speaking of ice

[laoutdoorsman]

speaking of ice...how many of yall make your own ice...??

im pretty OCD about making ice...its an unwritten rule around my house, or my parents house, and a few others that are close to me...NEVER throw away milk jugs, water jugs, juice jugs---anything along that line...

i always hunt clearance isles or dicount stores for cheap ice cube trays, and have probably 30 or so in my deep freeze at all times...

i also always use a bunch of "reclaimed" assorted sized plastic totes/bins to make block ice...


when i pack for a trip---10-20 trays worth of cubes, a frozen jug or 2 for drinking water as it melts, a block or 2, and then a couple of blocks busted up/smashed with hammer to make chunks and snow...i have been complimented more than once for having the coldest "beverages" at an event...lol

i have a medium sized deep freezer in my shed that is pretty much dedicated to making ice...

[caseydog]

That is just a bit obsessive.

I have an icemaker in the freezer, and I freeze bottles of ice for my cooler for camping, but if I need a bunch of ice cubes, I got to 7-eleven and buy a bag or two.

CD

[laoutdoorsman]

obsessive maybe..lol i rather only having to buy ice when away from home..

for a fishing trip, i run 2 coolers...one for my food and drink, and one for my fish...


my fridge dont have an icemaker...im low-tech, i guess...

[caseydog]

BTW, do you have any kin from Port Arthur? I knew a few Breauxs back in the day.

[laoutdoorsman]

nah..not that i know of...im pretty surei have some family around baytown, but i havent seen or had contact with them in probably 20+ years...i dont even know any of the breauxs that i would be closely related to in louisiana...never had much/any interaction with my dads family...um, or my dad, for that matter...lol

breaux is a very common name around south louisiana..

[planovet]

I have an icemaker in the freezer, and I freeze bottles of ice for my cooler for camping, but if I need a bunch of ice cubes, I got to 7-eleven and buy a bag or two.

That pretty much does it for me too. I try to make it not too complicated.

[Dark Horse]

We tend to use Dry Ice as well as regular ice. Works great with the 2 cooler system. The only possible downside is everything on the bottom of the Dry Ice cooler will be frozen.

[caseydog]

We tend to use Dry Ice as well as regular ice. Works great with the 2 cooler system. The only possible downside is everything on the bottom of the Dry Ice cooler will be frozen.

Dry ice works great for things that you pack up for a few days, and don't open until you are ready for it. I kept some ice cream frozen in a cooler for two days with it.

But, you have to keep it closed up. If air gets to it, it evaporates in a hurry.

CD

[Larwyn]

The ice maker works in the beer fridge out in the garage, the one in the kitchen refuses to make ice. I often use the ice from the ice maker to pre-cool the ice chest overnight. Then fill the ice chest the next morning and top off with purchased ice. The main key to keeping ice for several days is to have a good seal on a FULL ice chest. Add a little rock salt for extra cooling power but be careful or you will freeze your beer. Throwing a sixpack and a bag of ice in a huge ice chest is an excellent way to melt ice quickly, fill that empty space with something cold. At least this is what works for me.

[05liberty]

We have this unit
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/8 ... BMaker.jsp
Its portable as well , we bring it when we camp where there is hydro ... its about the size of a bread maker
Got it on sale

[Team Varekai]

I posted this in ice chests but then realized it belonged here, forgive me, I'm new here
Reading this thread reminded me of a tip I tried with mixed results
We liked to tent camp and with our 4 kids along always getting into the ice chest containg drinks the ice was always an issue. I read on a website that you could extend the "life" of the ice by adding rock salt..... I agreed thinking this is how you freeze homemade icecream so on our next outing I loaded the icechest with probably 3 cases of sodas and bottled water that were room temp. I added a layer of ice followed by a LIGHT layer of salt then more ice and more salt. Didn't think I used that much because this was a new idea so I went conservative, or so I thought. We drove to Big Sur, gotta love Calif. coastline, set-up camp and settled in. Later that evening my son went to get a soda and wondered why someone put their empty can in the chest He grabbed another one, when he tried to open it it was froze to a slushy-like state.....we all thought WOW this really works Until the next day when everything was froze SOLID, there were even cans that burst, ripped the can right down the side. So needless to say, ice was not an issue that trip, but there were a couple of drinks runs that had to be made. So I guess in moderation, say fill chest with drinks, then ice, then a little salt on top should suffice. I haven't tried it again because SHE won't let me LOL So folks, there's my 2 cents, enjoy.

