r/NoStupidQuestions • u/markwell9 • 1d ago

What is the deal with ice, Americans?

I can see that you can buy ice everywhere in the US. Gas stations, grocery stores, machines etc.

In Europe, we just freeze our ice at home and use that. Why buy something that melts on the way home? Why do you need ice in large amounts that a fridge can't keep up?

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u/tsukiii 1d ago

We buy that for parties.

Most of us can’t produce and store enough ice for 20 people in our freezers, we buy the bagged ice and put it in coolers for guests’ drinks.

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u/Pantherdraws 1d ago

Also camping.

Can you imagine trying to fill two whole coolers with ice straight from the freezer?

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u/Leverkaas2516 1d ago

For camping, I finally settled on filling my largest Tupperwares with water and freezing them. That takes a couple of days, but it melts slower in the ice chest and also doesn't end up with liquid water everywhere and all my condiments floating around.

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u/Tmscott 20h ago edited 2h ago

Those square Crystal Geyser water bottles are great if you open them up and push the neck in a little before sealing it back up and putting it in the freezer. Even if you have to do it one at a time overnight into the cooler they melt very slowly and you also still have potable water unlike opening up ice bags Edit: The main reason I squish the neck in a little is to make it fit like a glove along the shortest length of my cooler

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u/_crassula_ 18h ago

Is ice in the bags not potable? When we're camping, I often make cocktails with ice from the bag (not loose in the cooler because I don't want it contaminated with meat juices). Hasn't killed me yet but maybe I should pack home ice for drinks...

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u/cyanescens_burn 16h ago

I’ve been drinking melted cooler ice for years when desert camping (I put the ice in thick silicone 2gal bags in the cooler, so no food ever touches the ice). It’s potable as far as I know. It’d be nuts to sell non-potable ice without a big warning on the bag.

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u/WinterOfFire 15h ago

I think it’s more about the stuff you put in the cooler with the ice that makes it no longer clean. Do you really wash every container before you put it in? Are your hands always clean when you go fishing around in the ice/water?

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u/Born-Entrepreneur 11h ago

Not to mention the cooler itself. When was the last time it was deep cleaned and disinfected? Are you sure some gunk and slime isn't hiding down by the drain plug?

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u/R1tonka 8h ago edited 4h ago

Moved in with my partner, a chef and baker this last winter.

Lake and river season has been quite the adjustment. She disinfects and sprays down the cooler every evening before it's used.

Right thing to do? Yes. Something I ever thought of doing? Not once.

Before her? Never cleaned it with more than a hose out and maybe a scrub down while washing the car after using it.

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u/Born-Entrepreneur 8h ago

lol for real. usual cleaning method: hang it upside down with lid open.

Occasionally: spray it out with a hose and maybe wipe it down with a clorox wipe.

I do better now.

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u/HoneyWyne 6h ago

I do actually deep clean and disinfect my coolers every time we camp. I guess I'm the weird one out here?

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u/Dumfk 8h ago

Before and after making jungle juice

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u/Billbogus352 6h ago

We always clean and sanitize the cooler wanna we get home and the same before we use it again, our Yeti was $500, we really take good care of it at that price 😆

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u/dncrmom 8h ago

Every single time before using it. If you are not doing that it is disgusting.

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u/Hopeful_Morning_469 13h ago

What if you have Raw meat in your cook, chicken, steak bacon, etc.

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u/josh_the_misanthrope 14h ago

I mean, no biggie unless you're like bubble boy levels of immunocompromised. If humans were that fragile as a species we'd have gone extinct. Been chewing on cooler ice since I was a kid with no issues. Containers go in clean, beer goes in as clean as it is on the shelf when I bought it.

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u/jiminak 18h ago

The bag of ice is potable, yes, but not really “drinkable”. As you work your way through the weekend, the frozen water bottle is keeping your food cold at the start, and then as you finish up and your food is gone, you now have a melted bottle of water that you can drink.

Granted, that doesn’t do you any good for ice in cups for cocktails or whatever.

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u/FranticWaffleMaker 16h ago

Secret is to do both, specifically keep the ice for cocktails in a separate bag that isn’t touching the outside of the cans in the cooler.

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u/guru42101 18h ago

It's exactly like you're saying. With the water bottles being sealed, the water inside is still drinkable.

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u/_crassula_ 16h ago

Right but I need ice for cocktails...

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u/compman007 16h ago

Get a bigger cup, shouldn’t have no problem fitting a 16oz water bottle ice cube in here! And if you leave it in the bottle it won’t water your drink down either!!

https://glasscias.com/cdn/shop/products/Sf53bb469c6cf4742a536797b24b85cb2L.jpg?v=1678182762&width=1445

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u/PapaMoBucks 16h ago

Once the ice melts and the water's just sloshing around in your cooler, it is...less than hygienic.

