry ice, or less dry that would be great. Since I spent about $80 on the dry and about $10 for the same amount of the regular.

Thoughts?

 

[dustin ray]

I use block ice on the bottom fill voids with crushed paper on top the dry ice the paper store it out of the sun 7 days later still solid

 

[Slugz]

I use a medium quality grade cooler. Cooler is kept outside later in the season or kept colder by putting it in the basement before loading it up. I line the bottom with block ice sprinkled with salt then a layer of bag ice (in the bag). Lastly I have a piece of white styrofoam that is 4 inches thick that is cut to fit tightly ( one piece on top) to seal it all in airtight. Regular lid gets closed down and sealed with a layer of duct tape. Longest I've seen it last was Aug 27th till the opening of muzzleloader Sept 10-12th while sitting in a white truck at the trailhead of 8000'. Block Ice was fine and the bag ice had 50% left. Probably would have lasted longer had it been in the shade tucked up under a tree near a creek.

 

[tim]

When you buy your blocks of ice at the grocery store. refreeze them in your chest freezer. the ice at the grocery store is only 30 degrees, but when pulled out of your chest freezer it is close to 0. cut up an old foam sleeping pad to fit the top of your cooler and place that on top inside your cooler. This will act as extra insulation.

 

[FitToHunt]

When you buy your blocks of ice at the grocery store. refreeze them in your chest freezer. the ice at the grocery store is only 30 degrees, but when pulled out of your chest freezer it is close to 0. cut up an old foam sleeping pad to fit the top of your cooler and place that on top inside your cooler. This will act as extra insulation.

OOH, great tips Tim. Thank you. So no dry ice necessary with your method?

 

[Travisitguy]

I use the reflective insulation rolls from HomeDepot to construct a shell around my extreme coolers. this has helped as well and is easy to flatten out when not in use.

 

[brianboh]

Hey gang, curious to find out the best ice/ mixture that will last the longest. I had read that a 50/50 mix of wet and dry ice works the best, so last year that is what I went with. I left it for about 1 week in September in Wy in a basic igloo cooler. To my surprise when I got back to the truck with my elk quarters, I found the that dry ice was completely melted and the regular ice was still intact... If anything , would have expected the opposite. I wonder if the dry ice somehow insulated the wet?

So, this year I upgraded my cooler to a 165qrt marine grade igloo. But, if I can get away without the dry ice, or less dry that would be great. Since I spent about $80 on the dry and about $10 for the same amount of the regular.

Thoughts?

The dry ice kept the wet ice frozen longer.

 

[Tim McCoy]

If you pre cool your cooler and refreeze your ice, just a bit of dry ice will add time to your regular ice. 10 lbs or so is all I use. Lots of good ideas already shared, but another consideration is the cooler bottom. Since cold air falls, sit your cooler on an insulation layer and consider wrapping the whole thing up with an old sleeping bag.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

The dry ice will "melt" first (vaporize) at around -109°F and your regular ice will not melt until it reaches 32°F. That means the dry ice will vaporize first, then when the ice finally warms up to 32°F it will begin to melt. That is why the dry ice was gone but not the ice.

Since most ice is only around 30°F to say -10°F, when the dry ice is put with it, the dry ice begins to vaporize as is drops the temperature of the ice. That is why the recommendations to get really cold ice is good since it won't put that demand on the dry ice.

Block ice requires more heat to melt than the same volume of ice cubes, that is why the idea of block ice is good. Ice cubes have a lot of air in between, and the air does almost no good since it takes very little heat added to warm up air. Far more heat is required to heat the same volume of ice/water than the same volume of air.

Just for the heck of it, you might want to Google the "heat of fusion of water". It is an interesting engineering concept that helps you understand that considerable amount of heat needs to get into your cooler to turn 32°F ice into 32°F water. The more you slow that heat transfer down the better.

The better your cooler the longer your ice should keep. When you consider the price you paid for your ice ($80+$10), a premium cooler begins to make sense after only a few trips if you can cut that dry ice usage down. The sleeping bag ideas are good ones for long term ice storage where you don't have to access the ice easily.

One more thing, think about ventilation and shade for where your ice chest is kept. You know how hot an enclosed space (like the truck cab) can get when the sun is beating down on it.

