How to Pack a Cooler for Camping

Make the most out of your space and store food safely during your next trip to the great outdoors.

June 01, 2023

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Photo by: Lambert And Young/Getty Images

Lambert And Young/Getty Images

Camping season is here and embracing the great outdoors can be a memorable experience. If you’ve never gone camping before, you’ll want to make sure you are well prepared for your trip. Once you’ve decided on what gear you'll need, what recipes you’re making and when you’re going, the next step it to get packing. One important part? The way you pack your cooler. Packing a cooler for a camping trip is a strategic endeavor. You’ll want to make sure you maximize the space you have and pay attention to food safety. Here’s what you need to know when packing a cooler for a camping trip.

Invest in a good cooler and ice packs.

The first step is making sure that you have a good cooler and ice packs to go with it. There are so many coolers on the market at a variety of price points, it’s easy to find something that will work for you. If your budget allows, you’ll want to have one cooler for food and one cooler for drinks. People tend to open a cooler with drinks more often and you want your food to stay as cold as possible for as long as possible, so it’s a worthy investment to pack two.

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Start with a clean cooler.

Your cooler may have spent all winter cooped up in the basement, so before you bring it out for camping season, you’ll want to make sure you do a good, thorough clean. It’s hard to know what bacteria may have accumulated from poor cleaning jobs in the past or dust buildup and you don’t want that touching your food. If it’s nice enough outside wash it down with soap and water, hose it down and let it air dry.

Pre-chill the cooler.

You’ll want to get your cooler as cool as possible before you pack it. This way your cooler will maintain chill from on your ice and food, rather using the chill to bring the temperature of the cooler down. You can do this by filling it with an inexpensive bag of ice overnight and then dumping the ice and the water in the morning before you are ready to pack it.

Meal prep your food.

Just like you spend a few hours preparing meals for the week, you are going to want to put the same care into prepping for your cooler. That means thinking through the meals you plan to have, chop vegetables where appropriate, measure out sauces and condiments into smaller resealable containers and freeze whatever meat you won’t be using on the first day. As a bonus these frozen foods can double as ice. Store meals in foil packets if you are cooking over a fire.

The goal is to bring only what you absolutely need. You’ll want to double bag everything whether you use reusable bags or plastic bags to ensure your food is leakproof.

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Layers, layers, layers.

Ice is imperative in packing your cooler and you’ll want to make sure you have a block layer of ice on the bottom because it will melt slower than cubes of ice. To make your own, fill food storage containers with water and freeze them overnight or put reusable ice packs on the bottom.

You’ll want layers of ice in between each layer of food and, ideally, in any open-air spots. The goal is a 2:1 ratio of ice to food, so make sure you have plenty of it. It’s also nice to have a reusable ice sheet on top for an extra layer of cold.

There are a few different schools of thoughts on packing, and it depends on how long you are going for. If just overnight, you’ll want to put the items that need to be the coldest closest to the bottom. If you are packing for multiple nights, you’ll want to pack the food in the order you’ll use it, meaning put the stuff you will use first on top and the last day on the bottom.

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Keep it shaded and cool.

Once you’ve packed your cooler and headed to your campsite, you will want to make sure your cooler stays as shaded as possible. Try to store it in a shady spot in your car during the ride and under a tree or picnic table when you get to camp.

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