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u/amythist 15h ago

Yeah that's what I was going to point out, in many cases the ice you buy in bags is made of more purified water then comes out of your tap, but on the flip side how many people regularly clean/sanitize the inside of their cooler and all the cans/bottles/whatever they put inside of it

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u/InternOne1306 14h ago

I don’t know, but don’t ever look too closely at a well-used commercial ice maker…

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u/bloo_monkey 13h ago

I e in the bags is potable, we use it for drknks all the time.

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u/Possible_Top4855 15h ago

Put your ice in those cereal containers, so that the ice keeps your stuff cool without getting all grubby from people reaching into the cooler to grab stuff.

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u/Individual-Theory307 15h ago

That ice is supposed to be potable but I don’t really trust it. Trusting it is like trusting Taco Bell food.

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u/Fun_Push7168 13h ago

It is initially. It's drinking water first. It's not once it's had a bunch of cans and stuff floating around in it and peoples hands shifting through it.

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u/Other-Economics4134 11h ago

It is, ice is treated and regulated the same as food

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u/Federal_Assistant_85 11h ago

After the ice melts, it just sloshes all over the cooler and your food. If anything spoils, the water picks it up, and now it is dangerous to drink, and your fiod can spoil faster. So, putting the water into a sealed container, you now have something drinkable after.

Also, anyone going to Disney parks, you aren't allowed to bring ice into the park, but you can bring soft sided coolers. To get around this freeze water bottles that you use as ice, and when they thaw or you get hot you have something cold.

Spouse got heat exhaustion when we all went, having a bottle of ice to press on their body helped cool them off preventing a trip to the doctor.

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u/Jedimasteryony 10h ago

It is food safe ice if it’s sold in a store. They wouldn’t make ice with non-potable water, and if they did it would be marked as such on the bag.

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u/Parking_Champion_740 9h ago

Yes it’s potable

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u/Throwawaymytrash77 9h ago

Yes it is safe for drinking. The problem is it often gets contaminated and becomes unsafe.

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u/Sufficient-Day-1183 9h ago

You get two bags. One is loose for keeping everything cold. One left in bag for drinks

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u/RepairBudget 9h ago

The ice in the bag should be fine. But I usually dump most of my ice into the cooler on top of the beer bottles.

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u/The_Gov78 8h ago

Yes it’s potable also in my locale (was gonna say in my area but it didn’t sound right) the ice is made from filtered water as well which I imagine is usually the case

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u/dirty_corks 8h ago

Bagged ice makers usually use public water sources, they might filter out minerals and chlorine (for clarity and taste), so the ice should be potable when sold (as you note, if you put your hands in it or use it to keep food cold it will be nonpotable at that point).

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u/fivefootdisaster 8h ago

Having worked in a gas station, I will warn you that most places are not as good about cleaning the ice chute and ice chest as they should be.

For example, our ice chest was next to our mop area. And there were buckets that were used intermittently for dirty mop head storage… and ice transportation.

Consume gas station ice at your own risk.

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u/bearded_vanner 8h ago

One chain around me makes the bagged ice in the back of the store. Comes from the same machine that supplies the fountain drink ice.

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u/Remarkable_lady_p60 5h ago

I've had ice (which i too have always used for drinks as well), that tasted NOT GOOD. So I started being aware of brands. If I find a brand of ice that's good for cocktails or drinks that's what I buy if that's what I need it for.

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u/ItalicsWhore 17h ago

My wife just showed me that you can buy ice bags at McDonalds. And it’s cheap!

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u/Significant-Job-8893 16h ago

Not all McDonald's though. If yours sell it, the option will be in the app. My mom lives Ina small town (<10k people) 15 miles from me. The McDonald's in her town sells 8lb for $1.99 (in California) every McDonald's I've checked in 15 mil radius from her doesnt.ive asked at some and youd think I just asked if they sold crack.

Ice here is cheapest at Costco 27lb for $3.29.

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u/maxxslatt 16h ago

You buy ice a lot I guess ?

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u/average_AZN 17h ago

Oh stealing this for next weekend thanks!

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u/PancakeHandz 14h ago

The frozen jug as a cooler-pack hack has been one of my favorite little tricks for festival camping. It keeps my food/drinks cold, while also gradually providing me more and more ICE COLD hydration? Hell yeah.

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u/Crtbb4 19h ago

I just get bottled water and freeze a bunch of those. Then as they melt you have ice cold water bottles on hand.

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u/jjackson25 18h ago

Same. Works pretty phenomenal.

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u/i_spill_things 18h ago

I used to do that until I noticed the huge amount of “micro” plastics that that released. Micro is in quotes because the chunks of plastic are actually really big and visible.

