How to Keep a Cooler Cold Longer: 12 Proven Tips

1. Pre-chill the cooler. Store it indoors, not in a hot garage, then fill it with a sacrificial bag of ice or frozen bottles the night before. A warm cooler can melt a lot of ice just cooling its own walls.
2. Freeze what you can. Freeze meat, water bottles, and make-ahead meals like chili. They act as extra ice and thaw in time to cook later in the trip.
3. Chill everything else. Put only cold food and drinks into the cooler — never room-temperature cans.
4. Make your own block ice. Freeze water in loaf pans, food containers, or milk jugs. Big blocks melt much more slowly than cubes because they have less surface area.

1. Use plenty of ice. A common target is about two parts ice to one part food by volume.
2. Blocks on the bottom, cubes on top. Blocks last longest; cubes fill gaps and chill food quickly. Cold air sinks, so ice on top helps too.
3. Pack in layers by when you'll eat it — last day's food at the bottom, today's lunch on top — so you dig less.
4. Fill empty space. Air warms quickly. Add more ice, frozen bottles, or a towel to fill gaps.

1. Keep it in the shade and off hot ground — a log, a table, or a mat underneath helps.
2. Cover it with a blanket, sleeping bag, or reflective cover on hot days.
3. Open it less. Decide what you need before you lift the lid, and close it fast.
4. Use a second cooler for drinks. Drinks get opened all day; the food cooler stays shut. See small coolers and soft coolers.

Ice water is still very cold and helps keep the remaining ice and food cold, so many cooler makers suggest not draining it right away. The catch: food sitting in water gets soggy and can be contaminated. Keep food in sealed containers or above the water, and drain once the water starts to warm or when you add fresh ice.

Yes. Rotomolded hard coolers have thick insulated walls and tight gaskets that can hold ice for several days. Basic coolers keep things cold for a shorter time but cost much less. For trips with power, an electric cooler keeps food cold without ice at all.

Compare picks in best camping coolers, hard coolers, electric coolers, and budget coolers.

Dry ice is much colder than regular ice and lasts a long time, but it needs care: handle it with gloves, keep it away from direct contact with food you don't want frozen solid, and only use it in coolers the maker says are dry-ice safe. It releases carbon dioxide gas, so never keep it in a closed tent or a closed car cabin where you are sitting, and leave the cooler's drain open slightly.

Perishable food should stay at 40°F (4°C) or colder. A cheap fridge thermometer in the cooler tells you for sure. If raw meat or dairy has sat above that temperature for more than about two hours (one hour in very hot weather), food safety guidance says to throw it out.

Packing for your first trip? See our first camping trip checklist.