Written by Rachael Matthews
Heading off into the great outdoors, with a hamper in tow? If it’s a particularly warm day, you may be wondering how best to keep the fresh food you’ve prepared nice and cool – to enjoy later in the afternoon. Here are some of the best tips and tricks to ensure those cheeses stay yummy, the juice is refreshing and the sandwiches don’t sweat.
Get food out at the very last minute
Don’t leave cold food sitting on the side, waiting to be packed. Instead, make a list of everything you need to get out right before you leave and make putting it in the cooler bag the last thing you do.
Pack ziplock bags with ice
You’ll need to grab sealable, airtight ziplock bags and fill these with ice. Spend the night before filling up your ice tray or prepping the internal ice maker on your freezer – a model from Fisher & Paykel can increase its ice production by 30% if you need more than usual, perfect for this sort of thing – then pop this in the bags in the morning. Fit them in between your food in the cooler bag and it will keep things on ice until you need them. If the ice melts you can use it to cool down pets later in the day.
Use cooling face masks as ice packs
Pop these in the fridge the day before then wrap around things like cans or jars to keep them cool. Most face masks you pop in the fridge use a soft gel, this stays cool for a long time so you can enjoy refreshing drinks and keep dairy or meats at a safe temperature all day long.
Choose an insulated bag
An insulated cool bag will keep the cold in and the warm out. You’ll spot one of these bags by their foil-look lining that works to deflect heat.
Freeze tins
Grab two baking tins – one larger than the other – and stick four large lumps of sticky tac to the bottom of the smaller one. Stick this inside the larger tin. Then fill around the edge with water to around halfway and place carefully in the freezer. Once frozen fill the rest of the gap and freeze again. This video from Nifty shows you how to do this step by step. On the day of your picnic you can then use the smaller tray to house food you want to keep really cool and use the leftover water again for pets.
If you’re driving, keep your cooler in the boot
Don’t leave your cooler in a sunny space in the car, pop it in the boot where it’s shaded and the temperature stays relatively regulated.
Keep coolers and bags closed when not in use
It’s important that coolers are kept closed when not in use – if they are open, heat will get in and melt the ice that’s keeping the food cold. Remind everyone to shut it when they’re done getting whatever they need out. Ensuring its shut will stop the bugs from getting in too.
That tasty food you plan to serve up for your big picnic should easily stay cool with these tips and tricks – try them out this summer.