How to pack dry ice

[Sneake]

If you didn't know, dry ice is AMAZING for festivals. I found this little video on a method to pack your cooler properly using dry ice. it's pretty informal, but from the guides i've read, he's pretty much doing it right. thought some people might find this useful. i know i did

[hrpufnstuf]

Mr. Rodgers you are a wealth of information!! I had originally planned on stopping at Kroger's 6am on the way out of town, but now after watching the instructions I think that my cooler is too small to properly benefit from dry ice....looks like regular ole water ice for me!

[sauces]

Can we just pack bags of ice on top of his base and have ice all weekend? Can the dry ice get wet?
Noob here.

[Sneake]

i'm not sure i understand the first question. as to getting wet, ya, im pretty sure that's fine. it's fairly inevitable.

[sauces]

I basically want to use my large cooler as an ice chest and grab bags of ice as needed for the other coolers. I figure the dry ice should keep all the other bags of ice frozen while not being used. Will this work?

[mingusamongus]

Sept 4, 2013 19:43:46 GMT -5 sauces said:

I basically want to use my large cooler as an ice chest and grab bags of ice as needed for the other coolers. I figure the dry ice should keep all the other bags of ice frozen while not being used. Will this work?

Should work. You may also consider freezing water bottles instead of using ice, that way you have a cold drink instead of a puddle of water.

[Sneake]

i think that will work just fine. obviously, it will be less and less effective as the weekend progresses, but you can always buy more ice on the site. also, and this may be obvious but should be said, keep your coolers out of direct sunlight.

[bilham]

FYI, do not leave dry ice in an enclosed area (like a car)if yer breathing that air; dry ice gives off CO2, displacing oxygen- you can suffocate.

[cmescia]

Always wrap the dry ice well. Can change from lasting 1-2 days to 4 if wrapped well. 10lb block put it vertical in the cooler. Freeze all the water bottles ahead of time.

I use ice mats (plastic sheets with pockets of water the size of cubes) that can be refrozen. You can put them in the food cooler that is dry and when they warm up you put them back in the dry ice cooler and refreeze them. Rotate them in and out and you can have a cold cooler for food that never gets soggy and waterlogged. Best way I have found to do it.

[cmescia]

You won't suffocate. But it can make some foods taste wierd. Dry ice doesn't melt. It evaporates. It burns ski n too.

One cooler with beer drinks and ice. One dry cooler with food. One frozen cooler with ice mats, frozen water bottles and ice cream treats.

Take that to the bank.

[cardfanjim]

I've found that getting dry ice wet accelerates its evaporation. The best technique for me has been to put the dry ice in a small soft side cooler and put it in a bigger cooler. Milk, OJ, lunch meat, fruits & veggies, etc. stay perfectly cool. Yes, it'll even keep your beer cold if you have a big enough cooler. The soft sider I use has a flap on the top you can open and close. I've found it helps regulate the temp in the cooler. You can put some frozen water bottles in for good measure - they never thawed completely at Roo but it was nice having cold fresh water for the drive out.

[veryorange]

Looks awesome, but I'm prone to injury. I'm sticking with the cubes:)

[locknloaded]

I've done this before at a fest (Bonnaroo). I had a cooler with dry ice and then bags on top trying to make an ice chest, all I ended up with is 4 big bags of solid blocks. But if you throw a chunk into the cooler and then a glow stick you get a foggy beer cooler party! whoop whoop! Dry ice is probably not need for this fest, given the slightly cooler conditions, But those July festivals is another story. Ice is plenty available at these things. You will have to buy some on Saturday morning to get your warm ones cold, Once you get over paying $3 for a small bag it's not so bad.

[mccjeff]

We didn't buy a single bag of ice at the fest last year. We used one of our coolers as an ice chest and still had some for Sat.