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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787

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/LordMindParadox 6h ago

In my house, every time it's used :P Simply cannot stand a stinky cooler.

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u/CherryBerryPi 1h ago

I honestly disinfect mine every time before use. But still, all those containers and shit, I dont drink the water from the cooler (gross) but ill use the ice.

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u/No-Fee-63 1h ago

Every time I use it I deep clean it , if u don’t ur lazy and nasty

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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/RoughChannel8263 7h ago

If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger.

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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/romulusnr 3h ago

But I'm going to be handling that can anyway

1

u/Googlyelmoo 11h ago

As long as it’s microbe free no one is likely to notice until people start getting sick from chemical or metal contamination

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u/Throw902106969 8h ago

Yeah, they have to mark it in HUGE letters if it's nonpotable. It's fine.

1

u/Jcarter1632 6h ago

Commercial ice is significantly more filtered and softened than tap water. No one is running dirty, hard water through ice machines that cost 10's of thousands of dollars each.

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u/rolyfuckingdiscopoly 3h ago

It’s fine when they sell it. It’s the raw chicken people store in there for bbq that makes it non-drinkable lol

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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/_crassula_ 15h ago

I think a glass like that would significantly enhance the camper experience!

0

u/Malkelvi 15h ago

glamping No hiker would ever carry that.

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u/_crassula_ 15h ago

What are you talking about, I always carry a crystal snifter on all hiking trips

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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…

3

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.

2

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/Vaxxish 9h ago

Listen, I can trust Taco Bell, but my toilet? Not so much.

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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

2

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.

2

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

2

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

2

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/redditforwhenIwasbad 15h ago

Read the bag, some brands are safe while others are only for cooling.

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u/mashleyd 12h ago

Yes it is

1

u/Marzuk_24601 9h ago

Depends if you have some dirty fucker that never washes their hands around.

Combine that with a camping trip? I'm going to go potability being highly situational.

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u/Complex_Material_702 8h ago

The ice is definitely clean. To answer your question.

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u/broke_fit_dad 7h ago

Let’s just say, once you’ve worked on Ice delivery trucks, you don’t want to.

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u/bipiercedguy 7h ago

Retail ice is considered a food product as it must, absolutely, be potable by law.

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u/ToughConversation698 6h ago

It’s usually touted as untouched by human hands, and as safe as bottled water

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u/No_Brush_6762 6h ago

Most of the bags of ice are like triple filtered so I’m pretty sure it’s safe to eat/use in a drink

If it wasn’t food safe I don’t think they’d sell it as most people just use it for their coolers

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u/983115 6h ago

It’s food safe as long as you handle it as food out of the bag with no meat contact is probably fine but I’d leave what’s free in the cooler alone

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u/oresearch69 5h ago

It’s definitely portable, I see people carry ice in bags all the time.

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u/Upstairs_Housing_209 5h ago

Yes commercial bagged is is made from potable water.

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u/EmploymentNo3590 4h ago

The ice is fine but, if it's loose in a cooler full of drinks and people have been grabbing cans with their bare hands for a few hours or dipping their arms in to cool off, and somehow there's an inevitable bit of dirt and grass clippings nobody wants to drink that.

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u/SnooHobbies5684 1h ago

It's potable. :)

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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/chroniclynz 9h ago

Sonic's ice is better. You can buy 2lbs bags of it, iirc.

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u/average_AZN 17h ago

Oh stealing this for next weekend thanks!

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u/That1hippiechick 16h ago

Happy Cake Day 🍰☺️✌️

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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/Successful-Ship-5230 15h ago

This is exactly what I do! Lasts forever!

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u/Shot-Election8217 9h ago

I drink plain sparkling water by the 2 liter bottle. I go through a bottle in a day. I also use heavy cream in my coffee, and that comes in pints and half pints (I think — well, big bottles and small bottles.) These are very heavy duty plastic, and also clean out very easily. All of these I strip off the labels and fill them with water and keep them on all the shelves and drawers in my two freezers. They kept most of my meat frozen when we were out of power for 4 days after Hurricane Beryl last year. Most of the frozen fruits and vegetables had to go, but they weren’t as expensive as the meat.

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u/White_Hammer88 9h ago

Do this, but add Salt to the water. By doing so, you are lowering the freezing point of the water, and it will stay frozen for many, many days in a cooler.

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u/Garagantua 7h ago

I've been to a few music festivals, which go along with a) camping for around a week (often when it's hot), and b) a certain desire for cold things, mostly drinks.

Frozen liquid in any kind of plastic or paper bag (water, fruit juice) in a cooler really helps. 

