Can You Use A Cooler To Keep Food Hot

While coolers are mainly designed to keep food and drinks common cold their insulating power can also be used to keep things hot for hours at a time.

A proficient cooler that is prepared correctly can keep food hot for hours or even days at a fourth dimension even when it'south cold outside. This can be not bad for keeping for hot at a party, or a picnic, during a roadtrip or when travelling.

In this article we'll dear at the 7 best means possible to keep food hot in a cooler. Some of these techniques are super unproblematic and they work!

A Quick Discussion About Keeping Food Hot Safely

Y'all don't often have to think about food safety and bacteria growth when you're using a cooler to continue things cold, simply when you lot're trying to keep things hot it's a really of import thing to consider.

Co-ordinate to the USDA there is a "danger zone" for food which is between twoscore-140ºF (four.iv-60ºC). In betwixt this range bacteria can apace abound which can spoil your food and potentially make you ill if yous eat it.

For some meats (similar poultry) besides every bit leftovers it's recommended you lot keep them above 165ºF (74ºC) in gild to keep them safe.

One time your nutrient enters into this "danger zone" you'll want to consume information technology within one-2 hours so information technology doesn't take plenty time to become bad.

If not properly kept, or if stored in the danger zone for too long your hot food tin can spoil in your libation.

To avert this you'll want to store your food HOT and once the temperature starts to drop below 140-165ºF (threescore-74ºC) you'll want to eat it inside a couple of hours.

How To Continue Food Hot In a Cooler

At that place are a few methods beneath that are great at keeping nutrient hot. But they all piece of work off similar principles. Keep these principles in heed when trying to keep nutrient hot.

Pre-Rut Your Food

The rule of keeping food hot is to brand your food hot. It's not a great idea to try and warm food up in a libation.

Coolers don't have a heating element. They tin stop heating escaping, thus keeping food hot, but they aren't able to warm food upwardly.

So pre-rut your nutrient and remember, you're heating it to consume later in the day. So make it hotter than eating temperature every bit it will cool down over time.

Increase Thermal Mass

You know how soup tin stay hot for a long period of time but toast gets cold within a couple of minutes coming out of the toaster?

This is because soup (and water) are dense and accept a lot of thermal mass, while fluffy staff of life is light and doesn't accept much thermal mass.

Dense foods will stay hot longer than non-dumbo foods. Adding things like hot water bottles and hot bricks to your cooler increases the overall thermal mass and things volition stay hot longer.

Increase Insulation/Subtract Air Space

While a libation is a good insulator sometimes it needs a little aid.

Things like towels and paper-thin are actually great materials for insulation and can insulate your hot food, keeping it hot for longer.

Empty air space in your libation is also the enemy of keeping food hot. So using towels to make full empty air pockets or using cardboard to create a barrier layer can keep food hot longer.

Decrease Evaporation

When food is hot it ofttimes lets off steam. As water evaporates from your nutrient it takes a lot of the heat with information technology.

Wrapping your food upwardly or putting information technology in a container and then steam can't escape will keep information technology hot longer.

At present that y'all know the main rules to follow, here are the vii all-time ways to keep food hot in a cooler.

i. Pre-Estrus Your Libation With Warm H2o

Coolers are fabricated of thick walls of foam which take millions and millions of tiny pockets of air.

These pockets of air are what stops heat getting in or out of your libation.

When your cooler is kept at room temperature and yous put hot food in information technology then the walls of the cooler (and the pockets of air inside) will steal some estrus from your nutrient as they warm upward.

This is particularly truthful for expensive coolers like Yeti.

Y'all'll desire to pre-oestrus the walls of your cooler. To do this fill up your cooler with warm water from the tap and leave it to sit for 20-xxx minutes to warm upward the walls.

Then discard the water, give your libation a dry down and so put your food inside.

This will extend the time your cooler will keep food and drinks hot as the walls of your cooler won't steal any rut from your items.

Don't use boiling h2o in your cooler equally information technology'll warp the walls and maybe even melt the insulation. Proceed it under around 120ºF (49ºC) for expensive coolers.

2. Wrap The Inside Of The Cooler In Aluminum Foil

Coolers are great at stopping 2 types of heat transfer (convection and conduction) but there is a third type of estrus transfer (heat radiations) and coolers are rarely if ever designed to cease this blazon of heat transfer.

Information technology turns out that aluminum foil is groovy at reflecting and insulating against oestrus radiation. It's and so good that people acquit emergency space blankets which use aluminum to reflect their torso heat back and go along them warm. Learn more about aluminum equally a expert insulator.