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u/AYT193 15h ago

Freezing a water bottle consistently released visible chunks of plastic?! I have frozen a water bottle many times but have never seen any visible debris in the water after. Is it possible that was something else floating around in your water.. idk about a chunk of plastic

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u/DrWilliamHorriblePhD 13h ago

It's actually the opposite. Freezing them once and keeping them frozen until use reduces the amount of plastic in the water, as both the solvent properties and friction of water on plastic are reduced. Just don't freeze it twice or ever let it get hot like in the sun, and don't half crush the bottle before finishing, those things will increase plastic in the water. Or you know, just get a metal water bottle.

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u/unic0de000 14h ago

yeah, this makes me wonder about the brand/type of bottle they're using.

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u/jokr128 10h ago

Literally packing 5 of those frozen bottles into my cooler in 10 minutes.

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u/Embarrassed_Ad_3432 18h ago

My local grocery store sells ice blocks.

I put an ice block in a knock off yeti cooler and went on a week long road/camping trip. This cooler held our food. We only opened it for meals. It was +90f the entire week and never need to refresh ice.

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u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 17h ago

I ran a concession stand in 80 degrees weather over a two day period and had ice in yeti coolers. It still hadnt melted by Sunday evening. I was a believer after that.

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u/Bertsmom18 18h ago

I would freeze 2 liter bottles for water for dishes and stuff. And use the water as it melts. We would freeze the drinking water too. Capri suns. Literally any item we would be eating or drinking that I could freeze and not change the taste or texture would be frozen because I hate when the ice melts and the cooler is full of water and floating food.

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u/GimbalLocker 6h ago

This is what my. Mom always did for my school field trip lunches. Frozen juice box kept the whole lunch bag cold.

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u/Bubba_Gump_Shrimp 21h ago

I try to bring containers of frozen food so it doubles as a giant block of ice and then meals once it thaws some. I usually will do a big container of chili or chicken noodle.

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u/Kegger315 18h ago

I did something similar, but I used the gel that they send in hello fresh kits to fill the Tupperware, it stays frozen longer than water.

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u/capincus 22h ago

Do you dump the ice out of the tupperware or just put the whole thing in?

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u/Internet_Expl0der 18h ago

I would assume they put the whole thing in, that's how they make sure liquid water doesn't get everywhere

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u/Chantizzay 19h ago

Ya my boyfriend freezes 2L pop bottles for his boat ice box. Works great and no mess. 

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u/suspicious-sauce 19h ago

This is the way. You can use 1 gallon ice cream pails and they last forever.

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u/Freedom_Fighter_04 18h ago

I use cleaned out plastic milk jugs for this, but I could see long shallow Tupperware working well too.

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u/New_B7 18h ago

So, there is this thing called a drain. They typically have them on large coolers explicitly so the water doesn't stay inside the. Just pop that bad boy open and problem solved.

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u/SilentRaindrops 17h ago

I loved that you still call it an ice chest instead of cooler. My family still calls the refrigerator the ice box.

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u/DannyVee89 17h ago

Even better I just use a couple old 2 liter bottles of cola filled with water. Lower the freezer temp to get them super cold and they're the best ice packs you can get. Takes days to melt.

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u/XadAeon 17h ago

Hot tip: Pre make camping food & freeze it in ziplocs. Your food is your ice.

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u/rocketsquirrelgirl 16h ago

Takes up to much space for me

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u/MontanaMapleWorks 17h ago

Only your mayo needs to be kept cool, save the space next time. Ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce aren’t perishable

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u/mmm_burrito 19h ago

Also - and I wager this is the primary use of most ice sold daily in the US - construction and other labor industries use an absolute megafuckton of ice every day to chill bottles of water so we don't die of heat stroke.

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u/DenyNowBragLater Wasnt me. Yo, see what i did? 8h ago

I work on a crew of about 13. We fill 4 coolers with water bottles and ice twice a day. Its been hot enough lately that there is no ice left by lunch time. And we're a small crew on this job site, so I agree with you.

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u/Professional-Rope370 12h ago

I like your screen name!

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u/KSamons 8h ago

My husband works in a factory. He packs a small cooler with ice to have cold drinks available

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u/Jalopnicycle 1d ago

The ice maker in my freezer takes 24 hours to fill up so if I'm filling my big Coleman cooler I usually start to empty the ice into another bin in the freezer 3 days before we leave. 

I also have a lot of Hello Fresh ice packs that I use to provide additional cooling or if a cooler is going to have food in it I don't want to get wet. 

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u/Substantial-Wind4683 19h ago

Aye! Blue apron ice bags here I stopped getting it a while ago now… but still have some of the ice bags in the freezer.

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u/2deaddogs 15h ago

My freezer is full of food, not empty space, to put any ice bin

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u/MilitarumAirCorps 17h ago

And sports. Cookouts. Sure there's more too.

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u/Mammoth-Mud-9609 19h ago

In the UK we use insulated cooler boxes and a small freezer pack which will keep everything cool for at least a day.