[laoutdoorsman]

I posted this in ice chests but then realized it belonged here, forgive me, I'm new here
Reading this thread reminded me of a tip I tried with mixed results
We liked to tent camp and with our 4 kids along always getting into the ice chest containg drinks the ice was always an issue. I read on a website that you could extend the "life" of the ice by adding rock salt..... I agreed thinking this is how you freeze homemade icecream so on our next outing I loaded the icechest with probably 3 cases of sodas and bottled water that were room temp. I added a layer of ice followed by a LIGHT layer of salt then more ice and more salt. Didn't think I used that much because this was a new idea so I went conservative, or so I thought. We drove to Big Sur, gotta love Calif. coastline, set-up camp and settled in. Later that evening my son went to get a soda and wondered why someone put their empty can in the chest He grabbed another one, when he tried to open it it was froze to a slushy-like state.....we all thought WOW this really works Until the next day when everything was froze SOLID, there were even cans that burst, ripped the can right down the side. So needless to say, ice was not an issue that trip, but there were a couple of drinks runs that had to be made. So I guess in moderation, say fill chest with drinks, then ice, then a little salt on top should suffice. I haven't tried it again because SHE won't let me LOL So folks, there's my 2 cents, enjoy.

salt is a trick the "beer-stop" stores around the plants i work in...they have open top bins, that they put the 16 or 22 oz beers in, put ice, and then salt.....the salted ice will make the beers twice as cold, in about 5 or 6 minutes...(construction workers have to have their beer when they get off work...)

but...its my experience, that the ice doesnt last long...(maybe rocksalt is different, im not sure...definitley not gonna argue with your results..) i was never good in science or chemistry, but something to do with the salt melting the ice---its at a lower temp when its melting...idk...but i DO know, i have played with it on my own at home, and it works...ive taken can drinks straight from the store, iced them down with ice, sprinkled salt on them, and in just a few minutes, had cold drinks....frosty, but not frozen...maybe longer, they would have frozen...dont know...

but...also...i have done the same thing omitting the salt, just adding water....the slushy wet ice will cool down can drinks in like 5 minutes...

but...these are just to get drinks cold quick...because melting ice, is um, just that...its melting, meaning, its gonna be history soon...

[Larwyn]

True, adding salt is not a way to extend the life of the ice, but is an excellent way of cooling drinks quickly. When I want my beer extra cold I put a case of beer, two bags of ice and a sprinkle of rock salt over the top of the ice. Adding too much salt will freeze your beer though. I keep some rock salt on the truck all the time in case I need to melt some ice or cool some beer...........

[dakotamouse]

We have this unit
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/8 ... BMaker.jsp
Its portable as well , we bring it when we camp where there is hydro ... its about the size of a bread maker
Got it on sale

Picked up a similar unit on sale from Camper World. I like it and try to make ice in time for the weekend.

[caseydog]

We have this unit
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/8 ... BMaker.jsp
Its portable as well , we bring it when we camp where there is hydro ... its about the size of a bread maker
Got it on sale

I had a couple of those. One at home and one at the office. They do a good job, and make a surprising amount of ice in a reasonable amount of time.

I had the same units that show in your link. I got mine here...

http://www.compactappliance.com/

They gave me one to review for a magazine, and I ended up buying one, too.

CD