Could this keep food cool for up to 9 hours (yes, extraordinarily long day), if placed frozen into a small cooler with cold food?
1191478
I think that you would have to experiment with that length of time, and the temperature outside the cooler would be a big factor. If it were indoors and not in direct sunlight, I think that one of these might work for nine hours in a small cooler filled with cold food. If one isn't enough, you could try two of them. If it were outdoors at high temperatures I think that just one of these would not work.
1191479
I don't think they would last 9 hours. I use all 4 ice packs with an insulated bag. I even put the bag in the fridge the night before and pack the ice packs before leaving. I've found them still cool after 5 hours, but not enough to help the food.
1191480
There are 4 included so i would say yes if placed on all sides of the walls within your small cooler. They are great for lunch boxes placed as mentioned.
1191481
I use 2 in my kids lunches and they are not frozen when i get them home. So i would say only if you use several of them and def not for anything frozen! The thicker ones are a safer bet. It probably also depends on the lunch box.
1396918
My daughter uses this container for her lunch at school and it stays COLD from 7am till about noon. She does keep it in a cheap insulated bag, but I don't think that's really making a lot of difference.
1175610
I agree with M. Oliwa--the cooler is not meant to hold temps low enough for ice not to melt, though in a cold environment, it is, as M. Oliwa says, theoretically possible. Bottom line, don't count on this for storing ice, just for keeping food at refrigerator temps. And it works fine for that.
285884
I haven't done that because I have a fridge at work to keep my lunch cool. I would probably try using those ice packs to keep your stuff cool versus ice...I have used them before and it keeps my stuff cool all day.
1820320
I have not tried freezing for a long time. I could not imagine that it would hurt the bowl. If freezing for 12 hrs is OK, then 12 months should not make a difference since a freezer is fairly constant at 0 degrees F. The bowl is thick. My guess is it is made of insulation on outside area and a freezing gel toward the inner part. Instructions recommends freezing 12 hours but from experience, I am betting 6-8 hours is plenty. Overnight (12 hrs) is just more convenient. I hope this helps.
551002
Yes! Stays cold for hours! It is stiff & hard until it thaws some, so be sure to freeze it flat
681203
I guess you could, but once you remove the ice cubes to put your food inside, i am sure it will lose it coolness regardless within several hours. The bag is meant to be frozen by folding it up without placing any contents in it. For me any insulated lunch pack will work just as well with a ice pack. What I do is the night before I place a bottle of water in the freezer, about 3/4 of the way full as use that as my ice pack, and then when it melts I have a nice cold drink of water, the alternative is much cheaper than this bag.
161996
I seriously doubt that it will last that long. A few hours is the most I'd use it to keep food cold or hot.
1565630
This isn't an insulated container - it's just metal. I don't think it will keep your kids' food warm, and I also think the size is a little small for a child's lunch. This might be OK if you are trying to keep food cold if you use it with an ice pack.I have some Thermos-brand containers that keep food hot for multiple hours for my children's lunches. They have a Thermos 10-ounce food container that keeps food hot for 5 hours, though there are many other brands. I would definitely look for an insulated container that's meant to keep food warm.
716034
I put it in the freezer for 20 mins. It kept it cold for 15 mins. I hope this helped.
2156860
yes. If you hear swishing around in there, it's not cold enough. Leave it in the freezer for at least 24 hrs. It takes a while.
81968
Not likely I would say it stays cold anywhere from 20-30 min tops then you need to throw it back in the freezer to cool it back down, which also takes about 30 min to make it cold again.
1976948
We have filled the case with frozen prepared food along with frozen gel packs and driven to the beach. The beach is about 5 hours away. We have successfully transferred the still frozen food to a freezer. We prefer to use the cooler for refrigerated picnic foods. We fill the cooler and place gel packs on top of the food and keep the food cold. We have had an issue with the bottom board in the cooler. After a few uses, some of the seams can open exposing the insulation. Suggest you enclose the board in a large plastic bag.
1651806
I don't believe this unit can be used for that purpose . It is geared toward keeping food that has already been prepared ahead of time warm for several hours. It works well for that purpose.
679113
Yes! Absolutely. I would say you have coldness for about 6-8 hours. But this is a mini cooler and not very large. I would order this in the next size up unless you are using it for snacks or a preschooler.
1900881
Think of a regular cooler with food in it that is cool, but not cold, and with no ice. If it is hot outside, not long at all. If you unplug it for the evening, keep it shut, and it is not too hot outside, then it will keep reasonable cool (not cold enough for milk, but enough for chees and vegetables). We did this most nights while camping.
805130
I leave ice in it for a couple hours...but it isn't very frozen when I dump it into my freezer. It often clumps together Once dumped in my freezer due to it having started melting. Also if I use the ice straight out of the bucket it melts fairly quickly if its been in the bucket for a couple hours. If you dump it quickly the ice is fine. I don't think you could leave the ice all day and expect it to still be chilled. A few hours at max.