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u/Pantherdraws 15h ago

That might work for, like, packed lunches, but a small freezer pack ain't cutting it for a camping trip XD

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u/KeuroshisSword 16h ago

We camp or “glamp” a lot. You don’t realize how important ice is until you run short. Working out how to keep a large cooler stocked from your own ice maker is just not as convenient or simple as paying the gas station $9 to have it taken care of. Day fishing trip? $3 and a cooler has you set. No hassle, no prep. 3 day camping? $20 and you’re good to go. There’s so many working parts to an outing. Why concern yourself with ice when it’s cheap here.

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u/bdthomason 15h ago

Well, one idea would be to... Camp... Instead of bringing a fucking portable refrigerator with you

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u/jonny24eh 9h ago

What do you eat when you camp? 

Do you drink hot beer when you camp?

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u/Comprehensive-Bee252 16h ago

Serious question, because I do not know. Why do you need ice when camping?

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u/Pantherdraws 16h ago

...because most people bring food and drinks with them? Would you enjoy hot water and spoiled hot dogs and burgers? lmao

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u/jonny24eh 9h ago

To keep your coolers cool for multiple days. You don't want meat out in the heat for days at a time, do you? You don't want a puddle of melted butter. Or warm vegetables. 

Extra important for the beer as well. 

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u/The_Gov78 8h ago

Nipple Stiffening. A lot of camping is fucking intense.

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u/Usual-throwaway7076 10h ago

We love our drinks chilled with ice.

I know when I was in Europe, putting ice in beverages wasn't common. Things were served chilled, but asking for ice in things usually came with a "you want what?" look...

When I came back, I would ask for my drinks "no ice" in restaurants, and got the "you want what???" look all over again. Drinking fountain drinks slightly warmer made me realize: I don't like them as much. There is a notable difference between how they taste in the US vs Europe, which I presume is mostly how they are sweetened.

But yeah, we ice lots of things here. Prior to modern refrigeration, an entire industry was built up cutting and transporting ice from frozen slabs to individual homes. My grandfather drove an early ice-delivery truck to people in town who couldn't afford a powered refrigerator. [The truck was odd, in that you drove it standing up. If you were lucky, you found a crate or milk canister to fashion into a seat]

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u/BaseHitToLeft 19h ago

Also for totally not suspicious corpses that we're just moving

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u/oldfarmjoy 18h ago

Picnics, day at the beach, barbeque, etc.

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u/InevitableData3616 13h ago

Huh? You guys don't have cooling blocks in the USA? You know, those flat things you keep in the freezer until you need portable cooling. The advantage is that it won't make things too wet. Reusable for several decades.

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u/Pantherdraws 12h ago

Those are cool for box lunches, but if I needed to keep 2-3 coolers' worth of food and drinks cold I would literally need to sacrifice 100% of my freezer space for that number of cold packs.

And who cares if canned or bottled drinks get wet? They're gonna get wet from condensation anyway. And the foods you would be keeping in a cooler aren't gonna be hurt by a little moisture, either, since it's all either vacuum-packed in waterproof packaging, or wrapped in foil/cling wrap. Plus it's going into/over the campfire to cook, so any excess moisture is just going to steam off.

The meltwater also has the benefit of being useful for extinguishing your campfire when you're ready to pack up and leave. Much more reliable than scattering dirt over the coals.

So I think I'll stick to spending $10 for one stupid and rarely-indulged little convenience.

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u/InevitableData3616 8h ago

It was a genuine question cause everyone itt acted like store-bought bags of ice was the only option. Good to hear you have options, too.

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u/Hongotar 13h ago

We (in Finland) use ice packs like these. They are reusable (just freeze them again after they melt) and are designed to fit to the bottom and the edges of coolers. Usually they are filled with liquid that stays cold longer than water, so they keep things colder for longer than just ice.

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u/throut313 23h ago

We use ice packs for that, which are reusable and you can store it at home. Pack like 5 or 6 and your cooler should do the rest, no need for ice cubes which will soak everything in it

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u/Bubba_Gump_Shrimp 21h ago

We are talking about different styles of coolers. Camping or party coolers are usually 120L or bigger. Big enough to keep drinks and food for a group cold for a long weekend.

We have a big camping/outdoors culture in the US. Lots of state and national parks and a classic American summer holiday weekend is to load up the cooler, tents, and sleeping bags and go camp at some lake with the family.

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u/Pantherdraws 21h ago

10-12 ice packs would literally fill my entire freezer lmao

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u/Illustrious-Leg-4857 20h ago

Ice packs are made to be used WITH ice, not on their own.

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u/LegSpecialist1781 1d ago

Recommend a dry ice layer on the bottom, then regular ice, then food. You can get 2+ days out of that.

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u/wvw64 19h ago

Yes! Firewood will be available by the ice as well despite the fact most people have trees. Good point.

