how to have ice cream and non frozen stuff in engel
- Thread starter bluejeep
- Start date
Life_in_4Lo
Explorer
they sell something called a Dual Zone that is basically another box on top of the engel for freezing and cooling.
I think if you insulate a top zone in the engel, you could cool there while freezing the bottom of the fridge.
I think if you insulate a top zone in the engel, you could cool there while freezing the bottom of the fridge.
Cabrito
I come in Peace
4lo is talking about the "Two Zone"
There is a nice discussion here. -
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7268&highlight=zone
Some people have done a fan mod to get the cold air into the Two Zone.
Might be worth a read to see if it would work for you. I've got an old MT35 with the Two Zone, and I love it. I have not tried the freezer along with the Two Zone. I just use it as a fridge.
One thing I can say about the Two Zone on my older MT35 is that it will not open all the way making it difficult to remove a fully loaded basket from the MT35. Not a show stopper but it does make you have to think about it a little.
There is a nice discussion here. -
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7268&highlight=zone
Some people have done a fan mod to get the cold air into the Two Zone.
Might be worth a read to see if it would work for you. I've got an old MT35 with the Two Zone, and I love it. I have not tried the freezer along with the Two Zone. I just use it as a fridge.
One thing I can say about the Two Zone on my older MT35 is that it will not open all the way making it difficult to remove a fully loaded basket from the MT35. Not a show stopper but it does make you have to think about it a little.
spressomon
Expedition Leader
When I need both fridge & freeze in my CF50 I place a double layer of closed cell foam (old backpack ground mat) atop the frozen goods...stays cool but not freezing above.
timber
Adventurer
Make sure your frozen stuff is as cold as you can get it. Then put it in the bottom of the fridge and cover it like he said above. Also make sure you try to keep the fridge down around 33-34 Degrees. I have had frozen salmon and ice cream bars that were solid after a week doing it like that while the stuff in the top never got frozen, although I did turn some lettuce to ice after the first night.
Cabrito
I come in Peace
I'm going to have to do some experimenting. Thanks for the idea.
bluejeep
just a guy
thanks to all. Heading out for a week and plan to try the method of frozen hard stuff on the bottom with an insulated blanket above that, we'll see how it works.
Went on a day trip this weekend and can identify with what folks say about fridge/freezer versus cooler and ice. Wow. Oh I didn't mention, I just got the Engel 35 last week.
Now I've got the Engel for the base camp and will use my AOCooler softsider with these little packets that freeze for the trail rides. Still no water mess, but no where near the cooling capacity.
:smiley_drive:
Went on a day trip this weekend and can identify with what folks say about fridge/freezer versus cooler and ice. Wow. Oh I didn't mention, I just got the Engel 35 last week.
Now I've got the Engel for the base camp and will use my AOCooler softsider with these little packets that freeze for the trail rides. Still no water mess, but no where near the cooling capacity.
:smiley_drive:
Any updates on your findings?
jeepdreamer
Expedition Leader
A differnt thuought...
I wonder if you could use part of an old styrofoam cooler to seperate the two? They work moderately well as a cooler for their cost and are light weight. Heck, we all prob have a broken one laying around. Just trim out the lid to fit snug and press into place. Stack the non-freezies on top? ust an ideaR
I wonder if you could use part of an old styrofoam cooler to seperate the two? They work moderately well as a cooler for their cost and are light weight. Heck, we all prob have a broken one laying around. Just trim out the lid to fit snug and press into place. Stack the non-freezies on top? ust an ideaR
Wyowanderer
Explorer
Great idea!
Another thing to try is to buy a small piece of styro insulation and cut it to fit over the items you're freezing, then place the non-freeze stuff on top. It'd be harder to use, but easy and cheap.
bigwapitijohnny
Adventurer
This is what I tried...
I had some frozen bomb pops on the bottom / Frozen bacon / Piece of closed cell foam / newspaper wadded up to fill the empty space / shredded cheese (basket) / eggs (basket) // dial to 3.5 /
Following morning - bacon still too frozen to cook (thinking this should have gone into the basket before bed) / bomb pops still frozen / shredded cheese starting to frost / eggs real cold...
I feel as though the newspaper helped quite a bit.
Hope this helps...
Regards,
BWJ
I had some frozen bomb pops on the bottom / Frozen bacon / Piece of closed cell foam / newspaper wadded up to fill the empty space / shredded cheese (basket) / eggs (basket) // dial to 3.5 /
Following morning - bacon still too frozen to cook (thinking this should have gone into the basket before bed) / bomb pops still frozen / shredded cheese starting to frost / eggs real cold...
I feel as though the newspaper helped quite a bit.
Hope this helps...
Regards,
BWJ
Cabrito
I come in Peace
Haven't tried anything yet, but I'm watching this thread closely.
Some good stuff here so far.
dry ice, ice cream
I was thinking about this as well, and what I came across was two different possible solutions. First, forget about the fridge and buy a lunch sized cooler and use dry ice in it to keep the ice cream cold. Or, you could forget about bringing ice cream and just find a way to store dry ice. When you get to camp you cold make Dry Ice, Ice Cream. It’s not exactly what you asked for, but it may be a good compromise.
I was thinking about this as well, and what I came across was two different possible solutions. First, forget about the fridge and buy a lunch sized cooler and use dry ice in it to keep the ice cream cold. Or, you could forget about bringing ice cream and just find a way to store dry ice. When you get to camp you cold make Dry Ice, Ice Cream. It’s not exactly what you asked for, but it may be a good compromise.
taugust
Adventurer
My best advice is either try the solution just above with dry ice, or forget about ice cream. For ice cream to stay firm, it needs to be much colder than 32 deg F. I have filled my Engle with various ice cream sandwiches/bars for the trail, and had to turn it up to almost full to keep it firm. Keeping foods frozen is much easier than ice cream. I measured the temp in our deep freeze at -1 def F. Our kitchen freezer was about 5 deg F. Be careful with the dry ice, as I have heard that you can freeze ice cream solid with it if you don't have some insulation (newspaper?) around it.