cool at all? Or do they only maintain the temp of food. I've read the official blurb on the boxes but of course they have to be written with caution.
As part of our summer hols we have 4 nights in a variety of hotels + a tipi, before going on to a couple of weeks at pre-erected tents, these come with the usual fridge + electricity. If we bought fresh food along the way for picnics, would an electric coolbox keep it at all safe? Or in a hot continental summer, in a hot car, would it keep it at the perfect temp for bacteria?
Usually we load up the Coleman xtreme with frozen bits, and this keeps us in picnic foods for a few days. It's large tho, and it'd be nice to have more room for clothes and shoes Then again it's light and does make a useful extra table! We could take our 3 way fridge but that's large and very heavy.
I wouldn't be without our coolbox our on a longer trip, but make sure you don't skimp on this and get one that will cool at least 20C - 25c lower than the ambient temperature, so basically in temperatures up to 30c it will still work as effectively as a fridge (eg 5c or cooler) our is a halfords one, one of the mid-range priced ones think it was originally £60 but we were lucky enough to get it on sale for £45, the outwell ones are also good. Some of the cheaper ones, eg Go outdoors/Tesco ones only cool 12-15c below the ambient temp, which is generally fine for the UK at this time of year but not for summer particularly abroad. Be prepared to pay in excess of £50 for a decent one that will do the job.
------------- Campergirl
Camping Trips 2011:
April - Cobleland, Gartmore 5 nights
April/May - Machrihanish & Carradale Bay, Kintyre 3 nights
So say we start the day and the cool box is warm and not plugged in. After it's been on for a while it'll (good quality) be fine to keep some milk and ham fine?
Thanks, it sounds like it'd be the best fit for that trip. I'd prefer to spend money on a decent one, than have to rely on cafe's and restaurants for most of our food and cold drinks.
We like to give ours a helping hand by freezing small bottles of water, juice and even small (e.g. 1 pint) cartons of milk. These gradually thaw, over the day, and supplement the cool but not frozen drinks we have earlier in the day. You should be able to do this in the icebox of a fridge, although it might not be an option in the 'minibar' sort of thing you have in hotel rooms. It is definitely worth doing in your home freezer before you leave home. We also have a 12V/AC adaptor and plug the fridge in at home before we leave, to get it down to a reasonable temperature from the start. You might consider doing this in your hotel room,too, although you probably wouldn't want to leave it on overnight - the fans in these little fridges can be a bit noisy.