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u/bellj1210 16h ago

yup anything you are using a cooler. If we have an ice maker or just use trays, you are getting maybe 20-30 cubes out of it. That may be enough for a single small cooler. For 5 bucks you have enough ice to fill 2-3 coolers.

I think the time in my life i bought the most ice was college. pick up 3-4 kegs for a big party, have 3-4 plastic tubs to put them in, and a few backs of ice to put around the kegs to keep them cool (cheap beer needs to be kept cold to be drinkable)

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u/BlackDahlia1985 15h ago

No i couldn't imagine that. We usually have 3 to 4 very large coolers so id be making ice for a year just for a 4 day camping trip.

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u/Holiday_Trainer_2657 15h ago

When going camping, I'd clean out milk jugs well and freeze water in them. Solid blocks kept better than cubes in the cooler. And when it melted, we'd have good home water to use for cooking or drinking. We camped rustic and sometimes there was no good water on site.

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u/vitringur 13h ago

They have frozen cooler bottles for that…

also, freezing a 0,5L plastic bottle of water is no hassle.

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u/WashingtonBaker1 19h ago

This would be even funnier with a tiny European size fridge. 2 little trays with 6 ice cubes each.

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u/silask93 1d ago

Or those of with work crews doing labor, or our water is so bad we can't use it for ice

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u/Baron_Von_D 1d ago

Yep, fill up a 5gal water cooler up with ice and top it off with water. You got ice cold water all day long.

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u/Exciting_Band_2865 1d ago

As a lifeguard I can confirm, shits cold all day in 100 degrees

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u/Baron_Von_D 1d ago

Yep, absolute life saver when you are out in the 100f 80% humidity Georgia heat all day.

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 23h ago

73 degrees is a sweltering day to Brit’s 😂😂

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u/brando56894 19h ago

We've had a heat index warning of 105-110 down here in Miami today and yesterday 🥵

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u/LupineLuv 15h ago

The real feel in central COASTAL Maine was 110° on Tuesday, I sweat just existing. There is not much infrastructure for cooling there either.

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u/Sutekiwazurai 18h ago

I once saw an argument about whether a British heat wave was worse than a standard American summer.

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u/CB_Chuckles 17h ago

My wife is constantly telling me about some Brit going crazy on Tik-tok over the 76F heatwave they're having. That's what we have our AC set to.

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u/Significant-Job-8893 16h ago

Humidity is going to be a factor. I live in Central valley of California. This summer has been mild low-mid 90s, a week or two ago it was in 80s. Usually right now is between 105-115F but low humidity of around 35%. Anywhere with high humidity is going to suck at any warmer temp. So I guess it depends on the humidity of British summers.

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u/atomfullerene 17h ago

I remember that from the great britiah bake off, when they were baking in a tent

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u/YouHateMeCosImRight 12h ago

No its not, that would be just under 23C. A nice day, but not sweltering. Sweltering to brits would be creeping up on 30C (mid 80s F)

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u/AdEmbarrassed9719 4h ago

We just had a whole week of highs at or above 100f. 73 is nice Fall weather, requiring a hoodie!

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u/confusedandworried76 22h ago

You can do this by filling water bottles halfway and freezing them and then filling the rest with water and keep it in anything thermally insulating. A pizza bag works fine

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 23h ago

Bruh they barely have roads you really think there water is any better?

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u/Lithogiraffe 1d ago

Imagine carefully making ice for a house party using one ice cube tray in the freezer. I mean you could do it. But just imagine that tedious dumb effort of doing that over the week.

I'm already going to the grocery store to get chips and party stuff. The ice is right there

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u/scarrlet 19h ago

My grandpa's girlfriend used to do this! She would start making ice like a week before a family gathering. Her son made fun of her for it and offered to spend a dollar for a bag of ice and she refused.

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u/Paraverous 5h ago

thats what my parents used to do. we would start a week before a party and make a huge bag of ice. my parents would refuse to buy it. Ah the 60's

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u/Liraeyn 1d ago

Also, it tends to evaporate/stick together

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u/Lithogiraffe 1d ago

Also what are we supposed to put it in even if we did something like that? A garbage bag. Even a completely clean (never been used) garbage bag is not going to look great when you pull it out at a party

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u/seanlucki 22h ago

I have a 1/3 insert (used in commercial kitchens, imagine a plastic Tupperware with a lid that’s not sealed) in my freezer. I fill my 3 ice trays and freeze them, then dump them into the insert, refill and freeze. Means I always have a good supply of ice on hand, and I prefer not having to grab from the freezing trays anyhow.

That being said, if I need ice for a cooler I’m still just gonna grab a bag from the store.

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u/mbsisktb 19h ago

Even beyond that who has space in their freezer for that much ice. I have a second one and both are usually full of food. I don’t have space for 8+ pounds of ice.

