Dry Ice

[gpcvg]

Does anyone use dry ice to transport meat to a contest site where you have to leave a day or so earlier than normal? Is it any better than just draining the cooler and loading it back up with ice?

Thanks.

 

[Gowan]

Dry ice has a surface temp of over 100 degrees below zero.
It will freeze meat.

 

[gpcvg]

I watched a couple YouTube videos on how to pack a cooler with dry ice and thought that if I wrapped the dry ice and used cardboard as a barrier, it might not freeze. Think it still would be cold enough to freeze the meat?

 

[thunderalley3]

Dry ice has a surface temp of over 100 degrees below zero.
It will freeze meat.

As Gowan stated, dry ice will freeze meat, it will also freeze human flesh and tissue. It takes serious caution when using dry ice. I have used it in the past for certain applications but as far as using it in a cooler for meat transport I found the best way for me was investing in an RTIC cooler and buying 3-4 bags of ice per weekend.
Dry ice can leave you with injuries if not handled properly, plus there is a chance of a sour taste from the gassing as dry ice breaks down.
Besides, I enjoy a few ice cubes in my Kool Aid :icon_shy

 

[Scottie]

I've done a lot of traveling. Dry ice is good to freeze Jack Daniels to make a slurpy. Otherwise, you are better off with blocks of ice. If you have access to those, that is best. Another method I have used is freezing g a case of water bottles and see those. Makes a nice cold drink as well.

 

[gpcvg]

Thanks for the advice guys. Its ice for me then. I have a tough enough time without a sour taste on my food.

 

[hedge]

Supplement your ice with ice packs that companies use to ship medicine. They stay frozen for a few days

 

[yakdung]

Does anyone use dry ice to transport meat to a contest site where you have to leave a day or so earlier than normal? Is it any better than just draining the cooler and loading it back up with ice?

Thanks.

Use blue ice (frozen packs) or wet block ice.

 

[Dan - 3eyzbbq]

Dry ice is good to freeze Jack Daniels to make a slurpy. Otherwise, you are better off with blocks of ice.

Dammit. Thanks.

 

[TwilightChrome]

Yeti has a good tutorial

I watched this video from Yeti.com and followed it for our most recent contest. We used a Yeti cooler with block ice covering the bottom, voids filled with Restaurant Depot white freezer packs and cube ice, then covered with a layer of rolled foam. Meat on top of that, covered completely up with ice cubes, then another layer of foam on top before closing the lid. Recharged with cubed ice over the weekend, but that block ice at the bottom never melted more than 20% and the meat temped at 34 - 38 the whole time. HTH, -TC

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RePA15bPhDQ"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RePA15bPhDQ[/ame]

 

[yakdung]

Make certain when using block ice, to double ziplock seal them. I make my own small block ice by filling empty tupperware or if you are adventurous, fill large zip lock bags with water then freeze them. It is my understanding that only the high end ice chests will work with dry ice. Cheaper chests not so much.

Good luck,

 

[Basted moral support guy]

I've used dry ice for drinks, but not for meat. If you want to keep everything from freezing, put your dry ice in the bottom of the cooler, then put your regular ice over it. Place your goods on top of that Ice, but don't cover your stuff with more ice, or it will freeze. I'll throw a handful of cubes on top if I'm trying to cool down some room temp drinks, but not much more than that.

 

[Wackadoo]

If you compete you probably have at least one cambro. They make great coolers. We transport all of our meat in a couple Cambros. We have ice packs purposely made by Cambro for this. I have seen others use steamer pans full of ice or frozen water bottles.

 

[QTEX]

I've done a lot of traveling. Dry ice is good to freeze Jack Daniels to make a slurpy. Otherwise, you are better off with blocks of ice. If you have access to those, that is best. Another method I have used is freezing g a case of water bottles and see those. Makes a nice cold drink as well.

This is a great idea, I do the same. I bought a few tupper ware type food containers (square) that would fit in the bottom of my ice chest, lined side by side. I put them in night before to start cooling down the coolers then add a layer of ice in the morning and the other stuff plus more ice, made a huge difference for me in this 115+ degree weather down here. The blocks melt down minimally and so I just put them back in the containers, (I take them out of the containers btw) on Sunday evening and add a little more water to refreeze. Works great.

 

[QTEX]

Will add this too, have used ice cream salt like it says in the Yeti manuals but it also freezes hard if your not careful and use too much, got to a cook off once and the whole inside of the cooler was one big block of ice, lmao. Had a heck of a time getting meats out of there, yes they were frozen solid too, ROFSMH.It was after this adventure that I went to the home made blocks of ice.

 

[enasnidx]

All good tips. I would also add that you should NOT be draining the water from your cooler to add more ice. As long as your meats etc. are in water proof packaging, keep that cold water in the cooler. You're draining out all the progress you made when you put ice in there the first time because now you have to refill all the voids that had cold water helping to regulate temp. Much easier and much more efficient to just add ice on top.

 

[DawgPhan]

been putting stuff in coolers most my life and never once had to ask someone how to do it.

People always telling me I'm special.