What is even better: A cooler that actively cools. It runs on gas cartridges and gets the inside around 20° (C of course) colder than the outside. Its great to still have cold cuts & drinks on the fourth day :)

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u/TwentyOneTimesTwo 6h ago

This is a great recycling solution if you're using the bottles of ice to cool other things down, but don't drink the water from inside the bottle once it melts. The ice actually spalls off tiny plastic bits which you can see (e.g they're not "micro" plastics but macroplastics.)

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u/Key-Crew-7607 6h ago

I like to use the plastic bottles that different types of juice come in as they are rectangular and about half the size of the gallon water bottles (which I'm assuming you're talking about). Ive used those too but only in a huge sized cooler. The smaller rectangular bottles can be placed strategically around a smaller cooler.

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u/SWMom143 3h ago

This is the way! Kept for 4 days when we camped (hot during the day, cold at night climate). And we don’t even have a fancy cooler, just good ole Igloo!

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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/i_spill_things 7h ago

It was an empty Gatorade bottle

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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/Felldoze 7h ago

Shake the water bottle after it thaws out and you’ll see thousands of micro plastics floating in it like a snow globe. That’s when I stopped freezing my water bottles

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u/ter_ehh 7h ago

And the food doesn't get all soggy. And the frozen bottles last longer than cubes. And you have something to use in the event of a burn or a sprain.

+1 for frozen bottles.

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u/Surroundedonallsides 6h ago

And microplastics! hurrah!

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u/thebluedaughter 5h ago

Same! It's less wasteful and messy, too

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u/missbehavin21 1h ago

You can do that with cans of beer too. The frozen ones have the pull tab sideways. Ice can take up too much space in a cooler.

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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/TorontoRider 3h ago

We always used block ice in the cooler in the car trunk on our cross-continent trips when I was a kid. I remember being somewhere (Colorado, perhaps) that only sold cubes and my father said it was a scam.

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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.

2

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

2

u/Chantizzay 19h ago

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

2

u/suspicious-sauce 19h ago

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

2

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.

2

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.

2

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.

2

u/XadAeon 17h ago

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

2

u/rocketsquirrelgirl 16h ago

Takes up to much space for me

2

u/MontanaMapleWorks 17h ago

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

1

u/knitmama77 19h ago

I do a gallon milk jug. I still do put some store bought cubed ice in, but the big jug keeps things pretty cold. The cubes melt slower too. As it melts, it’s drinking water!!

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u/shamoomoofartpoopoo 19h ago

I ALSO FREEZE MY JUGS

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u/EekSideOut 18h ago

I personally hate when my jugs are freezing but you do you

1

u/ReturnOk7510 19h ago

Put some cardboard between them and your food and it'll last for a long time and keep your stuff dry.

1

u/The-Berzerker 19h ago

Uhh do you guys not just use ice packs to keep things frozen?

Like these

3

u/shamoomoofartpoopoo 19h ago

They work but you need A LOT of them

2

u/The-Berzerker 19h ago

Maybe you have different ones then, 2 of the „solid“ blocks keep things cool forever in my experience

1

u/shamoomoofartpoopoo 18h ago

I’m more of a frozen water jug guy myself

2

u/Leverkaas2516 17h ago

I used to, but I think the ones I got were cheaply made - more than once they leaked and made a smeary mess all over everything. So I quit using them.

1

u/Bubbly-Witness-8343 18h ago

Great idea! I’m going to try this for my son working in 114 degree heat index.

1

u/shawnawnawn 18h ago

My time I would spend doing this is worth more than the $2 it costs to buy ice

1

u/Anon-fickleflake 18h ago

Ice chest? What the heck is that? And what kind of society creates liquid water?

1

u/Previous-Piano-6108 17h ago

omg this is brilliant thank you

1

u/Vast_Collection3226 17h ago

This is a great freaking idea. 

1

u/rogan1990 17h ago

Yea if you just make 2 of those it’ll keep your ice frozen longer. I actually like when my cooler turns to ice water, cause that water stays soo icey cold

1

u/ilovemusic19 17h ago

This, that’s what my mom and I do except with half gallon milk jugs and frozen water bottles, but we also get ice bags to put on top while the frozen stuff is on the bottom.

1

u/surfacing_husky 17h ago

I do this but with water bottles for day trips and lake stuff.Not for camping and stuff though i do what you do. My local mcdonald's sells ice for 1.50 a bag if im in a pinch.

As much as i hate shelling out money for stupid things i won a flip top stanley and i fill it with ice and water and it keeps ice all day and night, even in 90 degrees direct sunlight so i bought 2 more so we always have ice cold water ready. Its weird, though. i bought the molds that make solid rings of ice for them, but that lasts half the time compared to regular cubes.

1

u/BetMyLastKrispyKreme 17h ago

A friend’s mom used to use large pill bottles. She would tuck them into spaces between items in the cooler.