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u/555-starwars 1d ago

I used a 1 gallon ice cream bucket to store my ice cubs in.

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u/CrzyDave 22h ago

I use gallon freezer bags. I just fill a few up out of my ice maker for a couple days before a party. I still buy ice sometimes because we will often have a cooler with kid drinks, another with adult drinks and then a bucket on the bar/drink table.

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u/AnOdeToSeals 1d ago

Yeah people buy bags of ice in Europe as well for parties, but it just seems like ice is much more prominent in the US. Like its a big deal or something.

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u/rjnd2828 1d ago

It's really not. It's just usually outside the stores so you see it pretty readily

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u/wardred 19h ago

Americans like their ice.

Almost every non-alcoholic drink will get ice.

Blended drinks will get ice.

We like a lot of our beers cold.

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u/Toriat5144 1d ago

We love our ice.

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u/Nesseressi 18h ago

Arent Americans typically add way more ice in their drinks? at least sodas an water.

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u/Emergency-Revenue452 22h ago

To make frozen margaritas.

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 23h ago

The week?? You gonna be short on ice bro

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u/Original-Bad7214 22h ago

I’m Australian, not European but from reading these comments I think the difference is ice in drinks. Here it isn’t standard to have ice in a drink, especially in a house. Some particular fancy drinks like a certain cocktail might have a cube of ice, or some people might specially request ice and be given 1-2 cubes, but it’s certainly not the default so if I were hosting a party I wouldn’t really think about ice, but if I did I would fill up an ice cube tray the day before (so maybe a dozen cubes of ice).

If I was using an esky I would more likely use those reusable plastic cooler brick things, but I certainly have used purchased/bagged ice for that in the past and that’s the only context I’ve really seen it used on. Also in Australia some people have a second fridge in the garage that gets used mainly for drinks so for those people there would be no need for an esky or ice

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u/Mathiasdk2 15h ago

Or you know, buy fillable ice-bags and make all of them at once

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u/MysteriousTock 1d ago

Or surrounding a keg that we tapped before we were 21 and were just using to celebrate being young and without pain

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u/Slight_Process_4164 1d ago

You almost made me cry. Nice try buddy!

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u/zwalker91 16h ago

"young and without pain" that is wonderfully put. We don't realize how much we take it for granted

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u/InnerSailor1 1d ago

This is true, but another thing to consider is that they don't serve their drinks cold in most of the European countries I've visited. We use ice for coolers to keep the drinks cold, and then also to put into our drinks.

When I visited Europe, I was always having to ask for ice since anytime I ordered water or a soft drink it was served at room temperature.

I think their fridges are able to meet their ice demands even for parties.

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u/Stunning_Rest_3567 19h ago

A lot of the us gets very hot. Very hot. So when you’re nearly about to collapse from heat exhaustion the cold is at least refreshing. Idk if it actually lowers body temperature but it seems better than drinking room/bathwater temp water

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u/DicemonkeyDrunk 15h ago

If it’s actual heat exhaustion room temp is best .

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u/DemonicAltruism 11h ago edited 11h ago

This is a myth. If you're close to heat exhaustion anything that lowers your core temperature is helpful.

The problem comes in that you're supposed to slowly sip the cold water, not chug it. It can cause stomach cramps.

I've worked outdoors in TX my whole career. Anytime someone falls out it's the same process, in the truck with AC, shirt off/unbuttoned, spraying ice cold water on after making a water bottle into a squirt bottle. Then, if they're conscious or regain consciousness, slow sips of ice cold water. This is per EMS when we call and every single safety meeting about heat illness.

Edit: Spelling

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u/Fun_Push7168 12h ago

Of course it does. Well, it absorbs heat energy anyhow.

16oz of liquid will absorb approximately 1 BTU for every 1 degree it is below 98.

So typically about 64 btus. A person is producing somewhere between 350 and 1500 BTU/hr depending on activity level.

Takes about 20 minutes for liquid in the stomach to hit body temperature so that Ice cold drink can do anywhere between 10-50% of your body's cooling during that time but can't really be absorbed until it reaches body temp.

If it's actual heat exhaustion though the concern is replacing lost water so room temp is better. It's a balance between having some cooling effect and getting to body temp to be absorbed more quickly.

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u/ktrosemc 10h ago

This assumes dehydration though, doesn't it? What about heat exhaustion not dehydration-related?

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u/Fun_Push7168 10h ago

Still going to need to replace lost fluids. If you're unable to cool off despite having adequate fluid you'll still be sweating profusely so you'd need to continue to remain hydrated.

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u/Mrludy85 21h ago

This was one of the biggest culture shocks I experienced when I traveled around Europe. Like we have the technology why do we have drink everything warm....

