jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
Sure is, best bottles are the heavy duty juice bottles like this https://www.heb.com/product-detail/ocean-spray-100-cranberry-juice/1446218
Why not use frozen water bottles for cooler for 2-3 day trips?
- Thread starter CSG
- Start date
Sure is, best bottles are the heavy duty juice bottles like this https://www.heb.com/product-detail/ocean-spray-100-cranberry-juice/1446218
jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
Unless something is going to get really soggy leave the water in, otherwise that air space created between the ice after draining will heat up quicker than the water you just drained out, physics.
Offroadmuch
Explorer
Love the idea of frozen bottles of water. And these juice bottles are really strong also. My local stores sell Crystal Geyser "square" bottles that fit my cooler perfectly. You may need to confirm they are not too tall if you use them.
jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
The great thing is they seal much better than the gallon jugs so you can lay them flat and not leak.
Airmapper
Inactive Member
I just started using the frozen bottle method this year. I've been using Gatorade bottles since they are tough, but a little awkward in size. In a 26qt cooler though, I don't need anything much larger in there.
My concern with frozen bottles is keeping stuff cold enough, or maybe to say more evenly cold. I like not having water build up in a cooler I can't easily empty, but that water also made for great temperature distribution.
I like having my items on top for easy access but with the bottles I found to keep them feeling cold I really needed to try to shove them to the bottom and get the bottles on top.
I'm thinking in the future I might go the bottle method initially and to help with cool down (I don't have a big enough freezer to pre-chill) and dump regular ice on top maybe after a day or so.
My concern with frozen bottles is keeping stuff cold enough, or maybe to say more evenly cold. I like not having water build up in a cooler I can't easily empty, but that water also made for great temperature distribution.
I like having my items on top for easy access but with the bottles I found to keep them feeling cold I really needed to try to shove them to the bottom and get the bottles on top.
I'm thinking in the future I might go the bottle method initially and to help with cool down (I don't have a big enough freezer to pre-chill) and dump regular ice on top maybe after a day or so.
stingray1300
Explorer
Well thanks for that! I've been a victim of an urban legend.... oh the shame.... :ugh:
.
But the heating up part was correct, except it not dioxins, but phthalates (say THAT 5 times!)
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Sincerely, thank you! I'm still glad I have a fridge though
hungwin jza80
New member
^This! They're just kinda hard to come by because I can't remember the last time I've bought hot coffee from DD. Cold brew or iced 24/7-365!
LOL I grab them from company events when they are about to get thrown away. I've currently got 6-7 in a rotation of being used.
GordoSmasho
Observer
That is some very cool science i did not know.
Robert Bills
Explorer
I haven't had any problems finding blocks of ice for my cooler. Perhaps some small retailers or convenience stores will only carry cubed ice, but every local ice house I have visited has carried block ice and so has every supermarket I have patronized on my journeys.
[I typically pre-chill my cooler with a block of ice the night before a trip, then in the morning before I leave I drain off any melt water and fill with chilled and frozen food, also frozen water bottles, then stop off at my local ice house on the way to the Interstate and buy a bag of cubed ice to fill any voids in my main cooler and fill up my small drink cooler which resides behind the center console. The block ice in the main cooler typically lasts 3-4 days, although I do have to replenish the cubed ice in the drink cooler because it isn't well insulated in comparison to the main cooler - an Ozark Trail "high performance" rotomolded cooler.]
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PS - People tell me that I now qualify as being "old." I've been freezing plastic containers for decades, as have tens of thousands of others, and the practice hasn't injured or killed me or anyone I know or have heard about. Worrying about the release of dioxins from freezing plastic food containers for use in camp coolers strikes me as being overly alarmist and more than a bit ridiculous.
Nd4SpdSe
Adventurer, eh?
We've been doing the frozen water bottles for years, when we think enough a heat of time. In a good cooler, we're good for quite a few days, 5-7 days with a 24 of frozen bottles inside. The issue usually is that they don't melt fast enough to use them to drink.
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I use sealable tupperware containers of various sizes, fill them 3/4 full and freeze with the lids off. More space efficient than bottles, and stack nicely melted water can be poured off and used if necessary, no leaking, food does not get wet. Have gone almost a week with really good cooler, and limiting opening of the cooler.
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