My 2-Step Cooler Packing Method Keeps Food Colder Longer on Camping Trips
A camper who doesn’t want his food to spoil shares his methods for ensuring his favorite frozen treats don’t melt.
His two-step trick will keep all the stuff in your cooler cold for days. He even created special compartments, just like in a real fridge.
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ADD THE SALT
In a now viral TikTok video, Jimmy Ruttan (@jimmyruttan) explained what he does to keep his food safe while enjoying the wilderness.
First he fills his cooler with ice.
Then you probably want to grab a box of salt.
He suggested sprinkling about a quarter of a box of salt over the ice.
He used iodized table salt, but confirmed that any type of food-safe salt, including coarse salt or rock salt, would still work.
Then you can add your favorite chilled and frozen foods.
If you want to try the same brand of salt during your next outdoor activity, Amazon sells Windsor Table Salt, which is on sale for $9.95.
LONGER FRESH
To keep everything fresh, here’s what you need to do: insulate.
After placing all the frozen products on ice, he covered them with an insulating sheet and placed the chilled products on top.
For best results, he suggested using a 1.5-inch thick layer of rigid foam insulation.
He explained how his trick can keep food fresh for up to six days.
MORE TIPS
Others shared their own food storage tips.
“You should make an insulation wall in the middle, with the freezer on the right, the fridge on the left, and then the insulation on top of that!” said one viewer.
“Use dry ice on the bottom and insulation on top. It turns the whole thing into a freezer,” one user said.
“Salted ice water is a sommelier’s trick to cool bottles very quickly,” noted yet another.
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Other users also confirmed that ice makes perishable products last longer.
“I work in a fish processing plant. All the salt ice I need lasts for days,” said one onlooker.
“This! I worked in a fish factory in Alaska and my husband is a fisherman. Cooler full of ice and it’ll last a week,” another chimed in.
Even more people were impressed by the tips.
“Awesome!” said one user.
“Great idea,” said another.
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