Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Any tips on using dry ice?

The refrigerator section my side by side needs to be repaired, the problem caused the inter wall between the frig/freezer to freeze and the tech needs to empty the freezer for a couple of hours. I was thinking of using my big coolers and dry ice to keep the meat frozen. Half the labor is the tech waiting for the inter wall to unfreeze so I plan to have it ready for him.

How much dry ice for 150 quart chest for 12 hours?

thanks

I'm thinking you really don't need much. Personally, I'd gamble that the cooler would keep frozen stuff frozen for 12 hours with just some extra bagged ice. But, my SWAG is 10 -20 pounds of dry ice would be plenty. Leftover can be used to produce 'eerie special effects' for your own amusement!

If you've used it before you know the cautions - if you haven't, be sure to wear gloves, etc.!!

and remember to put that cooler in a well ventilated area.

You'll only need a few pounds. It goes along way. Put a piece on the top and one on the bottom.

We added about 20# of dry ice to cardboard cartons full of elk meat that had been flash frozen after butchering. Drove from northcentral New Mexico to Indianapolis, IN and the meat was frozen just as solid as when we left NM. Your chest freezer with 10-20# dry ice should work fine.

Cold sinks!! Put a blanket/towel on top of everything in the chest freezer then put the dry ice on top of it. You don't want the dry ice directly on your frozen items, it can burn it (freezer burn).

If the meat is already frozen,1 to 2 pounds of dry ice with bag ice to fill is good, wrap it up so it doesn't touch anything. I've seen 1 pound of dry ice shatter the inside of a 45q YETI...

Put another towel and bubble pack on top of the dry ice to take up air space and provide more insulation.

Kept food frozen on 7 day float trips in 100+ day temps with an extreme cooler. Hard as rock the day before our dinner night (last day).

If it's only going to be 12 hours I wouldn't even bother with dry ice. If there's any air space in the cooler use a blanket on top of the frozen meat. Cover the cooler with comforter and you'll be fine. One thing that also helps is to cool down the ice chest with some regular ice before loading the frozen stuff.

If you want add a couple of chunks of dry ice on top ... no problemo ... fill the air space with a blanket.

Good info, I haven't use dry ice before. My Cooler is well insulated and I can get dry from a store nearby so I will start with a lb or so..

Thanks

Use gloves, if you happen to have a metal sliver in your hand you will know it in an instant

This^^^. If you want to get drastic put in a couple lbs dry ice. Cover the chest with a sleeping bag and tie around it.

+1

One tangential observation: if you're taking your frozen & wrapped meat home with you by commercial carrier, do NOT use dry ice. Airlines don't like dry ice in their cargo holds. The CO2 sublimates much more quickly at flight elevations and can cause a pressure explosion of your cooler. I learned this a couple years ago flying back to TX from WY. Had to open up my cooler at the Denver airport and take out the dry ice. Got a few dirty looks from some PETA types, which was fun.

a few pounds, put it on top to keep it frozen, separate with a towel or whatever and wear gloves. more info here.

http://www.dryiceinfo.com/camping.htm

we use dry ice all the time coming back from hunting trips and i have used it to move when i had too much meat to fit into ice chests. just put the freezer in the trailer and put a few pounds of dry ice in it at a time.

When you are done with it, don't dump it into the toilet. When our youth group was serving a catered dinner at the school, someone did that. It was interesting to see the men open the door to the can and see the "smoke" come wafting out. It was even more interesting to go in and listen as they tried to pee when they couldn't see below their waists.

We also managed to kill a gross of nightcrawlers one year when some genius decided that the way to keep them in good working order was to place a slab of dry ice on top of the bedding under the cooler lid.

Just be a man and grab the chunks with your bare hands.

Yep, put a couple of chunks down your shorts to keep cool on these warm fall afternoons.

And touch your tongue to it to make sure it's cold enough. You'll know.

I wouldn't even bother with dry ice. If it's only 12 hours then the stuff will still be frozen solid by the time you get ready to put it back in the freezer. Dry ice is a pain in the butt if it touches anything, it'll freezer burn the stuff really quick.

Doc, the reasons airlines don't like dry ice isn't because of a possible explosion. It's because the pressurization system of the aircraft only expels air at a certain rate and dry ice is just frozen carbon dioxide. Too much dry ice on board can up the concentration of CO2 and decrease the concentration of oxygen in the air, possibly making everyone on board hypoxic. The FAA sets limits for how much dry ice can be on board the aircraft, the airlines have to track it and account for how much is on board.