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All around it - pop some round the edges to create a cold space and then stick some little ones between the food. I pack some extras round the milk cos im obsessive about dairy products in the cool box.

Also freeze any of the food - this helps keep the box cold and it will slowly defrost for when you need it.

Make your own ice packs 

 either pop or milk bottles, I prefer the milk bottles as your can refill with ice from the supermarket if staying longer than a week. 

Take empty 4 litre  milk bottle 3/4 fill with water  leave in the freezer over night.

One large lump of ice.

Top. Cold air falls, warm air rises.

Also, get one of these thin insulated shopping bags that supermarkets sell at the checkout for carring frozen stuff home. Cut the rigid handles off and use to line the coolbox. As you use up food, roll the top closed over the food + icepacks. This eliminates a lot of the dead air space that otherwise the coolpacks would have to chill as well. Can honestly say this boosts the performance of any standard coolbox.

I take frozen milk and a couple of bottles of frozen made up orange squash as icepacks. And freeze any food that I won't use in the first 24 hours. I also have extra frozen ice packs which I use to prechill the coolbox before I pack it.

I might have to show off a little here - ive got my lovely new (2nd use) electric cool box pre cooling right now!

Easter weekend we pre cooled, packed it with lots of ice packs, froze every bit of food we could, stuck it in the boot whenever we went out in the car and the food was still perfectly cold on the monday. Felt like we had a fridge in the tent!

If it performs as well this weekend then I shall be recommending the extra costs to everyone - very loudly!

Quote: Originally posted by ClareL on 01/5/2009

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I might have to show off a little here - ive got my lovely new (2nd use) electric cool box pre cooling right now!

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Got one. Got a 3-way fridge as well. I don't bother with either for anything up to four days though...a coolbox works just as well in everything but high summer over that length of time and it saves me being restricted to eHU pitches.

Quote: Originally posted by Valk_scot on 01/5/2009

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Top. Cold air falls, warm air rises.

Also, get one of these thin insulated shopping bags that supermarkets sell at the checkout for carring frozen stuff home. Cut the rigid handles off and use to line the coolbox. As you use up food, roll the top closed over the food + icepacks. This eliminates a lot of the dead air space that otherwise the coolpacks would have to chill as well. Can honestly say this boosts the performance of any standard coolbox.

I take frozen milk and a couple of bottles of frozen made up orange squash as icepacks. And freeze any food that I won't use in the first 24 hours. I also have extra frozen ice packs which I use to prechill the coolbox before I pack it.

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Quote: Originally posted by pitchNpuff on 01/5/2009

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Hot air rises, cold air drops, so on top is good.

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This is only true if you have room for the air to circulate. Far better to pack the cold food together tightly and scatter the ice packs throughout. If you have any spare space, fill with loosely screwed up newspaper or a towel.

Even on an overcast day a tent can get very warm inside so if possible keep coolbox outside in a shady spot and preferably in a breeze. Drape a soaking wet bathtowel over the top and the evaporating water from the towel will also help to keep the box cool (remember how cold you feel in wet clothes, especially in a breeze!?)