Camping coolers and the art of food storage
Camping doesn’t mean you have to live on hotdogs and potato chips the whole time that you’re outdoors. You can enjoy delicious and hearty meals that are as good as home-made dishes. The key to camp cooking is improvisation and resourcefulness. You can cook anything from steaks to stews and from pastas to salads. Whether you want gourmet or minute-meals, you’ll be surprised how simple camping equipment and basic cooking utensils can be used to create a vast array of gastronomic delights. A little know-how on the art of food storage and safety, the merits of camping coolers, and a little camp kitchen creativity will get you a long way.
Bringing the bacon to camp
Get real and forget about hunting in the wild for your next sumptuous meal (unless you really are a hunter and hunting food is your reason for camping, or you’re a survivalist in the wilderness). For the average leisure camper, to bite into a mouth-watering piece of steak while at camp, you have to actually bring the meat to the camp—meat that comes from the grocery that is. To have a wonderful camping culinary experience, you have to bring the ingredients that will make the experience wonderful. Think of it like a barbecue party but in a setting and location that’s a whole lot more exciting than your backyard. Since you don’t have the convenience of your kitchen, you’ll have to use makeshift and portable equipment and utensils. One of the most invaluable camping equipment for your culinary camping adventure is, of course, a camping cooler to store and preserve your food and keep it fresh and safe to eat for days.
A little science
There is an art to storing and organizing your food inside the camping cooler; you can’t just stack them randomly one on top of the other. With certain health risks such as e coli, you have to learn how to store food in the cooler properly. A little science is helpful: Cold air is heavier than hot air, thus inside a room (or a cooler) the heat rises while the cool air falls. This means that the coldest part of the cooler is the bottom part. Knowing this, you know that the foods that are most perishable or are likely to spoil more easily, such as meats and dairy, go to the bottom of the pile and directly on the ice.
Ice packs and some ingenious ideas
Distribute the ice packs throughout the cooler, padding the bottom and then placing them layer after layer of food and covering the top layer with ice. There are ice packs or ice cans that you can buy in the grocery which are specifically sold for use in ice coolers. You can also make your own ice packs by freezing water inside bottles, jugs, or heavy-duty re-sealable plastic freezer bags. What’s great about making your own ice packs (made from drinkable water) is that when the ice melts, you get cold water for drinking! You can also make a variety of ice packs made out of your favorite juices. This way, you maximize your storage space. Another keen idea is freezing sauces, such as a pasta sauce, to make ice packs and using them once they thaw or defrost. Just plan your menu in advance. You don’t want to leave your other food thawing and spoiling because you’ve consumed all your ice packs. You can also freeze food, such as chicken and beef, before-hand so that their storage time can be extended and they can serve as ice coolers at the same time. Freezing sauces and mixes ahead of time will also give you an advantage of eating gourmet recipes that you can prep at home (and which will take horrendous hours and effort to prep in a campsite). You can also freeze make-ahead meals and put it in your cooler to save you a lot of trouble. You can use a variety of coleman coolers for different purposes. It is better and safer, health-wise, to have a cooler for drinks and a separate cooler for meats.
Keeping it cool
As much as possible, keep the cooler out of the sun; always place it under a shade and a cool place. Do not leave it inside a hot car. Avoid opening the cooler frequently to keep the cool air from escaping, especially during the hot times of the day because the heat will get in the cooler and melt the ice. It helps knowing ahead of time what you need to get in the cooler before even opening, and making sure you close the lid tight after. Also, don’t drain all the cold water out of the cooler because this adds to the low temperature. When the food has been out of the cooler for two hours, don’t even think about placing the food back again. The temperature of the food will affect the temperature inside the cooler and make it less cold.
What makes a cooler HOT
There are larger coolers to store plenty of food and which you can leave in the campsite when you go hiking or fishing. There are also smaller and more portable coolers that you can conveniently bring with you wherever you go. A top-quality coleman cooler is essential to keep the ice from melting and keep it cool for days. The essential features you have to look for in a quality cooler are an all-around insulation, a deep bin insert, large capacity, a drain plug, and tight-fitting lids. Other features you may find valuable are panel inserts to create separate spaces and a condiment compartment that will be unaffected by the melting ice.
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