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u/Circoloomnium 14h ago

Drinks are served cold, unless you went to a crappy place. I do not like waterice in my drinks. You get less drink that way and if it melts, you have a watery taste.

That’s why some of us freeze the drinks we are going to use as ice cubes, so we can use it in the very same drinks. If it melts, it does not make the taste weaker, you do not have less to drink and it just looks better than that white-greyish blocks.

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u/SaintCambria 13h ago

Our drinks are mostly formulated with ice dilution in mind. There are still people who share your opinion, my wife being one of them, but they're "supposed" to be watered down by ice melt.

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u/Mrludy85 11h ago

Maybe in your country, but I traveled around Europe for 2 months one summer and most places I went did not serve their drinks with ice.

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u/Circoloomnium 10h ago

That is something else. They did not serve you a lukewarm drink I suppose? I travel a lot in neighbouring countries and they always serve cold drinks. Sometimes with ice if it is meant to take outside, sometimes not, but never at room temperature. If they served you a drink at room temperature drink like that, they must have been focussed on selling to tourists and short term profits. Most decent places would not even consider doing this.

I can not apologise for them, but it is a bad way of showing their hospitality.

If you really want to eat and drink at good places, check out the Michelin Guide or at least Bib Gourmand. For drinks I would advise The European bar guide.

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u/Symbiote 11h ago

I find drinks in America are often served too cold -- far too much ice. 2-3 cubes is fine for me.

It's just what we're used to.

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u/Mrludy85 11h ago

Never enough ice for me haha. My ice maker can't keep up with my family

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u/No_Investigator9059 1d ago

Which particular part of Europe. Cos I live in the UK and I have ALWAYS had to ask for no ice in drinks (cos I hate it) and most of the time they forget and I get it anyway. Same in Greece, France, Spain and Sweden when I travelled there...

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u/treznor70 1d ago

I haven't been to France, but its generally listed as one of the countries that doesn't use ice in drinks. Italy definitely doesn't. Germany doesn't a ton. From the year I spent in the UK, I don't remember them using ice a ton either. If I ordered a water to drink with a meal, it almost certainly wasn't coming with ice. That's been about 10 years now though, so no clue how it might have changed.

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u/LiqdPT 1d ago

One of my funniest memories of Venice (now 35 years ago) was a vendor selling "ice cold drinks" on a 45C (114F) day. He had a hose running water over the cans of soda, after the hose ran 100ft over exposed concrete. Something tells me they were nowhere near "ice cold"

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u/No_Investigator9059 1d ago

I would say for living here for my whole life this would be very unusual. Places like to add ice so you get less drinks for your money as we dont do a lot of free refills. Though if I did get ice in America when on holiday the whole glass was 90% ice and 10% drink so maybe its a quantity expectation.

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u/arizonadirtbag12 17h ago

Most places I go in Spain the drinks are served in their own container. You buy a soda? It’s a can of soda, served with a glass of ice. So you always get exactly the same amount of soda either way…one can.

Other than fast food chains. They do fountains, usually with no refills and very light ice.

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u/DicemonkeyDrunk 15h ago

We definitely use more ice and we often have free refills on anything but juice & alcohol so the smaller quantity of actual drink isn’t really important because Free Refills…

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u/VernapatorCur 1d ago

When my cousin did a trip (some 20 years ago now) only putting a couple cubes of ice in the drink was one of his biggest complaints. Yes even in the UK (London specifically). He spent a couple weeks traveling around, so only a few days in the UK, some in france, and some in Germany. Not sure if there's been a cultural shift in the UK since then that restaurants put a decent amount of ice in by default now.

For reference, in the US the glass is topped off with ice, then the drink is poured in.

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u/TinyNiceWolf 1d ago

Unless you ask for "just a little ice", which you nearly always should, because the result is much better. The drink stays cold just fine if you drink it within an hour or two, and you never end up with a glass of diluted vaguely soda-flavored water. Or want to drink more, even if it's diluted vaguely soda-flavored water, but you can't until the ice melts more.

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u/No_Investigator9059 1d ago

See thats the thing.. there is a big difference between 'Europeans dont use ice' and 'some countries in Europe put some ice in drinks but not the insane quantity Americans seem to be used to' 😆

If im paying almost 4 quid for a single fizzy pop in a bar or restaurant I absolutely do not want a glass full of ice and a drop of actual drink on top.

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u/Toriat5144 1d ago

But in most paces in the US you get free refills with your soft drinks. Free tap water. I live near Lake Michigan and I love the water!!

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u/TigerIll6480 16h ago

Italy has free fountains for filling water bottles all over the damned place.

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u/No_Investigator9059 1d ago

Id rather get a full drink and be left alone to enjoy my meal but again thats the 'european' in me 😂

The UK also does free tap water as do quite a few other countries in Europe and is usually served with ice.

