How to keep food cold while camping

Are you wondering how to keep your food cold while camping? No one wants to go on a camping trip and catch food poisoning. Make sure you read these tips before your next camping trip so that you are fully prepared to keep your food cool and have a plan for if you can’t for some reason. Find more tips for camping with kids here.

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There are many ways to keep your food cold when camping. I’m going to share my top tips and the best coolers so that you can be prepared and find the best way to keep your food fresh.

Choose the best passive cooler you can afford

This might sound obvious but there are lots of different coolers on the market for all budgets. You might think you can just pick up a really cheap cool box and be good to go. We started out camping using a cheap picnic cool box, thinking all cool boxers are created equally but soon discover it didn’t keep food cold for even 24 hours.

The more expensive the cool box, the better the insulation is and the longer it will keep your food cold and fresh.

We moved on to using a more expensive model, designed to keep food cold for 3 days. Initially, I found it very hard to believe this would happen but it really does! Find out more in my Coleman 28QT Xtreme cooler box review.

You can find an even more high-end cooler on the market that are said to work even better. They have better insulation and thicker walls so will keep your food cold for a long time compared to cheaper options. I’ve not personally tried any but I have heard good reviews of brands like Yeti if budget is not a limiting factor and you don’t want to choose an electric.

Coleman xtreme cooler box stood next to a tent

Use an electric cooler

Electric coolers are a good option to keep your food cold if you are going away for more than a couple of days. You do need to have an electric hook up at your campsite though. We tend to use an electric cooler when we go for 1 or 2 week trips as this saves us having to keep refreezing ice packs.

Our electric cooler box was an Aldi special buy a couple of years back so I can’t link to it but Outwell does a similar one * available here.

Another option if you don’t want to be restricted to only using camping pitches with electricity, is a portable power supply. We have a Jacekery 240 that can run our electric cool box overnight. Bigger ones are available that will power them for longer. Find out more in my Jackery portable power station explorer 240 review.

Use a compressor fridge

This is another great option if you want to use electricity to keep your food cold for longer. Some of these types even have a freezer section! They often run off 12V and many have features that prevent them from draining your vehicle’s battery. Alpicool seems to be the brand leader, at least in the UK. This * Alpicool compressor fridge looks fantastic.

Freeze your food before you go camping

Freezing food before you go camping will help it to stay cold for longer. The frozen meals will obviously stay cold for longer as it slowly defrosts. The frozen food will also act as extra ice packs.

Obviously, this takes a little bit of planning as some foods don’t freeze well. You also don’t want to plan a meal only to start preparing it and find your chosen food is still frozen!

Take 2 cool boxes

If you have enough space in your car, two cool boxes can help you to keep food cold for longer. You could use a separate cooler for food and drinks that you use more often so that the one with food for meals stays cool for longer. Repeated opening and closing of passive coolers can warm it up faster.

Take a passive cooler box with ice packs

Passive cooler boxes need ice packs to keep the contents cool. You can pick up your own ice packs really cheaply from supermarkets, camping stores and Amazon.

Take spare cooler packs

If you take a passive cooler and are staying on campsites, check if they have freezers where you can refreeze your ice packs. As I mentioned above, ice packs don’t cost a lot so taking spares mean that you can freeze them and swap them over when needed.

If you simply wait for the one set of ice packs to defrost and then put them in the freezer, there will be a period where you no ice packs in your cool box.

Buy frozen peas

Or any other frozen vegetables. This might sound a bit strange but if your ice packs are defrosting fast and there is no way to refreeze them, a bag of frozen peas can act as an ice pack for a while at least.

Freeze a bottle of water or milk

If you are taking milk or water with you, why not freeze some of it. This will allow it to act as an extra ice pack and it will also mean that by the time you have drunk the frozen milk or water, the bottle you froze should be ready to drink. You’ll also have some cold water available on your trip too.

Cool your cooler down before adding food

It’s a really good idea to cool your cool box down before you add your food. If it’s an electric cool box, then switch it on for a few hours before you start filling it.

If you’re using a standard cool box with ice packs you can still pre-chill it by adding just ice packs or frozen foods to bring the temperature of the box right down.

Chill your food before adding it to your cool box

If you put room temperature food in your cool box it will warm up the whole cool box and melt the ice packs sooner. If you put food and cold drinks in straight from the fridge (or freezer) then it will keep the temperature of the cooler lower.

Don’t open the lid too often

The more you open your cool box, the quicker it will warm up inside. If you can limit the amount of time your cool box is open for. Pack some snacks that don’t need to be kept cool so you only need to open the cool box at mealtimes. Try to only open the box once by planning what you need to get out each meal.

Pack your cooler right

With a bit of planning, you can pack your cool box in a way that will keep food fresh the longest. For example, put raw meat at the bottom of your cooler with some ice packs. Pack less perishable items near the top of the cooler. Make sure you use a good few ice packs to keep it cold.

Open cooler box showing contents of milk, salad and bread

Pack your cool box tightly

The tighter you pack your cool box, the less air that flows around your cool box, the colder it will keep your food. Frozen water bottles can be used to fill space and lower the temperature further. Any space in the cooler will end up filling with warm air which we want to prevent.

Keep your cooler in the shade

It’s best to keep your cool box in a shady area, away from direct sunlight so that it doesn’t get too hot. Otherwise, the heat from the sun will melt your ice packs faster or your electric cool box will need to work harder to maintain the inside temperature.

Monitor the temperature in your cooler

If you’re particularly concerned about the temperature of your food then you could use a small fridge thermometer to monitor the temperature.

Meal plan

Before you go away or when you top up your food during your camping trip, it’s a good idea to plan what you are going to eat as you buy it. This prevents food waste and gets you to think about the order you will eat food in.

Eat the most perishable food first

It’s a good idea to meal plan to eat the most perishable food items like fresh meat. However, if you freeze the meat first it will mean you can eat it a day or so into your trip.

Be prepared to have to top up fresh food during your trip

If you’re going camping for more than a night or two then be prepared to top up your food. Check where the nearest supermarket, grocery store or farm shop is. Perhaps there is one near to your campsite (or even on it) or maybe you could stop off on your way back to your campsite from a day out.

Have a supply of non-perishable food

Non-perishable food is definitely really helpful when you are camping. Thinks like packets and tins keep fresh for longer without you needing to add them to your cool box.

A family favourite of ours is cheesy tuna and pasta. For this, you need a jar of cheesy pasta sauce, a tin of tuna, a tin of sweetcorn and a packet of pasta. None of this needs keeping cold so it’s perfect for the end of your camping trip. Family camping food at its best.

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