Title: ice-chests-msg
Subject: Using ice chests at SCA events. Hiding them. Keeping things cool and safe.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: SCA, camping, event, ice chest, cool, food, cold, storage

ice-chests-msg - 7/4/10

Using ice chests at SCA events. Hiding them. Keeping things cool and safe.

NOTE: See also the files: camp-kitchens-msg, camp-ovens-msg, firepits-msg, trash-storage-msg, campfood-msg, drying-foods-msg, food-storage-msg.

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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

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Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 10:54:39 -0500
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: Ted Eisenstein <Alban at socket.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Boxes for coolers

> Sometime in the recent past, the list was discussing coolers/ice boxes.
> Someone posted the web address for boxes that hold Coleman coolers, or
> are themselves coolers. These boxes were wonderfully painted.

. . . . by the way, a small hint: keep these box coolers a bit off the
ground, if you can. I use a cooler similar to these (i.e., a styrofoam cooler inside a nifty wood box) at Pennsic, and used to have problems with water collecting underneath it. It wasn't until I figured out it was condensation, not
leakage, that I did something about it. It now sits on a small stand that allows
for air circulation all around it _and_ underneath: no drippage, no wet
spots, no dampness at all this year. And with it being raised, it's a lot easier to get into for those of us with strong minds and weak backs. <grin>

Oh, also: put the ice in a large garbage bag that's inside another garbage
bag. Easier to dispose of the water, and you won't wind up soaking the food.

Alban

From: alchem at en.com (James Koch)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Pennsic "Freezers"
Date: 15 Jul 2003 20:19:23 -0700

You could build your own.  I have a huge box with carrying poles.  If
you have ever attended one of our parties (Pentwyvern Goes To Hell),
you may have seen it.  During our parties it serves as the bar "The
Ark Of Pentwyvern".  In Boy Scouts we called these a wanigan(sp?).  I
believe the name is Algonquinian and literally means "hole".  You
build it from plywood with reinforced corners and edges.  Think of an
old fashioned steamer trunk.  Build it to fit in the back of a van or
on a trailer.  Line it with that pink insulation foam.  You can fill
it with your pavilion and all of the stuff you regularly haul to
Pennsic.  Mine sits in my garage most of the year as a big Pennsic
only storage box.  Once you get to the event you remove the contents
and fill it with block ice.  Presto chango, you have an instant
cooler.  At the end of the event just dump the ice and dry the
interior for transport home.
>
Jim Koch (Gladius The Alchemist)

Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 18:28:13 -0500
From: "Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] canvas covers for coolers for just 2.49
To:  "SCA-Cooks" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

This came across my Leather List, and I thought perhaps so9me of you 
Might be interested in using these to disguise coolers....

I'm thinking, that if they're natural colored canvas, as described, they
might be easily dyed to personal or group colors, too...

>>> 
I ordered some stuff from harbor freight and they had canvas covers  for
abrasive blast cabinet for 2.49 so I ordered them and they fit nicely on the 56
quart cooler by  igloo .The overall dimension is 24 l by 18 w by 22 deep and
there made out of the natural canvas like the canvas i used to  make my
chairs just lighterweight canvas if you would like to gt some go to
harborfreight.com and the item # is 47934-2HCB. If you can do a group order
for people in you area go ahead so everyone don't get nailed with the 4.95
handling fee  

 Mike
<<<

Saint Phlip,
CoDoLDS

Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:49:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] things they dont explain about Pennsic
To: Kirsten Houseknecht <kirsten at fabricdragon.com>,	Cooks within the
	SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

--- Kirsten Houseknecht <kirsten at fabricdragon.com> wrote:
> Things no one told me about Pennsic until I was
> there.....

> 10. food storage and eating
>
> ice, lots of ice.  replace/add  ice frequently.
>  buy the best cooler you can
> get.  even if you do not plan on cooking store
> at least drinks in there....
>
> freeze all meats solid before leaving home.
> use them as they thaw out in the cooler.
>
> if the heat makes you lose your appetite, at
> least eat something salty and
> drink water. you MUST eat some salt in hot
> weather.  this does not have to
> be a lot, but some!

Thank you Kirsten.

I have never been to Pennsic.  I have always
dreamed of going, but now I am beginning to
change my dream, after reading your list.