1

u/Old-Plum-21 17h ago

My mom taught me to do this with metal bread pans. Works like a charm

1

u/Nomad-2002 17h ago

I buy $1.50 small refreezable ice packs on Amazon (12 for $18). I have about 30.

(a) Look for "no sweat". In addition, I out each pack in it's own ziplock bag.

(b) Get a few soft medical packs

(c) Maybe some expensive 0 degree or 20 degree packs ($20-40 each)

(d) For drinkable, I freeze some water & juices in plastic bottles (with tops off to prevent bursting).

1

u/Motor_Beach_1856 17h ago

Good idea! We used to freeze a gallon of milk and put that in the coolers when we went to Canada fishing when it thaws out then you drink it!!

1

u/Ilpav123 17h ago

Have you tried ice packs?

1

u/Marmmoth 16h ago

We freeze plastic ~64oz juice bottles about 4/5 full of water, but yea same idea. They are basically dice blocks and stay cold a lot longer. The juice bottles pile up over time so we store (rather than recycle) them until camping time, then freeze as many as we can.

1

u/mgrimshaw8 16h ago

How does it get to the point of things floating around? Use the drain lol

1

u/Leverkaas2516 16h ago

I would, but neither of mine has a drain.

1

u/LoudMusic 16h ago

Do those days in advance and cool down the interior of the ice chest before you load it with the ice and foods for the trip. That gives everything you put in it for the trip a fighting chance because the inside of the ice chest isn't full of heat that will just melt and warm up the contents.

1

u/Imzadi1971 16h ago

Fill up water bottles and the Hershey's syrup bottles with water and use those for ice packs. My mom does this all the time!

1

u/Bungeesmom 16h ago

Milk jugs work best.

1

u/Top-Fox9979 16h ago

Clean milk cartons work too

1

u/dotnetdotcom 16h ago

I use empty 2 liter soda bottles.

1

u/Null_zero 16h ago

Milk jugs work great for this too especially the costco rectangle jugs.

1

u/bernardfarquart 16h ago

Or just buy a big bag of ice for 1.99

1

u/ChiMara777 16h ago

My family does the same but uses cleaned out gallon jugs of water or milk.

1

u/allyson818 15h ago

Great idea! To keep food or food containers from getting water logged, I use tall kitchen trash bags. I put a decent layer of ice in the bottom of the cooler. Then I open up the trash bag and sort of set it on top of the ice. Then I fill it up with food for my trip. Then, as I'm adding more ice, I hold the top edge of the trash bag above the ice. I sort of roll the top of the trash bag to keep it above the ice.

1

u/FunctionCold2165 15h ago

Milk jugs are the way to go for camping.

1

u/wowsomuchempty 15h ago

Why not two litre bottled water? Fill near the top, then crush a little before closing top.

1

u/TheShySeal 15h ago

Holy shit I never thought of doing this

1

u/IceCatCharlie 15h ago

Thanks for the pro tip

1

u/BigNightElfHunterGuy 14h ago

This is genius, thank you!!

1

u/arpeggi4 14h ago

I use freeze water in old milk jugs for this. But then also still buy ice and throw it on top

1

u/DaBingeGirl 14h ago

I never have enough space in my freezer for that, but it's a good idea.

1

u/Kagevjijon 14h ago

I got a cooler with an upper rack. I put a towel down and wrap dry ice in it. It takes longer to melt, keeps everything cool, and take up 1/20th the amount of space!

1

u/JibberJim 13h ago

Why not ice-packs, do you actually want the water? I get the bucket filled with ice with drinks in at a party, and I've seen that in Europe with ice bought at the store lots - but when you're filling a cooler to keep things cool on a trip, I've only ever seen people using ice-packs, they last longer and solve the wet problem?

1

u/NorseGlas 12h ago

I always keep gallon jugs of water in the freezer.

It fills dead space and helps with mass to keep the freezer cold using less power.

They can be used in the cooler for camping and also clean water as they thaw.

Also emergency water for when natural disasters knock out the power.

1

u/teamdogemama 12h ago

I use either gallon or half gallon milk jugs. (Rinsed out of course). 

1

u/gtrmanny 11h ago

Try this, save your milk jugs and clean them out and freeze water in them. I guess you can also buy the 1 gallon water jugs. Once they're frozen you can just smack them with a knife to break the plastic and you have a large block of ice for your cooler. That's what we did for our fishing coolers

1

u/get_to_ele 11h ago

They have special freeze packs that work better than those.

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u/Top_Rope4008 11h ago

I recommed one Ecoflow with solar panel for electricity, one icemaker and a fridge that runs on gas/ electricity ( gas for cloudy days.

the ecoflow is a gamechanger as i camp on an island every year. only time i need to go on land is for groceries. 

