My black-and-white Amtrak cooler was a huge success. I got many good meals from it, especially on my marathon trip last March with nearly 200 hours of train travel. There were some issues, though, and I hope to rectify them with a new improved cooler. The old cooler was designed to keep sautéed chicken frozen for three days. It worked, but I discovered that sautéing my next batch of chicken on the road was more work than it was worth. My emergency cans of tuna made meals that were almost as good with a lot less hassle. By far, the best meals from the cooler were my tossed green salads with romaine lettuce, red bell peppers and hazel nuts.
This cooler will be designed to hold more produce. Since cheese and produce can be kept at a higher temperature than frozen food, I figure it won’t need as much insulation. One less inch of insulation on the sides will increase the width of my produce chamber from four inches to six inches; a huge upgrade. To keep the lettuce and cheese below fifty degrees for three days I will need to add a new frozen gel pack to the produce chamber roughly once a day. To accommodate this I plan to have a super-insulated section in the middle of the cooler to keep three gel packs frozen for an extended period of time. Even with the larger produce chamber and frozen gel pack vault, I discover that there is plenty of room to add a room-temperature pantry and still make the cooler smaller than the previous one. I can use the pantry to store my canned tuna, canned chicken, fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate, butter and home-baked bread. This will free up a lot of space in my roller luggage.
Between reusing rigid board insulation in my old cooler and using scraps left over from its construction, I have all the building materials I need to get started. All I need to buy is a can of spray foam to glue the panels together and more duct tape for the exterior. The build process goes much quicker than the first cooler. By the end of the day I am able to apply the finishing touch of duct tape. My previous cooler’s black-and white striped exterior was a bit distracting, so I opt for something more subtle this time. I want it to visually blend in when strapped to my roller luggage. I’m pleased with the results!
On the following day I begin the refrigeration test by loading the produce chamber with a temperature monitor, two gel packs, and three zip-lock bags of lettuce. (While on train trips, the bags allow me to remove my daily portions quickly and keep heat intrusion to a minimum.) I put three more gel packs wrapped in space blanket scraps in the freezer chamber. The temperature in the produce chamber settles in at forty-four degrees. Twenty-four hours later it is up to forty-eight degrees, so I add another gel pack. The temperature settles down again to the mid-forties. Repeating this process as needed, I discover that my cooler will keep lettuce and cheese fresh for three and a half days. This is perfect! I am rarely more than two days away from a place where I can refreeze my gel packs.
I have another big trip coming up in two weeks. I can’t wait to give this new cooler a try!
Leave a Reply