As Tim mentioned putting insulation under the bottom is a good one. There are reports of even some of the high end coolers that have marginal bottom insulation. If you think about it, placing the relatively smooth bottom of a mid grade ice chest on say on your metal truck bed is kind of like putting a pan on a smooth top stove, you have a very efficient path for heat to conduct into your ice chest. Conduction is a very efficient way of heating.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

On a previous post it was discussed about putting the whole ice chest into the freezer to freeze water into ice. I have a 10' chest freezer that was turned off until I needed it. I took my 50 qt Coleman Extreme and filled it 25% with water and put it in the freezer. Froze it solid, added another 25% and froze it again. Ice chest was 1/2 full of solid froze ice. Took the ice chest camping loaded with beer & soft drinks. Left it outside in the shade 24/7 and the ice lasted a full week and there was still ice in it when we came home.

This fall I am going do the same thing antelope hunting. I also have a 150qt extreme that will fit the freezer, so it will get the same treatment. Instead of beer/soda, I plan on filling it on top of the already frozen ice with block ice that I make myself. I have no doubts that it will last a week or longer. Don't plan on using any dry ice.

 

[tim]

fit, I never have used dry ice. I have also never used ice for hunting purposes either. But I have done a lot of multiday raft trips in the summer, and it is no issue to have ice for the week or longer.

Are you trying to keep food for a week or have ice for cooling meat down?

some of my buds that do the grand canyon, which is a 21 day float, find a walk in freezer and then fill the cooler with a couple of inches of water at a time, and let that freeze, than add some more water a couple of days later and basically layer their coolers with water that turns to ice. you can't just fill the cooler with water and freeze, the expansion will crack the cooler. So if you have access to a walk in freezer that system works well. One guy I know did it in his chest freezer, but he hooked up a pulley system to get the cooler out of his chest freezer when it was full. Also pre cool everything that is going into your cooler if you can.

 

[FitToHunt]

The cooler is just for cooling down game meat if/when I kill in the back country. I won't be using it to store anything else,or getting into it all during the trip.

 

[tim]

fit
fill the air void in the cooler with a foam backpacking pad, than close the cooler and ring the cooler with a strip of duct tape where the lid and body of the cooler come together, store with a blanket over the top of the cooler. you are basically giving the cooler more insulation and not allowing any air to seep in.

these little tricks keep ice for days. or in my buddies case, he walked off of a 21 day trip with some ice. granted he is a cooler nazi, but you get the point. another good tip is, keep the cooler lid closed. i know you said this is for meat, but when trying to keep things cold in the food cooler, we have a rule on not allowing the cooler lid to be open for more than 5 seconds.

 

[Retterath]

For the dry ice thing, i go to my local grocery store and and talk to the guys in the frozen section, When there truck comes on mondays and thursday they have blocks of dry ice that they just throw away and i get that from them for free. Try that before you go spend a bunch of money on dry ice.

 

[wy-tex]

Keep that cooler in the shade and put something on top of the lid. The extra insulation for the overhead sun will help out alot. Never take dry ice in the field just blocks and frozen water jugs.

 

[mallardsx2]

Mix water and sawdust and freeze it in the block form.

Fill 1 gallon milk jugs with sawdust....fill with water.....freeze....

 

[FitToHunt]

For the dry ice thing, i go to my local grocery store and and talk to the guys in the frozen section, When there truck comes on mondays and thursday they have blocks of dry ice that they just throw away and i get that from them for free. Try that before you go spend a bunch of money on dry ice.

Genius idea!

 

[Apparition]

Mix water and sawdust and freeze it in the block form.

Fill 1 gallon milk jugs with sawdust....fill with water.....freeze....

I saw a video about plans to make an WWII aircraft carrier using this method. Any idea how long the ice lasts?

 

[mallardsx2]

It lasts about 2X longer than regular frozen block ice in my opinion.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I have a 150qt Igloo Marine cooler that I fill with blocks of ice I make at home so I don't spend any money on blocks. The blocks are made over a couple of weeks time using some rectangle storage containers my wife has. They come out about 12x8x6. About 24 of these will fit and last more than a week even in hot weather during archery deer and antelope hunting. We just keep it in the shade under our trailer and even after the initial cool down of an animal there is a lot of block left.
We make sure to open the drain while the meat is cooling so no water ever touches the meat.