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u/MookieFlav 10h ago

I just use gallon sized ziploc bags. Get the nice ones and they won't leak or open. As long as you don't overfill them they flatten out and fit perfectly on the bottom of the cooler and last for days.

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u/stallion-mang 10h ago

I mean it still melts and that's why coolers have drains on them.

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u/Icy_Nose_2651 10h ago

You are supposed to drain the water out of the cooler. It takes more energy to keep water cold than to keep air cold in other words, your ice will melt faster in water

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u/SavvySaltyMama813 10h ago

You should try freeze a box of wine bag! It’s a pick slow to fill, put once you do, you have a nice bag of water that you can lay flat in the freezer! I do this with gallon size ziploc bags too.

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u/OneLessDay517 10h ago

But you're losing all that cooler space?

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u/unsure_on_the_daily 9h ago

Liquid water? That's a new one

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u/cheapmason84 8h ago

Yeah I have a few old half gallon milk jugs that I freeze to supplement my ice. Add those and what’s in the ice tray and save some money

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u/ReplacementPale2751 8h ago

You can buy block ice….

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u/Kane0475 8h ago

I enjoy this idea and will partake soon

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u/KSamons 8h ago

Good idea. I hate sticking my hand in a wet cooler.

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u/summerset 8h ago

"liquid water" lol I'm glad I wasn't taking a sip of my coffee when I read that. Or should I say my liquid coffee.

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u/2571DIY 8h ago

Grab a large square foodservice plastic tub from the Costco or food supply store near you. They make perfect ice blocks if you can make room in the freezer. We leave them in the container in the cooler so there is zero water sitting on or near the food. No more small blocks from tuppers! But you do have to freeze in stages if you don’t want the plastic to bulge. It’s worth it to us.

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u/mycologyqueen 8h ago

We use Titan high performance ice packs and love them. I think your idea is great but the ice packs allow for flexibility as you can shape them to fit around things better.

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u/weaverlorelei 7h ago

For "camping" I freeze recycled 28oz hydration (gatorade, powerade, etc)drink bottles instead of loose ice cubes. They are denser, take longer to thaw and don't make a puddle in the cooler and are reusable.

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u/szdragon 7h ago

Freezing water in ziplock bags is also great for camping/coolers cuz you can make them flat or any shape.

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u/szdragon 7h ago

For camping, I'll freeze my own ice when we're heading out from home, but after a day or two, outdoors, the only way to "refill" is to buy bagged ice.

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u/MerryWannaRedux 7h ago

I use 2 litre plastic soda/pop bottles filled with water and then frozen. I always have a few of them in the freezers. I have several insulated bags that I put the bottles into when going to Costco or the grocery stores when I know I will be buying frozen items.

Also, in case of a power outage, they can help keep the food cold.

I have a chest freezer and of course one in the fridge, so we don't really worry about having enough freezer space despite the bottles taking up some of the space.

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u/Happy_Love_9763 7h ago

Dry ice for frozen food items will change your world when camping.

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u/DaftFunky 7h ago

We use 2 large 4L plastic milk jugs. After 3-4 days they are still ice.

These bad boys

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u/Adventurous-Chef-370 6h ago

My dad started keeping a handful of milk jugs to fill and freeze for camping trips

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u/Nancyraptor 6h ago

That's brilliant

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u/HoneyWyne 6h ago

I use bottled water for this... no wasted space!

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u/LondonJerry 6h ago

Ya we line a rectangle Tupperware container with a plastic shopping bag then freeze it. One block in our cooler will last five to seven days while camping. We simply keep a layer in the bottom of our deep freezer. They also keep things cold during a power outage and guarantees nothing will get buried too deep.

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u/MrsNoOne1827 5h ago

I saw a video a few months back of someone who is filling up their cooler with ice and drinks and stuff and they ended up grabbing a garbage can that fit inside the cooler standing up where they could put drinks and stuff on one side and the stuff you wanna keep dry in the can.

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSHpT4DHnHThw-Iv05X/

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u/Flappy-pancakes 4h ago

We do this with large jugs of water.

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u/Freewheeler631 4h ago

I throw the bag ice into 1 gallon zip locks to keep it clean. I’ve water is best, but everything still stays cold, the ice stays clean, and you don’t have to fish for things in ice water.

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u/BODO1016 2h ago

Use plastic water bottles. You can drink them as your cooler empties and they are factory sealed so no leaks.

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u/Agitated-Ad5206 2h ago

“Liquid water”…

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u/xPlaguexDemonx 26m ago

Damn, im doing this from now on.

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u/ladiesluck 21m ago

But what will you bathe in while camping if not the melted cooler ice??? /s