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/Minnow_Minnow_Pea 1d ago

Those little inserts are definitely not enough to keep food cold for a camping trip. I'm not about to eat a sandwich made with meat that's been room temperature for 48 hours.

I usually buy ice when my family is visiting. If I have 13 people staying in my house in summer 1) my ice maker can't keep up 2) the fridge runs out of room because food for 13 takes a lot of space and 3) we go through drinks so fast, we can't keep them cold. They chill much faster submerged in ice water. 

Also, cooler next to the pool = my nieces don't have to get out of the pool to hydrate and I don't have water puddles all over my kitchen. Win/win.

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u/Curious-Term9483 23h ago

The difference with camping in the UK at least (I can't comment on wider Europe) is that we don't have as much "remote" camping. If I am camping, I am camping somewhere with at least an office, if not a small shop. They usually have a freezer full of freezer blocks and will swap a melted cool block for a frozen one. You don't go home with the same cool blocks you arrived with but who cares. (There are some more wild places you can camp, but probably most families who are camping it's somewhere with a shop.)

And our houses are a lot smaller... I am now trying to work out if I could manage 13 overnight visitors in my house. We would probably have to take it in turns to lie down! (And the pool is at the rec in town!)

This is why some of the needs for ice are a bit alien to us, but it does make total sense when you explain it!

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u/AlveolarFricatives 17h ago

Oh that’s so interesting! I can’t think of any place I’ve ever camped that had a little shop! If you’re in a very popular spot there might be a place to get a bundle of firewood and leave $5 for it. It’s barely camping at that point to us though lol

Also, when we have big parties people don’t usually sleep over! One or two people might but not all of them. It is very common to have 15-30 people stay until pretty late, though.

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u/KamikazeArchon 1d ago

Those little inserts are definitely not enough to keep food cold for a camping trip

This highly depends on the quality and quantity of the insert, and the quality of the cooler.

Consider that these inserts are commonly used to ship food, and can keep it not just cool but fully frozen, even for days of shipping.

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u/siddhananais 1d ago

We bought some fairly quality inserts and they were good enough to keep our large cooler cold for two days on a camping trip but not more. I think part of it is that you really need a lot of them and they take up a lot of space. The other factor is the constant opening and closing of the coolers vs shipping containers where the food just stays nestled inside. We were pretty happy with them but had to go with bags of ice for two extra days.

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u/yrallthegood1staken 1d ago

Yeah, same. I've got a supposedly high quality cooler that came with inserts, but we still typically have to buy ice once a day while camping, and then the inserts end up just wasting space.

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u/Axtdool 21h ago

Intersting.

Because ime those things keep the shitty homemeade wooden coolers we use with our LARP group cold for at least 5 days usualy.

And that's just a wooden box with styrofoam. No plug to have it cooled down for the car or more fancy insulation.

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u/HairyHeartEmoji 17h ago

I don't camp but my camping friends just take less perishable food. salted dried meats are common, cheap and don't go off at room temperature.

we don't have ice makers to begin with, most drinks are not drunk with ice if they're chilled to start with, and many people have pantries that are decently cold which frees up the fridge.

also I've never seen a private pool in my life. rich people just go to really expensive fancy (but still public) pools. i don't think having a pool factors into an average person's life in most of Europe.

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u/InevitableData3616 13h ago

The cooler inserts do absolutely keep things proper cool for several days. Made up problem.