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Coolers of all kinds are essential portable insulated vessels that will work without ice or a cold pack. Though smaller ones like cooler bags tend to lose their ability to preserve the cold temperature of food and beverages in a much shorter period of time than a larger ice chest.
You can get a soft-sided cooler bag to keep things cold without ice for two or three hours with care and a little prep. It helps to make sure cold items are frozen or as chilled as possible before placing them in the cooler bag, then do your best to keep it out of direct sun.
While dry ice is fine in an ice chest or cool box, it’s a bad idea to try to use it as an ice alternative in a soft-sided cooler bag. The intensity of its cold potential is more likely to damage the material than it is to keep food and drinks cold.
Can You Use a Cooler Bag Without Ice?
It’s possible to use a cooler bag without ice, but cold foods on their own will probably only stay reasonably cold for two or three hours without some type of refrigerant added. Keeping the cooler bag out of the direct sun and leaving it closed as long as possible might help add to this time.
In general, though, ice isn’t the best way to keep a cooler bag chilled. Instead, you should try an inexpensive cold pack.
Cold packs don’t melt and cause ugly leaks like ice does. They only take 4 to 6 hours in the freezer and will last up to 8 hours inside a properly kept cooler bag.
You can find a good one that will fit in most soft-sided cooler bags at Walmart or Target for less than $10.
How Long Is Food Good in a Cooler Without Ice?
In a large, high-quality cooler that’s kept out of direct sun, with an insulated and tightly sealed lid, you might be able to keep frozen foods out of the “Danger Zone” for two to possibly three days, inside a cooler without ice.
Though a low-quality cooler with a loose lid in direct sun might let the food inside warm to an unpleasant temperature in less than four hours.
Will Dry Ice Ruin a Cooler?
If dry ice is allowed to directly touch the sidewalls or bottom of any cooler there is a high risk of the severe cold transfer cracking or damaging it. Even a small piece of dry ice is still a big bad idea inside a soft-sided cooler bag.
Though you can add a 5 or even 10-pound bag of dry ice to an ice chest-style cooler. Just be sure to put the dry ice inside a cardboard box or line the cooler with Styrofoam panels to prevent contact with the plastic walls of the cooler.
Do Cool Boxes Work Without Ice?
Cool boxes sit in the middle ground between ice chests and soft-sided coolers. The plastic liner and soft-insulated exterior will help keep chilled items reasonably cold for two to three hours without ice.
You can hedge your bets on keeping things cold inside a cool box by deeply chilling or freezing certain items. If you can’t get your hands on any ice, a cold pack might work, but you should avoid using dry ice.
Final Thoughts
The insulative qualities of coolers mean that they can work to keep things cold without ice for a few hours. You might be able to get 2 to 3 hours out of a soft-sided cooler bag without ice.
The same goes for low-quality ice chests with loose poorly insulated lids. Cooler boxes that are a hybrid of soft-sided coolers and small ice chests will probably only give you the same 2 to 3 hours of temperature preservation before things thaw to an unpleasant degree.
If you have a large, high-quality cooler, you might be able to keep frozen foods and cold drinks properly chilled for two days or more.
You can add dry ice to a large ice chest so long as you take steps to keep the dry ice from touching the sides or bottom of the cooler’s interior. If you don’t protect it from direct contact though, dry ice can badly damage any type of cooler, and shouldn’t be used at all in soft-sided cooler bags.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.