However, I have been to quite a few Caidan and
Atenveldt wars and so I wish to talk about ice
at wars.

Ice comes in four versions.  Crushed, cubes,
blocks and dry.  The greater the surface that
you have on your ice the faster it melts.
Therefore, crushed ice is all surface and melts
the fastest.  Cubes melts pretty fast.  Block
ice melts pretty slowly.  Dry ice doesn't melt,
it evaporates, but its evaporation time is the
slowest of all.

Crushed and cubed ice is best for putting in
drinks and for quick chilling.  A bag of either
usually will not last more than 5-7 hours by
itself in an ice chest.  This depends a lot on
the outside weather temps.  The hotter it is the
faster they melt.  The cooler it is the slower
they melt.

Block and dry ice are best for keeping your
ice chests cool/cold long term.

There are several ways of getting block ice.
1) buy it from an ice merchant. Usually in 10 lbs
blocks, although my local ice merchant is willing
to cut blocks in half for me.
2) take clean plastic milk bottles and fill them
with water and freeze them in your freezer [if
you have room].

Usually, a 10 lbs block of ice will take 2-3 days
to melt completely in an ice chest.  If cut in
half, the 5 lbs blocks will last only two days.
Home made milk bottle ice blocks usually last
one day, but can give you cold drinking water
at the same time.

My local ice merchant sells dry ice in 7 lbs
blocks.  However, because dry ice is so cold, it
freezes anything that it touches for long periods
of time.  A 7 lbs block of ice usually lasts
4 days, depending on the outside temps.  The
neat thing about dry ice is that when it
evaporates it doesn't leave water behind, so
your ice chest doesn't need to be drained.

When I go to a war, I usually bring two ice
chests.  One for immediate use and for items
that should not be frozen.  The second for
use later in the war and for items that need
to be kept frozen.  I have been known to bring
ice cream and frozen juice bars to wars.

In the first ice chest, I put one 5 lbs block
of ice and one bag of cubed ice.  In the second
chest, I put one 7 lbs block of dry ice and
the other 5 lbs block of ice.  The block of ice
is kept next to and frozen by the dry ice and
buffers the intense cold from the food.  I then
put things in like ice cream or meats I don't
mind having frozen until I need them.  I once put
a carton of fresh orange juice in this chest and
had to remove it every day one or two hours
before breakfast so that we would be able to
drink it for breakfast.  I think I served the
coldest orange juice at that war.

If I were going to camp at Pennsic, I would
bring three ice chests.  The third would contain
another block of dry ice and two more 10 lbs
blocks of ice cut in half.  This would not be
opened until the first chest needed new ice.
This would also keep you from having to make
an ice run into town too often.  Although you
still would have to buy drinking ice on a daily
basis from the camp store.

Huette

Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2006 14:28:42 -0400
From: "grizly" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pennsic on a shoestring
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Dry ice is your friend for coolers designed for long term storage and not
daily/hourly in and out.  Set a good cooler up with frozen foods and dry
ice, and you can keep food frozen then cold for a week on one load, easy.
Gotta keep it closed as much as possible, keep it full as possible as long
as possible, and keep the dry ice dry.  Padded gloves and your off.  Use a
different cooler for in and out access through the day.

Dry ice is pretty affordable around here last time I bought it (yikes, 2+
years ago).  By the pound, you can get good deal if you can find it near
you.  Saves on buying ice every day.  And will reduce overall expence of
cooler use.

niccolo

Date: Sat, 03 Jun 2006 16:10:43 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler1 at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pennsic on a shoestring
To: grizly at mindspring.com, Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

And...whatever kind of ice you use, keep the cooler in a shady spot in
your camp...and keep a nice, thick white or very light colored bath
towel on top.  Someone told me this secret several years ago...I didn't
believe them, but tried it anyway...and it worked!  ice seemed to last
much longer.

We also use frozen bottles of water to help keep food cold on the way
up...when it thaws, you have nice, fresh water that's drinkable!  Try to
find bottles that are square in shape rather than round...they take up
less room in the cooler.

Kiri

From: Jeanne Carter <jeanne.c at sbcglobal.net>
Date: October 10, 2009 12:26:33 PM CDT
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Ansteorra] helpful tip

This tip is from a Yahoo news story on recycling or reusing packing peanuts today:
 
Make ice last longer: 
Put packing peanuts in a sealable plastic bag and place on top of the ice in your ice chest. The ice will last longer and everything will stay colder. 
  