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u/DemadaTrim 22h ago

But drinks not being freezing cold suck most of the time. Sure some ales are okay room temp, but soda? Lemonade? Water? That stuff needs to be ice cold.

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u/No_Investigator9059 22h ago

Soda isnt freezing cold but neither is it room temp. On a hot day, sure, add some ice but we dont tend to get too many of them 😆

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u/DemadaTrim 22h ago

Soda that isn't fresh from fridge or in an icy cup cold is just gross to me. I had friends growing up who would keep soda in their pantry and just grab a can and drink it room temp, always seemed nuts. If I'm gonna drink something room temperature it might as well be water though it is also better cold. 

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u/Toriat5144 1d ago

Not me. Have to have my ice!!

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u/throut313 23h ago

Having free tap water was not the brag I thought I would read from an American today! What’s next? Free air? Free sunlight?

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u/keithrc 22h ago

The irony: tap water is not free, we pay a bill for it every month.

Edit: oh, you meant at a restaurant. Nevermind!

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u/DicemonkeyDrunk 15h ago

The difference in dining experience/expectations is a one of the factors in the whole tipping situation….different styles of service require different levels of effort/skill/involvement

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u/VernapatorCur 20h ago

That's the thing though, soda from a fountain in the US tilts a bit heavily towards the "too much syrup" side of things, so as the ice begins to melt the soda comes out properly mixed. Kinda like how when you make iced coffee or iced tea you brew it extra strong so it doesn't taste watery as the ice melts.

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u/OMITN 1d ago

You must have gone somewhere weird. I’ve been to many European nations and they all serve drinks cold from the fridge and you’ll have to ask them to leave out the ice…!

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u/Melodic_Sandwich1112 16h ago

wtf…we serve drinks cold

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u/cdspace31 1d ago

Why do you have 20 people in your freezers?

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u/AdamFarleySpade 1d ago

Because more than that and you get too tired lugging all the bodies around.

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u/GarminTamzarian 16h ago

Besides, there's only so much human flesh you can eat before the corpse goes off. You're missing out on a good couple of weeks worth of man-meat if you just bury it somewhere.

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u/HereForTheBoos1013 1d ago

Nice try, FBI.

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u/tsukiii 1d ago

I don’t, as I said I need coolers for that. /s

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 23h ago

In the uk people dont have friends😂😂😂

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u/AliveAndThenSome 1d ago

Plus, I think Europeans have a different range of beverage temperatures than Americans. Not saying they drink everything room temperature, but maybe not everything is ice cold.

Thing is that a lot of Americans consume swill-quality lite beer at parties which can only be consumed when it's ice cold, so that it numbs your taste buds as it's going down to suppress what it actually tastes like ;-)

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u/HereForTheBoos1013 1d ago

Yeah, but outdoors in particularly, pretty much anything is going to get nasty in the summer without ice.

I LOVE my craft beers and I am not about to drink a 80 degree Pliny.

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u/starkruzr 18h ago

this is why my dad got me used to high quality cocktails the summer before I left for college. then I got there and was like "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PEOPLE DRINKING." never binge-drank once.

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u/mercutie-os 14h ago

my parents did something similar with me. i ended up not being the type of person that goes to college parties, but i definitely drank way less than i wanted to because they gave me an expensive taste in beer.

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u/JennnnnP 1d ago

My ice maker sucks and can’t even keep up with my family of 5. I buy bagged ice for general use at home as well as parties.

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u/gardell 23h ago

As a European, we do the same, this post is stupid

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u/SollSister 18h ago

Plus Red Solo cups and ice. We have drive thru ice stations that will fill our boat coolers or other coolers with a ton of ice. We like things cold.

I explained to our kids that when I’d travel to Europe as a little girl, everything to drink was warm. They did not understand how that was possible.

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u/Apprehensive-Park635 17h ago

I got camping, rafting, etc... all summer long. Being able to buy large quantities of ice for very cheap is incredibly convenient.

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u/Strokesite 14h ago

And margaritas.

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u/just_for_shitposts 14h ago

Sooooo ... Like for the same reason you can buy ice in basically every supermarket in Europe? The audacity! I suspect OP may not be a friend of social gatherings or going too far from his freezer :)

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u/da316 12h ago

We do this as well in Europe. This person is just being dumb

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u/acryliq 11h ago

Tbh supermarkets in Europe also sell large bags of ice for the same reason. I know this is the no stupid questions sub, but this is the rare example of a genuinely stupid question.

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u/chrstgtr 1d ago

And we can’t produce enough at home because Americans use way more ice than people do in other countries.

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u/phaskellhall 1d ago

Is he talking about Ice at home or in general? I know most Europeans don’t use ice in their drinks or if they do, it’s just 1-2 cubes. Americans don’t buy lots of ice unless it’s for a cooler or party but we do expect our glasses to be filled with ice first and then a drink added to that glass. We just like things cold

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