Separate Food & Drink In Your Cooler With A Genius Cutting Board Hack

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Warmer months are the season of the cooler, as we bring along our favorite foods and drinks for sunny-day picnics, beach hangs, friends' barbecues, music festivals, tailgate parties, and more. For all that festive fun, though, nothing is sadder than opening your cooler to find the beer squashed the sandwiches or the cooler's contents have basically become one smushed up, soggy mess. Luckily, there's a better way: By using cutting boards as makeshift shelves, you can keep your cooler tidy, its contents smash-free, and you can even help create layers for optimal cooling. This is one of the smartest ways to keep those picnic foods organized and in peak condition.

Ideally, you want to keep your cooler packed at a ratio of 2:1 ice to food and beverages in order to keep everything at a food-safe temperature. And certain items need to be colder than others. With layers separated by cutting boards, you can create an efficiently freezing bottom up to a chilly top. Place a foundation of ice packs along the bottom plus ice cubes, then any raw meats and frozen items, more ice cubes, and a cutting board. Layer two should be ice, beverages, ice, followed by layer three of things like cheese, fruits, vegetables, and dips then topped if needed by a final layer of items like bread. Cutting boards keep these in place, helping everything stay as cold as it needs to. Plus, you can whip them out and use them for prep at your destination.

While any cutting boards you have will do the trick, there are also specifically designed cutting boards that double as cooler organizers, like this Omoojee cooler divider. It's a good idea to chop your fruits and vegetables pre-packing to save space but you'll likely have to do some slicing at the picnic or beach — your shelves transitioning into work spaces is almost too convenient to be true. If you're in the market for an entirely new one, consider the things you should know before buying a cooler. Whether you search for the best wheeler coolers or the best cooler backpacks depends on if you more often use it for solo hikes or big family gatherings — if you often haul quite the spread, something like the Ninja Frostvault 50-quart hard cooler with drawers might be for you.

To make your cooler even more effective, pre-cool it. This means storing it in the chilliest spot possible — if you've got an extra fridge or chest freezer in the garage that isn't too full, for example, pop your cooler in overnight. A drafty laundry room or similar space works, too, and you can help things along by filling the cooler with ice for its chill; just replace the ice with fresh cubes when you pack the cooler. When transporting, remember your cooler is safest in your car, not the trunk. And when you've arrived, keep the cooler in the shade and closed when not in use.