How to Keep Ice Cubes Frozen Longer
Anyone that has ever been on a picnic or outing on a hot sunny day knows how quick ice cubes can melt. This is a problem if you are counting on them to keep your food and drinks cold for you until you are ready to consume them. Do not worry though; there are a few tips that you can use to help keep your ice cubes frozen longer.
- Make your ice cubes in oversized ice cube trays. They sell numerous styles of ice cube trays in all different sizes and shapes at your local department or novelty store. The larger the ice cubes are, the longer they will take to melt.
- Use larger chunks of ice in with your smaller ice cubes to help keep the temperature of the cooler colder. You can fill up muffin pans and mini-muffin pan with water in order to form larger-than-average ice cubes that will last far longer before melting than traditionally shaped ice cubes.
- Boil all of the water that you are going to use to make your ice cubes first before freezing them. Boiling the water removes all air bubbles form the water and allows the ice to freeze better and stay frozen longer than ice cubes that are made with water that was not boiled.
- Add large chunks of ice to your cooler such as a plastic bowl that has been filled with water and then frozen to help the internal temperature of your cooler stay colder for longer.
- Make sure that the lid is kept down on the cooler where your ice is stored as much as possible. The more that the lid is removed; the more warm air will be allowed to enter the cooler, causing the ice cubes to melt faster.
- Use ice packs that are made of a gel substance in with your ice to help it stay cold longer, preventing it from melting. You can purchase this type of ice pack from your general department store in your area in the section where ice packs are sold.