Small coolerbox for 3 or 4 days?

[Neeves]

Jonathan, your frozen gin, is it in a plastic bottle?

Silicone ice trays, frozen. Store in a stainless Dewar flask. Remove as needed. Ideally you need to freeze the lemon as well

Jonathan

James Dewar - Wikipedia

Liquid nitrogen, and other liquids at low temperature ( though I've never heard the term applied to gin) are stored in Dewar flasks.

J

 

[Ingwe]

For keeping a normal cool box cool for an extended period you need lots of ice and good insulation, so get the largest ice packs you can get - we use three Campingaz M30 freeze packs. Glue a layer of thin foam insulation to one side of them and then when you use them place them with the insulated side against the outside of the cool box, if you have a big onboard cool box also have a layer of loose insulation that you can place on top of what you are trying to keep cool to reduce heat loss through the lid and obviously make sure everything is as cold as possible before you put it in the cool box. By doing this we can keep a big inbuilt cool box cool for a good 3-4 days.

 

[Neeves]

Part of success with a cool box, esky and even a fridge is about discipline (call it religious fervour), like keeping weight out of the ends and not using unnecessary power and fresh water

If you open your cool box, stare at the contents and find whatever it is you need is at the bottom (so you need empty the ice box to find whatever) you are losing the battle. The top of the ice box should contain what you need on day 2 (as what you need for day 1 does not need to be in the icebox at all - as its frozen solid when you left home). Day 3 is the third layer and layer four is the fourth day and at the bottom. Meals should be pre-cooked and frozen in square slabs, they pack better and are quicker to retrieve. The smaller the surface area, so cubic not thin slabs will de-frost more slowly.

This does not mean you do not need to cook, raw mince can be frozen nicely into a cube and if you are making a bolognese sauce the vegetables don't need to be frozen anyway (saving cool box space).

None of this is difficult - it just needs planning. - and once you find what suits you - it becomes second nature.

Its the 21st Century - its does not need to be camping in 1960.

Jonathan

 

[geem]

For comparison purposes a Peltier type cool box typically uses a constant 75w. A similar sized portable compressor fridge has a 45w compressor with a run time of about 33%. There is a massive energy benefit in running a portable compressor fridge. If you carry it with you to the boat full of food you can pre cool the contents onroute in the car such that the running load once at the boat is as described above.

 

[noelex]

After the convenience of a compressor fridge it is hard to go back to an icebox.

A small 20L unit will not use much power and it can be kept running in the car while driving down to the boat so it starts out cold.

Engel make a number of small tough units. Their start up power and running current is lower than the opposition and this is a help for a small electrical system.

 

[SteveGorst]

We managed with one like that but they’re not efficient current wise, for the limited amount of cold they deliver. Heres a small compressor fridge, nearly as portable as a halfords cold box. VEVOR 20L Portable Car Refrigerator Fridge Freezer for Camping Car Boating Caravan Bar | VEVOR UK We’ve got a 40 odd litre one, can’t recall exactly. Our higher startup current is about the same as the pelier cold box, after which it’s lower all the way, being efficient and thermostatic.

+1 for one of these. They are also very good at detecting the battery being run down and put themselves into standby well before the battery has run out of enough power to start the engine, if you've made an error with your battery selection. We used to have a Halfords coolbox but this is a huge improvement.

 

[Humblebee]

I like Neeve's idea of frozen gin in an ice cube tray. We buy packs of lemons and limes, slice them, then freeze the slices. Better than putting ice in a G and T!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I like Neeve's idea of frozen gin in an ice cube tray. We buy packs of lemons and limes, slice them, then freeze the slices. Better than putting ice in a G and T!

There's a snag - the alcohol won't freeze. So as the mixture freezes, the water will freeze, leaving an increasingly concentrated water/alcohol mix unfrozen. The phase diagram makes this clear.

At freezer temperatures, the ice will be almost pure water and the remaining (spillable) liquid will contain almost all the alcohol.

 

[steve yates]

Im liking the idea of the small compressor fridges. Do they have to be powered all the time or can i just disconnect them when they are cool and they will act like a coolbox for next day or two, then reconnect them to get cold again.
ihave two 110ahr leisure batteries on a 50w solar panel. No engine to worry about flattening.
The idea is Iuse one battery till it needs recharging, then I switch tothe second one and start planning on using a marina in next day or two to plug in the battery charger.
i dont actually need iceor anything frozen, just meat and dairy kept cool, tho the idea of frozen milk etc is a great one!

 

[Chiara’s slave]

If theres any scope for upping your solar a bit, you’d be good for 24/7. My batteries are only 75ah, and 3/4 knackered, and I run mine continuously, but I do have more solar. I think it would be fine as you are, assuming you’re not doing night passages as well. But it’s always good to be fine plus a bit.

 

[[70521]]

Like many above I freeze everything that can be frozen before going down to the boat.

I've also looked at what I take. Simple adjustments like UHT milk, tinned meat and fish go along way not needing a fridge/coolbox.

I have friends who sailed from 50°N to 54°S without a fridge! They kept lots of stuff in the bilge.

Beer served cold has no taste!

