Most people start feeling bored during their vacations because they have nothing to do. This is why you will notice them planning camping trips. These can be a lot of fun as you get to explore new areas with your friends and family and even make new memories with them. Although, before you start your trip, there are a few things that you should be aware of.
Having the best possible equipment with you at all times can be necessary as there are numerous problems that you can run into. People who intend to stay overnight should also have something to eat with them. Considering this, most meals will go bad if not kept at a cold temperature. This is why we will be using this article to teach you how to keep food cold while backpacking. The steps mentioned below should help you in preventing any issues so that you can have a relaxing trip.
How to Keep Food Cold While Backpacking
1. Freeze Your Meals
When it comes to keeping your food cold so that you can keep it preserved. The first step is planning ahead as there are numerous factors that you should be aware of. Considering how much food you will be carrying as well as how long you intend to stay should help you in calculating how cold the meals should be.
If you want to keep your dishes cold for a long time then one of the best methods is freezing them. Although, there are several problems with this step as well. The first thing is that you cannot eat anything frozen or extremely cold. This is why you should have a campfire or stove with you that can be used to heat your meals.
Aside from this, the frozen items will leave a lot of moisture which can completely soak your bag or anything you were using to carry it. You will have to keep this in mind and take steps to ensure that nothing gets damaged from all the water melting from your frozen food. You should also keep in mind that the fewer edibles you have with you, the easier it is to keep it cold.
This is why ensuring that you only have meals that are required for your trip can be a lot of help. You can easily use calculators online to find how much energy will be needed for your camping or hiking trip. Some websites even provide advanced calculators that will give you an exact value that you should look out for.
2. Using Frozen Bottles
If freezing the food, you want to keep cold is not an option for you then another thing that you can try is using frozen bottles instead. This step requires you to first freeze water bottles and then place them next to your meals in your bag. The temperature of these bottles will ensure that anything stored next to it is kept cool.
Though, this will only be maintained as long as the water is still frozen. Additionally, this step has the same drawbacks mentioned above. Considering this, make sure that you do not place anything near the bottles that can get damaged from moisture. Aside from this, the water bottles might melt quickly if you are traveling in a hot climate. Keeping this in mind, you should note how much of an edge planning ahead gives you.
3. Use A Cooler
Finally, the best way to keep your food cold while backpacking is to keep coolers with you. These devices will ensure that anything placed in it maintains its temperature for a long duration. Considering this, you can use the step mentioned above but this time place your frozen bottles in a cooler. This will ensure that your food is kept cold at all times so that you do not have any problems.
Although, one of the major downsides to this device is that most coolers can be quite large. Even if you purchase a smaller cooler then the weight of water bottles will make it heavier. This can be hard to carry if you were thinking about hiking while keeping the cooler with you. Though, you can try practicing before the trip to ensure there are no issues. Distributing your luggage between people should help you in making it easier to carry.
