Hope this is the correct forum for my request:

Hitting the lakes next Saturday morning and will be home by Wednesday Afternoon.  Expected to come home with up to 30 panfish - most small.  Maybe a few footlong Yellow Perch.

 

This looks like an incredible deal, but a bit overkill for my needs:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Igloo-Polar-Cooler-120-Quart-White/dp/B004QILD6W/

 

I'm going to put vacuum sealed fish in at the end of each day.  Can I use a $5.00 styrofoam cooler and replace the Ice every 24 hours, or will this cheap route bring me home spoiled meat?  What's a good economical and practical solution for me?

 

Thanks

I wouldn’t go with styrofoam.   And I’d go smaller.    120qt is huge!!

 

whatever you do I suggest getting freezer packs.  Or you can freeze 6 small water bottles and put them in there with the ice.    They will make the ice last longer.  And drain the water every day

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Large-Cooler-Freeze-Packs/dp/B00V9ITMYC/ref=asc_df_B00V9ITMYC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216515106215&hvpos=1o8&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16929794816525829909&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002012&hvtargid=pla-350277195109&psc=1

 

Yeah. My understanding is to not overdo it on cooler size as they just require more ice.  Meaning coolers works best when full.  Figure how much you need to store then go from their on size.

 

as for styrofoam, and this is an in general comment, some people love them because they are cheap.....but they also don’t work as well and can break with the quickness.  

120 is a big cooler. We use them to haul fish, and a full one takes 2 guys to move. A 48 or 54 is probably what you want. Agree on the block ice, it lasts much longer than cubes. If you have the space freeze OJ or the like cardboard containers and keep them in the freezer for a while. Those bricks hold up well.

If you can get dry ice every day you can cheap out a lot on the cooler.  

Walmart brand Ozark Trail soft side coolers work real well and are economical. The larger sizes run $30-40 and hold ice for 2 days if not constantly opening. 

Styrofoam is cheap but it's also weak. Ice and fish are heavy. If the bottom or sides bust out, you lose everything.

 

If you don't plan on changing the ice for 5 days, you are getting into Yeti territory.   There are alternatives like Nice, RTIC, Orca, and Pelican but when you are gone that long it' going to get expensive.   Check out this video maybe it will help......

 

 

 

And this one for under $100.....

 

 

I posted this on another forum topic about coolers. I needed a cooler for camping. We don't often camp in one location for long but sometimes we do. i.e. a bluegrass festival here in Maine, nine days. Regular coolers aren't that good. Better coolers are expensive. After looking at Yeti's I decided to make one.

2" of dense insulation and 1/4" plywood walls with framing lumber wood for the trim. All held together with glue and silicon. Alone it weighs 4 lbs. I use six 2 liter soda bottles with frozen water in them for cooling. After 9 days of camping all 6 bottles still had about 50% ice.

A digital freezer thermometer (you can see it via small round window on the side) always registers about 40-43 degrees. refrigerators are usually set at about 40 degrees.

Cost: About $40

I second what many others have said, 120 quarts is too big! If you lived a little closer, I have a 70? quart ice chest I could give you (I bought a new one with thicker walls this year to replace it).

 

Anyway, if you aren't looking to spend a lot then go to the local Goodwill or Salvation army or perhaps ebay and buy an old, cheap used one for maybe $10.

I bought the Lifetime 77 quart cooler from Walmart that held ice for 9 days in the video above. It held ice during the hottest heatwave of the summer for 9 days -- not a whole lot left on day 9, but sitting in the sun in 88-98 degree days. Not bad

Thanks for all the replies.  I ended up buying this 48-Quart cooler:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DH4LT/

 

The marketing claims, "Keeps the Ice: 3-day ice retention at temperatures up to 90 °F."  It's going to be inside a cooled hotel room, away from any sunlight.  One of the videos that is linked to in the thread reviewed a wheeled version of this as having kept ice for 5.5 days - outdoors in the heat.  I don't mind changing the ice a few times.  

 

A few follow-up questions:

 

Do I need to fill it to capacity with ice, in order to keep the fish the coldest?

Is it OK to put the vacuum-sealed bags on top of the ice, or is it better to also have ice on top of the bags?

Is it better to break up the ice, or leave it in big chunks?

How many 8 pound bags of ice will I need to fill this to capacity?

Is it OK not to take the ice out of the bags?

 

 

49 minutes ago, Pkfish49 said:

Thanks for all the replies.  I ended up buying this 48-Quart cooler:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DH4LT/

 

The marketing claims, "Keeps the Ice: 3-day ice retention at temperatures up to 90 °F."  It's going to be inside a cooled hotel room, away from any sunlight.  One of the videos that is linked to in the thread reviewed a wheeled version of this as having kept ice for 5.5 days - outdoors in the heat.  I don't mind changing the ice a few times.  

 

A few follow-up questions:

 

Do I need to fill it to capacity with ice, in order to keep the fish the coldest?

Is it OK to put the vacuum-sealed bags on top of the ice, or is it better to also have ice on top of the bags?

Is it better to break up the ice, or leave it in big chunks?

How many 8 pound bags of ice will I need to fill this to capacity?

Is it OK not to take the ice out of the bags?

 

 

The less surface area of the ice block the longer it will last. i.e. if you use two 2 liter soda bottles (2 quarts each) they will not last quite as long as a gallon jug of ice (4 quarts). bagged ice cubes will melt the fastest. A purchased block of ice will last longer.

Depending on how much space you need, freeze one or two gallon milk jugs at home first. or a gallon jug and a soda bottle. Whatever works best for space you've got.

Don't forget to pre-chill the cooler the night before using it. I generally throw some loose ice in overnight to get the inside nice and cold. I dump that ice out in the morning, and add blocks of ice for my trip.

You can use a survival /space blanket or insulated cooler bags to lay insider on top of the ice to take up air space and insulate the ice. Even news paper on top of the insulation inside the cooler helps to increase the life of the ice to slow down melting.

Any good hard side cooler should hold ice 2 to 3 days depending on the amount of meat needing to be kept cold. 

Drain off the water once a day and add ice as needed, your should be good 5 days without freezing the fish, but I wouldn't go much longer.

Tom

PS, date the fish bags with a Sharpie so you know the date of each bag when get home.

Thanks for all the advice.  I'll follow-up late next week and let everybody know how it went.

 

Hopefully, I'll have some good fish pictures to show off in the appropriate forums.  I'm not a big Bass guy, but am hitting a lake with some big ones.  I may toss some Senkos around to try and beat my PB.