Aluminum reflects about 97% of heat radiation, and so wrapping the inside of your cooler in a thick layer of aluminum foil, or multiple layers of thin foil tin be a great style to trap more than heat.

3. Wrap Your Food In Aluminum Foil

While wrapping the within of your cooler in aluminum foil will increase it's ability to insulate wrapping your food itself in aluminum foil will continue the insulation closer to the food and thus keep the oestrus in the food amend.

Aluminum foil also stops evaporation which is some other way to keep nutrient hotter for longer in a cooler.

Then wrap your loose food items in aluminum foil and also wrap your food containers in aluminum foil.

four. Add Towels, Cardboard or Newspaper To The Lesser Of Your Cooler and In Air Spaces

Utilise a bath towel or beach towel on the bottom of your cooler. This will both insulate your nutrient, keeping it abroad from the walls of the cooler which tin can sap heat but it'll also protect your plastic cooler from the extreme temperatures of your food.

If your cooler comes in direct contact with extremely hot nutrient then the plastic will warp and the insulation in expensive coolers can cook. So towels are a great way to end this from happening.

Cardboard or scrunched up newspaper are as well slap-up insulators and they tin can exist used instead of towels, or along with towels if needed.

Also use towels, cardboard or newspaper to fill upwardly whatever empty air pockets in your libation.

You don't want empty air space as this causes your nutrient to absurd down more quickly. So fill these air pockets up.

If your libation is larger and this isn't feasible apply a piece of cardboard cut to the same size as the cooler opening and place it on top of all your hot nutrient/towels to create a bulwark layer.

5. Use a Hot Water Bottle or Heat Pack

Hot water bottles filled with boiling water or a estrus pack filled with rice is a great mode to add extra thermal energy into your cooler.

The actress thermal free energy of the hot water bottle will continue the entire inside of the cooler hotter for longer and it'll take longer for your food to cool down.

half-dozen. Create Hot Bricks

Hot bricks are another neat way to go on nutrient actually hot in your cooler. The good thing about these is that they can let off A LOT of rut, keeping food extremely hot and safe for hours.

They are also inexpensive and easy to brand. Yous merely need to exist conscientious non to melt your cooler.

To brand a hot brick follow these instructions:

Wrap a brick in aluminum foil
Place in the oven at 300ºF (150ºC) for 20-30 minutes
Place one-two towels on the bottom of your libation to protect information technology from the extreme heat of the brick
Identify 1 or more bricks in the bottom of your cooler
Place your food direct on height of the bricks (unless using plastic)
Place a towel on top of your food and close the lid
Yous food volition at present stay hot for hours

7. Keep Your Cooler Closed

Hot air rises, so every fourth dimension you lot open your cooler the warm air is going to escape and be replaced with cool air from the outside.

This volition speed up the cooling downwardly process of your nutrient.

To go along your food hot for every bit long as possible don't open your cooler to check on it and try to keep information technology airtight equally much as possible.

Best Coolers For Keeping Food Hot

Not all coolers are created equal and some coolers are better at retaining heat than others.

Mostly speaking coolers that are adept at holding water ice for a long period of time will besides exist the coolers that perform the best to keep food hot.

You tin can see my listing of the best insulating coolers on the market and cull from that list or I've highlighted a couple of good options below:

Extreme Performance: Kong Coolers

Kong coolers are a newer entrant to the market and they are doing something right because they are currently the best insulating cooler on the market.

They can go on water ice longer than any other brand and they are great at insulating and keeping food hot as well. They even outperform well known brands similar Yeti, which you tin can see in my Kong vs Yeti comparison.

They are made in the U.s., backed by a limited lifetime warranty and are one of my favorite cooler brands on the market at the moment. I tin highly recommend them.

Meet the latest price of Kong Coolers

Value-For-Coin: Lifetime Coolers

Lifetime coolers are the most affordable high end cooler on the marketplace.

They have similar performance to premium brands and similar features simply they sell for a fraction of the price.

While other coolers might toll you over $300 the smaller Lifetime coolers often cost less than $100.

Lifetime coolers are made in the USA, are deport proof and lockable and they tin keep food hot all day long. They are the all-time value for money libation on the market.

See the latest price of the Lifetime cooler at Walmart

Best Upkeep Option: Coleman Xtreme

If yous don't want to break the bank and you're looking for the all-time upkeep cooler to continue food hot then you can't go wrong with the Coleman Xtreme.

Information technology's extremely cheap merely it outperforms other cheaper coolers by a expert margin, keeping your food warmer for longer.

They are lightweight and durable. I've endemic one for 5 years at present and it's still going strong.

See just how affordable Coleman Xtreme coolers are