 

[noelex]

Im liking the idea of the small compressor fridges. Do they have to be powered all the time or can i just disconnect them when they are cool and they will act like a coolbox for next day or two, then reconnect them to get cold again.

You can do this.

The insulation varies from brand to brand, but typically it is less good than the better iceboxes.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

You can do this.

The insulation varies from brand to brand, but typically it is less good than the better iceboxes.

Mine is reasonable, insulation wise. Coupled with a bit of judicious freezing it will be fine. My fridge is running less than 25% of the time snyway right now. I guess it might be about 8-10c in the morning if it wasnt turned on

 

[geem]

Like many above I freeze everything that can be frozen before going down to the boat.

I've also looked at what I take. Simple adjustments like UHT milk, tinned meat and fish go along way not needing a fridge/coolbox.

I have friends who sailed from 50°N to 54°S without a fridge! They kept lots of stuff in the bilge.

Beer served cold has no taste!

In the scale of boat ownership a 40 L portable compressor fridge and a bit of solar is a relatively minor cost. The option then to eat fresh food and keep it that way for several days is quite appealing.

 

[Neeves]

There's a snag - the alcohol won't freeze. So as the mixture freezes, the water will freeze, leaving an increasingly concentrated water/alcohol mix unfrozen. The phase diagram makes this clear.

At freezer temperatures, the ice will be almost pure water and the remaining (spillable) liquid will contain almost all the alcohol.

Quite correct, but depends on the temperature of your freezer

And the problem is

You need to freeze the gin in drinkable amounts, enough for one night. You have water (in the form of ice, ideally this is frozen as small blocks - as you can then distribute them sensibly), alcohol as a liquid. You take your mixture out of the freezer and distribute the liquid, alcohol, through the receptacles. Add the appropriate amount of solid. Add frozen lemon and whatever you are going to use as a mixer (if that's what you want to do) - or simply add bottled spring water. You don't need ice - it comes as part of the kit you made up. Job done. If you are drinking a Navy drink then you will need to have Angostura bitters as part of your catering kit. The best containers to store the frozen product are small wide mouthed insulated double walled, stainless flasks. These are commonly used for soup, Stanley and Thermos both make them - we store them in the freezer compartment (but we also have a dedicated freezer - which usually contains the catch of the day). The small flasks then contain ice and liquid, relatively easy to distribute.

You will find that the water does not freeze as a block but as 'slush'. You can spoon or pour it. Do not mistake it for frozen Coca Cola - it has a different impact and is not for children.

Enjoy.

Works for Vodka and Gin, not tried it with anything else (as I prefer malt at room temperature). When we sailed from Manilla to HK the drink of the day was always rum which was drunk 'warm' with calamansi (a tiny lime, found in the Phillipines - I've never seen them anywhere else)- we had no fridge.

Jonathan

 

[[70521]]

In the scale of boat ownership a 40 L portable compressor fridge and a bit of solar is a relatively minor cost. The option then to eat fresh food and keep it that way for several days is quite appealing.

While that is true my point was that a fridge is not necessary. My friends did the trip in a Boreal 47, not the cheapest boat on the planet, and they had passages of many weeks.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Like many above I freeze everything that can be frozen before going down to the boat.

I've also looked at what I take. Simple adjustments like UHT milk, tinned meat and fish go along way not needing a fridge/coolbox.

I have friends who sailed from 50°N to 54°S without a fridge! They kept lots of stuff in the bilge.

Beer served cold has no taste!

I've been disappointed with uht milk. The modern stuff tastes ok but once opened, it goes cheesy overnight. If you can get some single portion ones from a hotel supplier, these don't need to be stored cold to last.
Making an external box out of closed cell polystyrene improves the performance of our Halfords cooler enormously. It's an electric guzzler peltier type .

 

[[70521]]

I've been disappointed with uht milk. The modern stuff tastes ok but once opened, it goes cheesy overnight.

I must be using different stuff. I can leave a opened carton on the boat for a week and it's still drinkable

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I've been disappointed with uht milk. The modern stuff tastes ok but once opened, it goes cheesy overnight. If you can get some single portion ones from a hotel supplier, these don't need to be stored cold to last.
Making an external box out of closed cell polystyrene improves the performance of our Halfords cooler enormously. It's an electric guzzler peltier type .

The cold-filtered milk keeps very well, and is indistinguishable from ordinary milk. Keeps for up to a week in a plain, unrefrigerated cool box, and up to 2 weeks in a fridge.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I see little, or no point, in using ice to keep the contents of any, unpowered, ice box cold. Why not simply freeze the contents of the box, casserole, butter, gin in your home deep freeze and use these frozen components as the means to keep the contents cold. You need to plan such that you only remove what you need that day and not rake around looking for the, gin?, as raking round allows less cold air into the box. So freeze milk, butter, or the casserole into cubes sized for a meal for the crew and arrange these cubes to be removed in sequence.

You need a good cool box and you might need extra insulation - but exactly how useful is frozen ice, compared to frozen gin or a home cooked soup or casserole.

Jonathan

Depends how far you sail from the vicinity of your freezer.