Don’t use the party ice they sell at service stations / supermarkets. It is an easy option to take – it’s so accessible and fast, but it melts too quickly and is uneconomical.

Use it only as a last minute top up, if you need to extend the life of your food for a day or two. The good news is that if you do need it, and passing a petrol station or supermarket, you can run in and grab some!   It’s saved us a few times from warm drinks.

Bags of party ice on their own are dead-set the worst option for keeping your esky / cooler cold. The smaller bits of ice are full of air, which means there isn’t much solid ice, so it melts quickly leaving you with an easky / cooler full of cold water and soggy food.

A much better option is to use 1 or more Blocks (either Block Ice or Dry Ice Block) in conjunction with Party Ice to fill the gaps.  Using this combination will provide cooling more evenly and last longer than each is able to on it’s own.

Cool down your esky / cooler the night before you pack it for the trip

Cool your esky in advance if you can, by putting ice pack(s) in the night before you travel, so the esky is cool for the actual packing of food. Your food will then be going into a cold environment as opposed to warm one, and temperatures of food will stay cooler longer.  

This does take a bit of planning ahead, but this small step can help your food last longer. 

Meals / food that you have frozen in advance will allow the food to be kept longer and provides cooling to the esky. Just make sure you reheat any cooked food properly and thoroughly.   Put the frozen meals at the bottom of the cooler. 

Plan to eat perishables early in the camping trip. Keep those perishables up at the top of the cooler. 

I always pack my cold beers first for 2 reasons – 1, so I don’t forget them (that’s my worst nightmare) and 2 – they create a platform for you to stack other food on top of.

Plus, when the ice melts, it’ll help keep the beers cold, and the beers will keep your food out of the cold water and stop that open cream cheese dip from turning into soup.

Pack your esky with the frozen food and raw meats at the bottom and near the ice packs, then layer the food in the esky so the items needing the less refrigeration (eg. fresh fruit and veg) are at the top.  You want to keep the food that must be kept cold at the bottom, so each time you are opening your cooler, food at the bottom is staying coldest.

Keep the esky out of the sun at all times. In warmer weather, put a tarp or blanket over it as well.
You might need to move your esky numerous times during the day to keep out of the sun.

You’ve seen those insulated covers for 12V 4WD Fridges – this is the same but will a lot less . Get one of those cheap reflective windscreen reflector shades, put it over your esky / cooler and hold it on with an ockie strap or bit of elastic rope. Keeps the sun off and therefore your food & drinks cold.

If you have room take 2 coolers.  One for drinks, and one for food. Saves the cooler being opened all the time to get drinks out, especially with children who seem to always want a drink.

Once you’ve packed for the weekend, see if there are any gaps in the esky. There’ll probably be a few. Now come the use of the Party Ice, fill as much as you can into these gaps with the Party Ice. A full esky will stay colder, and all that extra ice can only keep your esky / cooler colder for longer.