Cooking at the festival

[gbudoff]

I'm wondering what types of food would be good to make at the festival. I figure grilling burgers, hot dogs, and chicken would probably be the easiest but does anyone of any cooler more interesting ideas? Also, how should I be keeping this food cold? At Bonnaroo last year the ice in my cooler maybe lasted a day.

[crixtala]

We did pancakes and bacon Friday morning at 'roo last year... but after the first day, nobody seemed to want to cook once we finally woke up in the morning. Can't imagine why.

We always use dry ice for festivals. It kept EVERYTHING nice and cool for us at 'roo last year, and at Rothbury, we still had a ton of frozen stuff by the end of the weekend since it was so much cooler. I'm expecting similar results for Nateva this year.

[crixtala]

Beat ya by a minute.

It seems like down here, most grocery stores carry dry ice, and we didn't have much of a problem finding it in Michigan for Rothbury last year either. Can't imagine it will be tough finding it somewhere along the way in to the festival.

And one tip... buy a bag of the bite-sized candy bars. Leave them at the top of your dry ice cooler... then if you ever find yourself hot, you have a nice, cool little treat. ;D

[vincheese]

Is a dry ice cooler worth the effort?
What are the going rates for dry ice, and how much exactly would I need (enough for 2 people for 5 days of consumables)?
I read that it gives fruit or produce a weird chemical taste, is there anyways to avoid this? Also does it do this to meats?

I'm reading this right now and can't decide if it's more trouble then it's worth.
camping.about.com/b/2008/04/17/using-dry-ice-in-your-cooler.htm


I do want to try it becayse every fesite I've been to, by the end my coolers have been giants jugs of warm water. That's fine for beers, but I would like to have a nice cooler of grillable meats, where I'm not worrying about constantly getting bags of ice, or it spoiling from thurs-monday.

Any tips would be appreciated.

[itrainmonkeys]

Jun 22, 2010 13:15:31 GMT -5 vincheese said:

Is a dry ice cooler worth the effort?
What are the going rates for dry ice, and how much would I exactly need?

I'm reading this right now and can't decide if it's more trouble then it's worth.
camping.about.com/b/2008/04/17/using-dry-ice-in-your-cooler.htm

I used Dry Ice last year at Bonnaroo and it certainly kept things cold for a while and lasted until the end of the festival. It's a bit more of a hassle handling it (don't touch it! ) but it will save you trips to the ice trucks.

Here's a really good, informative thread on Inforoo.com about Dry Ice that i'd suggest reading. Don't just read the initial post...lots of people give good tips and advice.

bonnaroo.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=logistics&action=display&thread=17700

[vincheese]

Thank you. From what I gathered it's a couple bucks a lb. Don't touch it directly and make sure to ventilate so you don't suffocate/have your cooler explode.

Line your cooler with cardboard/styrofoam so it won't crack. Put the Dry ice on top of the food/drink if you want it to freeze and on the bottom if you want it chilled (since cold air sinks).

Look for a vendor here;
locally www.dryicedirectory.com/usa.htm

[shadygrove]

In the state of mind I plan on being in, I don't want to have to worry about injuring myself in the cooler! I'll just spend $3.00 on more ice at the festival.

As for food, I always make up chicken salad, pasta salad, and potato salad and put it in slider seal ziplock baggies. When it's hot out you don't have to worry about cooking. When your messed up, you don't have to worry about cooking, and when you're hungry NOW, it takes a minute to make a sandwich.

[jimbo02816]

I'm a grill person and my grill will be very busy in onsite camping...follow the scent and enjoy a burger with me!