ice tips and tricks

[paceman]

hi all,

going to cania gorge on our first trip with the camper, but we don't have an electric fridge (as yet).

we will be using two techni-ice eskies, one for fridge and one for freezer.

just trying to work out the best way to ice them when we go away.

i read through the following thread and am looking for thoughts, suggestions and tips:

http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=17865.msg274960#msg274960


before we go, i'll be buying two packs of block ice and dumping them in the deep freeze for a week or so and when we go, wrap them in a couple of layers of newspaper and put them in the bottom of each esky.

then, i will add some 2L milk bottles which i have 3/4 filled with water and added a couple of spoonfuls of salt (which have also been in the deep freeze for a couple of weeks)

then, finally, top up with chunk ice to fill them both up.

the idea is that the 'freezer' esky will only be opened once a day and then the other 'fridge' esky more often.

also thought about using wet hessian bags on both eskies to minimise evaporation.

thoughts?

[Bird]

Hire a 12volt fridge..

lots less hassle than the hell you listed above...

[paceman]

Hire a 12volt fridge..

lots less hassle than the hell you listed above...

not available in mackay to hire...

not sure what you mean by 'hell'?  not too much trouble if it works...

[DropBearRacing]

Sounds like you have it all sorted.

[neilsk]

Have a look at Dry Ice. could be a way to go. use a combination of dry and wet and you will have frozen food for a week. Google it.

[paceman]

Have a look at Dry Ice. could be a way to go. use a combination of dry and wet and you will have frozen food for a week. Google it.

good to know.  so this could replace my block ice in the bottom of the eskies?

[austastar]

Hi,
   I lived in Malaysia for a few years, and remember seeing big blocks of ice being stored for days under  heaps of saw dust.


If ice can be kept for days under saw dust in that climate, I was wondering if storing some of your ice in (say) a garbag of sawdust would be a viable option.


cheers

[Nay-DMAX]

Havent had to do ice for food for awhile but have for drinks until recent purchase of 12v for drinks.  In regards to the plastic bottles filled with water and salt I have heard this keeps it frozen longer but is it worth thinking about doing these as plain water and then as they melt they still have a use as drinking water.  One of the things we did was if we took prima's with us for juice then we would freeze most of these they don't take long to defrost or can have the top cut open and eat with a spoon (good in summer). You say you have the techni-ice eskies do you also have the techni-ice sheets?

[paceman]

Havent had to do ice for food for awhile but have for drinks until recent purchase of 12v for drinks.  In regards to the plastic bottles filled with water and salt I have heard this keeps it frozen longer but is it worth thinking about doing these as plain water and then as they melt they still have a use as drinking water.  One of the things we did was if we took prima's with us for juice then we would freeze most of these they don't take long to defrost or can have the top cut open and eat with a spoon (good in summer). You say you have the techni-ice eskies do you also have the techni-ice sheets?

we'll have separate drinking water, so not really worried about the water in the bottles...

i could never get the sheets to work properly...   probably operator error...

[Nay-DMAX]

we'll have separate drinking water, so not really worried about the water in the bottles...

i could never get the sheets to work properly...   probably operator error...

I have never got the 6 days out of them that they say you can but they have been ok  the other option instead of buying block ice is to also freeze icecream containers full of water

[Bird]

Have a look at Dry Ice. could be a way to go. use a combination of dry and wet and you will have frozen food for a week. Google it.

bloke at BOC told me not to.. Dry ice was -74c or similar...  and all you will end up with is a solid block of fridge size block drinks/food/contents. I was going to do it For Fraser Is trip we did.

[chisel]

Don't they sell ice at the van park there?

[Jeepers Creepers]

Hey Paceman,

Tried all that a while back, the 2 litre containers, salt, deep frozen a week prior, blocks of ice...... 

Waste of friggin time huh, beg, borrow or steal a fridge or just buy ice when ya get there or at Monto.

[Dingo0163]

Dry ice works well. It will keep your tucker frozen for a week. Put small bottles of water in to freeze , then put them in your drinks fridge to keep them cold. Take your meat etc out the day before you need it. Put cardboard under and on top of the dry ice and pack everything on top. Just keep an eye on kids around it , it burns. 

[Spada]

hi all,

going to cania gorge on our first trip with the camper, but we don't have an electric fridge (as yet).

Are you staying at the BIG4 ?

If so, from memory there is a fully equipped camp kitchen there with a fridge freezer.

[paceman]

not staying at the big4, but was going to use the shop at the national park to top up with chunk ice...

[Rumpig]

if you are using dry ice then only use it in the freezer esky IMHO.... if you put some in the other esky and use party ice aswell in there, the party ice will melt and run down to the bottom and refreeze again around whatever is in the bottom of the esky, making it impossible to get that stuff out ....ask me how i know this...lol...we couldn't get a single stubbie out of the bottom of the esky, had to remove everything and chip the ice off of the stubbies and repack it all again. it will also freeze the eggs and lettuce etc if it gets cold enough, it did in our esky and it's 120ltrs, so not small. dry ice will work wonders in the freezer only esky though if you do as planned and leave it closed most of the time.

[thecamocamper]

what we do is put 2 litre ice cream containers into the freezer few days before leave
then take them out of the container and put them in large zip plastic bags
the water tends not to leak into the bottom as much
then wet a towel and fit it over the top
we have to take our meat out to thew the first few days
and another thing we tend to do is have a drink esky (milk)
only lift the lid when needed and close straight away
drain the water every day , the more water the less cold

Rob and Wendy

[BillC]

I remember buying ice at Pine Creek, NT, many years ago. The guy asked me if I wanted the 10kg block! That's right, it was made in a bucket. Lasted really well but a bit awkward to pack around.

Bill

[Mallory Black]

I tried freezing salted water but my neither freezer in our fridges were up to it. If they were then the ice cream would be like a rock!
the other wierd thing was very cold salt water can be liquid but still cold enough to freeze any condensation (fresh water) that forms on the outside of the bottle, like a cold beer does. But in camp there's no real way to tell if liquid salt water really is cold enough or not. At least if the fresh water is still frozen you can say it's doing the job.
In the end we went back to frozen freesh water because if it's liquid then we know it's done it's job for keeping things cool and we re-use the water to wash uip with.

[Bird]

if you are using dry ice then only use it in the freezer esky IMHO.... if you put some in the other esky and use party ice aswell in there, the party ice will melt and run down to the bottom and refreeze again around whatever is in the bottom of the esky, making it impossible to get that stuff out ....ask me how i know this...lol...we couldn't get a single stubbie out of the bottom of the esky, had to remove everything and chip the ice off of the stubbies and repack it all again. it will also freeze the eggs and lettuce etc if it gets cold enough, it did in our esky and it's 120ltrs, so not small. dry ice will work wonders in the freezer only esky though if you do as planned and leave it closed most of the time.

that's pretty much what the dude at BOC told me... he had many abusive customers in the past that had all their beers explode and Shit..

[rodw]

Pretty sure that you will be able to buy ice at Cania Gorge.  They sell everything else http://cania-gorge.qld.big4.com.au/facilities.aspx
I can recommend staying at this park, there is  a big open area down the back if you don't want to live with the crowds in the van park section.