~Sibri

From: "William Meriic" <wmeriic at tx.rr.com>
Date: October 10, 2009 3:02:37 PM CDT
To: "'Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.'" <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] helpful tip

This should work a lot better than my previous attempt in which I used R30 Fiberglass insulation (the pink stuff).  That made a mess.

Will
 
<<< Make ice last longer: 
Put packing peanuts in a sealable plastic bag and place on top of the ice in your ice chest. The ice will last longer and everything will stay colder. 
 
~Sibri >>>

From: "willowdewisp at juno.com" <willowdewisp at juno.com>
Date: December 28, 2009 11:05:59 PM CST
To: ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Ansteorra] a cooler that will impress people

http://kelly.dwarfworks.com/sca/cooler/
This is really great. I am going to try it when I get better. I wonder how well it holds up??
willow

Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:59:57 -0700
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at jeffnet.org>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pennsic queries....

On 6/29/2010 11:50 AM, Sam Wallace wrote:
<<< Another possibility is to use dry ice. As long as your cooler is not
stored in someone's tent, this should work well. Also, a very large
cooler might not be the best way to go. Opening coolers up repeatedly
over the course of the day will cause their contents to heat up
significantly faster than if left closed. Segregating each day's food
into different coolers helps to mitigate this.

Guillaume >>>

I have to second the last. I keep meat in a separate cooler, and open it 
only to retrieve what I have to. I've had things in the bottom stay 
completely frozen, even on Sunday of a three-day weekend.

Liutgard

Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:13:07 -0500
From: "otsisto" <otsisto at socket.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pennsic queries....

I have found that lining a cooler for meats with aluminum foil helps.

Separate coolers as others have recommended.

Create a layer that will go inside on top so that as the food is removed you
condense the area needed to be cooled. This can be achieved by getting the
freezable ice cube sheets cut to fit. Or styrofoam covered in aluminum foil
with a finger hole for lift out. Another way is to take a bunch of
washcloths, dampen them and fold them, put them in individual ziplock bags,
freeze them and then layer them on top. This helps to insulate and when
needed on a hot day, pull a washcloth out and cool down.

Added to the above is to cover the cooler. If you or someone is creative you
can make a "quilted" cover the lining would be the vinyl felt backed
material which you can either get at a fabric store or a vinyl tablecloth,
the outer material needs to be light coloured and can be vinyl felt backed
or canvas, something fairly durable. Fabric should be medium to thick as the
more layers and thickness the better the insulation. But also take into
account washability.

Try to keep it in as much shade during the day as possible. Placing it in a
tent that is closed up and doesn't get a draft is not good because even
though it is technically not getting direct sunlight but you are "baking"
the cooler (unless it is a muggy day then it's steaming it).

Dry ice is your friend but if you mix the dry ice and regular ice you will
find that the regular ice will melt and reform into ice around the dry ice
enveloping any and all items next to the dry ice.

Pack the cooler with foods for the last meal at the bottom and layer up to
the foods for the first meal (best you can) this way you get in and out
quickly. (unless you have someone that holds the cooler open and stares for
5 mins. like he's at home looking in the frig. for something.

Sometimes if you have the room, a cooler specifically designated for
leftovers. You pack kitchen items that will not need to be stored in the
cooler for the trip there, add the ice (or you add ice and pack pots and
pans in it) when you have leftovers you can place in the cooler this will
lessen the need to open the cooler with the foods that need to stay cold
when ready. Or place leftovers in your snack and beverage cooler.

De

Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:19:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pennsic queries....

I have used dry ice in good quality Igloos all the time.  We have to in Caid, especially in the summer.  

I do not put the dry ice in the bottom, but rather, I put it on either the left or right side of the Igloo.  In front of the dry ice, I place a big block of ice.  This buffering the dry ice is so that everything is kept very, very cold, but not necessarily frozen.  Since there will be room next to the dry ice that isn't buffered, I keep the things I want frozen there. 

I managed to keep that block of regular ice frozen for five days, using dry ice. It only started to melt after the dry ice evaporated the last day.

Huette

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	ice-chests-msg	 of