Alex84 Posted February 19, 2023 Report Share Posted February 19, 2023 I'm wondering what ppl are doing to keep there food n drinks cold for the Gatta trip or ideas they have that could help me? I don't know if there are options using separate batteries along with an esky powering it periodically. I'm guessing even a good cooler box isn't gonna last over a week. I don't have an extra battery hooked up to my ute and can't spend a big amount of money. Any ideas ppl have would be awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben338 Posted February 19, 2023 Report Share Posted February 19, 2023 i've done 10 days in there and gone home with ice still in the esky, and the weather wasn't even that cold. no fridge here. if you go with an esky it will pay to have a half decent one. freeze your ice in 2-3lt milk or similar containers. freeze some of your food (meat etc) and you should have no probs. drinks are normally cold enough just being left out at night so not essential to have them in an esky. this is the go if your on a budget. or buy a fridge and a battery. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samburstalker Posted February 19, 2023 Report Share Posted February 19, 2023 pre make your meals, vacuum seal and freeze. come back from camp and throw them in water to boil. maybe a battery charger to plug in someone's gennie to charge battery. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncs Posted February 19, 2023 Report Share Posted February 19, 2023 Wot thay sed! A decent esky (not the ones you buy at Kmart or Bunnings) is the go. You’ll be throwing out ice at the end of your trip. Vacuum sealing food - especially meat - is a game changer! If you freeze it before you leave, it acts as ice for the esky as well. Plus if it thaws you don’t have to stress because it stays fresh for aaages in the bag. There’ll be guys who bring along car fridges set to freeze who can refreeze your water filled milk containers if you need to as well (I’d be happy to and I know there’ll be plenty of others) - all you need to do is ask 👍 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex84 Posted February 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2023 Legends. Will jump on amazon for a vacuum sealer and look for a decent esky. Looking forward to getting out there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben338 Posted February 20, 2023 Report Share Posted February 20, 2023 9 hours ago, Duncs said: Wot thay sed! A decent esky (not the ones you buy at Kmart or Bunnings) is the go. You’ll be throwing out ice at the end of your trip. Vacuum sealing food - especially meat - is a game changer! If you freeze it before you leave, it acts as ice for the esky as well. Plus if it thaws you don’t have to stress because it stays fresh for aaages in the bag. There’ll be guys who bring along car fridges set to freeze who can refreeze your water filled milk containers if you need to as well (I’d be happy to and I know there’ll be plenty of others) - all you need to do is ask 👍 sometimes you can even leave stuff out over night to re-freeze 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxdog Posted February 28, 2023 Report Share Posted February 28, 2023 Alex84, What they said. We started with a 60lt ice box, which was higher than length and width. We used a 10 ltr spring water bottle (squarer,flatter sided the better) that was filled 1ltr a day and frozen each time, which stops the sides bulging. We take frozen casseroles/stews in used chinese take-away containers. Meat is cryovaced and shaped into flat packs and frozen individually. The idea is to get all of the frozen stuff as low as possible with as little air space as possible, so every time you open the esky the air rushing in doesn't get to the bottom and need re-cooling. Prepare your ice now, the longer it is frozen, the longer it lasts. We place the esky on the ground as it is cold and put other stuff around it to reduce any air movement. As others have said with drinks, or put in a mesh bag and dropped in the creek. Good food preparation should see you through the week, so you have more time to enjoy your stay, or deal with other issues like weather or mechanical etc. But you will be in good hands in the group. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flystalker Posted March 2, 2023 Report Share Posted March 2, 2023 On 01/03/2023 at 8:39 AM, Foxdog said: As others have said with drinks, or put in a mesh bag and dropped in the creek. My system when in the Gatta (and other remote areas) is to run a fridge, deep cycle battery and 160w solar panel and esky full of frozen bottles. The beer/coke gets put in the river and the all meat is frozen to start with in the fridge. Once a deer is down, all meat (de-boned) and everything else is placed in the esky and the fridge is changed into freezer mode and I cycle the frozen bottles every day to/from the freezer to the esky and back. When backpacking, meat kept on the ground (out of the sun) under the tent (in cheesecloth) will keep for many days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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