Cooler Ice Block Molds

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Feb 16, 2021
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Eastern Oregon
Can anyone recommend ice block molds so I can make some bulk ice for the cooler? I used Tupperware for a while and they ended up cracking. Would love some silicone ones but can’t really find anything that’s sizable. Would silicone bread molds work?
 

Justin Crossley

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Buckley, WA
Can anyone recommend ice block molds so I can make some bulk ice for the cooler? I used Tupperware for a while and they ended up cracking. Would love some silicone ones but can’t really find anything that’s sizable. Would silicone bread molds work?
I tried the silicone bread molds but the ones I got wouldn't hold their shape very well and they weren't as big as I wanted.

I'm back to using gallon milk/water jugs.
 

5MilesBack

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Yep empty milk jugs, or gallon and 1/2 gallon grape juice jugs....etc. That's all I use and I have a dedicated freezer for keeping them.
 

sndmn11

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We use the .5L water bottles, they aren't perfect but seem to be small enough to customize the fit ok, while being easy to buy, reusable, and drinkable.
 

crich

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AK
Can anyone recommend ice block molds so I can make some bulk ice for the cooler? I used Tupperware for a while and they ended up cracking. Would love some silicone ones but can’t really find anything that’s sizable. Would silicone bread molds work?
Might sound rickety but you might be able to make some out of cardboard and gorilla tape and just line it with a plastic bag or something until it freezes. Cheap and you can make whatever size
 

brianrossman1

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Just curious, why not just freeze gallon water Jugs. I have done that for years and they can go through a handful of freeze thaw cycles.


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This what I have always done and you can use smaller bottles as needed.

Also, before a hunt I’ll cool a freezer with bottles the night before and replace with other frozen bottles when I leave to stretch my cooling capacity by a few hours. Might be dumb but never had an issue.


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Joined
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Idaho
This what I have always done and you can use smaller bottles as needed.

Also, before a hunt I’ll cool a freezer with bottles the night before and replace with other frozen bottles when I leave to stretch my cooling capacity by a few hours. Might be dumb but never had an issue.


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Pre cooling your coolers makes a gigantic difference in ice retention time.
 

Titan_Bow

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Dec 10, 2015
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Colorado
I like the gallon water jugs from arrowhead or geyser springs that have that band of tape for a handle. They are more rectangular than milk jugs and stack and fit in the cooler better. In a pre-cooled Ozark Trail rotomolded cooler, they are still partially frozen after a week
 
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May 3, 2020
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I use either the ziplock Tupperware type containers to make blocks or I use the food saver to seal up bags of water and lay them flat to freeze. They only last a couple refreezings before they start leaking from getting banged around but are a good compact flat shape.
 

AZGUY

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Phoenix, AZ
I use the Simply “Juice” (orange, grapefruit,etc) bottles. They stand nice and symmetrical with very little air space.
 

LostArra

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Oklahoma
Pre cooling your coolers makes a gigantic difference in ice retention time.
Excellent advice plus keep the cooler shut! Don't check on the ice. It's fine. The meat is fine. Keep it shut!

We tape the coolers shut. Once we got checked by G&F. We had 6 coolers of meat. They checked one and saw everything in order so they told us we didn't have to open the others.

This is also why you don't cool your beer with the meat.
 

sndmn11

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My friend uses the rectangle cardboard creamer things that look like milk cartons but are smaller, a pint maybe? He drinks a lot of creamer.
 

LuvDog

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Nov 30, 2021
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Pre cooling your coolers makes a gigantic difference in ice retention time.

Especially with the Yeti/rtic/rotomolded coolers out now. Once they are pre-cooled, ice retention is great. I don't think it made that much of a difference in my older coolers.
 
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