TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Polar Bear cooler capacity

Just for fun, I did a trial packing of our 24 can polar bear cooler. Here's what fit:
6 burgers
6 steaks
2 lbs Chicken strips (precooked for wraps)
2 lbs bacon (precooked)
1 lb breakfast sausage (precooked)
1 lb cubed ham (for quiche)
Pulled pork (cooked - enough for 2 lunches for 6)
1 1/2 lbs taco meat
Bag of 48 sm meatballs
2 dozen chocolate chip cookie dough balls
All frozen and vacuum sealed!
Just FYI in case anyone is wondering what size cooler to use if you're bringing frozen food.
Lord, this trip needs to come sooner. I think I've got cabin fever and there's only so much packing & organizing a person can do!

So glad you are ahead of me in planning - now I can just use all of your advice! I just started thinking about what would fit in my cooler today. But then I realized we never do frozen meat at home so I'm not sure how it works. How long does it take to thaw? Do you have to plan a day or two ahead of time when to defrost what you want?

How does pre-cooked bacon work - does it stay crispy at all? What about the cookies - can you poop them in the oven frozen?

I ordered the ziploc vacuum pump thing today so I could try to vacuum seal my stuff without paying a fortune. It should come early next week so I can play around with it a bit before we go.

Thank you!!

frozen meat thaws very quickly if you leave it out in the boat sink, or in a real hurry, somewhere outside.

I'd say stuff thaws about 4-5 five times faster than at home here in Houston, and we are very humid and somewhat 'coastal-ish' too...

Probably contributing to this is that the freezer/fridges don't regulate temperature as well as our home appliances do.

CottageGirl, Enjoy your trip! I am envious of those going this winter. I have to wait until January to get back on a boat in the BVIs.
Petoskey eh?. I'm just a little bit up 31 on Douglas Lake May through Oct.

Mom,
For myself, I have never nor would I
ever poop in a frozen oven.
If that's how you do it then more
power to you.
Me, I'm going to continue using
the plain old commode in the bathroom <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />
Have a fun trip

Mike

This is the first time I've cooked and frozen bacon. I Didn't cook it super crispy. Thinking I'll just put it on a cookie sheet in the boat oven to warm it. And I think all our meats will thaw on the boat and we'll just keep ice in the cooler to keep them cold.
Cookies - put dough balls on a cookie sheet and freeze them. Just "pop" in oven like you would normally bake them - maybe cook a few mins longer. I'm thinking stargazing on the trampoline of the cat with a dark rum on the rocks and a warm chocolate chip cookie = heaven!

Hoosierdaddy - we love Douglas Lake Bar. Best steaks around here. We're on Crooked Lake - year round now. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Haha - it would be pretty impressive if I could poop cookie dough.

CG - I like your thinking on the cookies! Except my husband can have the rum and I'll have a beer!

do you have to pay extra to check a cooler on a plane..isnt it really heavy?

My Polar Bear 24 has never weighed more than... a case of beer. We tend to load up with homemade items for quick breakfasts and lunches. When it is just two of us we don't bother. Four our two week trip in January we had vegetarians/pescetarians the first week and we brought enough foods (hummus, smoked/cured fish, smoked shrimp, cheese) and spices to get us through the first week.

Par cooked breakfast meats are the biggest time saver for us. Lunch is usually wraps.

Cheers, RickG

RickG, do you use the Polar Bear 24 as a carry on? I just purchased one and think it will be a great investment for our next trip down. Thanks!

Nothing extra as a carry on. Figure it this way. What is the weight of what you're bringing? 2 - 4 steaks at maybe 12 oz. ea., maybe some tuna/sword/salmon @ 10 oz. ea, etc.

We just take enough for a few very nice dinners in the villa for nights we want to just hang, float in the pool, and have dinner/drinks. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />

Gailgs - the 24 can polar bear cooler is soft sided and the size of a carry on. However, we plan on checking it (my husband has diamond status w/delta which gets him 3 free checked bags - up to 70 lbs each). We won't come close to the 70 lb limit with the cooler.
Any big downsides to checking it? Our flight itinerary is: Pellston to Detroit, Detroit to Atlanta, overnight in Atlanta then direct to St Thomas next morning. (Can't get there in one day from here)

do you think it might get crushed if you checked it.. since it is soft sided

Everything checked gets crushed, just watch the loading/unloading. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> Food should stay well frozen for maybe 12 hours +/-. What are your plans to keep it frozen during your overnight?

Well it'll be packed solid with frozen food so I theres really no room for crushing - I don't think. Overnight were are hoping to (1) put it in the hotel restaurant's freezer or (2) fill with ice from the ice machine. Stuff doesn't really need to stay super frozen once we leave. Just really cold. I'm relying on the polar bear!

Health codes will likely not allow your food to be comingled with that of the hotel restaurant as the hotel is the responsible party in case of inspection. Polor Bear Coolers are awesome but only to a point. Good luck.

yes, in the U.S., or at least Colorado, you would need permission from the health dept. to store anyone else's food. I doubt anyone cares or checks in BVI. I do believe it would be a pretentious question.

And I'm pretty sure "ice machine" is something you won't find readily available a la U.S. hotels -- they will probably sell you a bag of ice or something along those lines.

Bringing food to the BVI is just something I wouldn't do...just way too easy to provision - especially nowadays with the Riteway that is just like a Kroegers or Vons or whatever your major local chain is called. But - to each his own!<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Last year we took a well packed 24 can Polar Bear Cooler.
Food was frozen individually then vacuum sealed.
We couldn't make the last ferry and stayed the
night in St. Thomas. The Windward Passage kept
our cooler in their freezer for us.
Everything arrived still frozen.
Since you know you're overnighting, I would suggest:

Put your stuff in the freezer for a week or so.
After it's all good and frozen, take it out, vacuum seal all, and
return it to your freezer.
The night before you leave, put everything in a different cooler
and cover with dry ice.
Just before you leave for the airport, discard any remaining
dry ice and pack all in the Polar Cooler
You don't have to pack it all with food but you need to fill the
cooler with something.
Don't open the cooler for any reason until you're ready to unpack
into a freezer or fridge. No peeking.
You should have everything still quite frozen and the vacuum seal
will keep your stuff nice and clean. No Drippy goo.
That's how we do it.

Mike
trying to be the man my dog thinks I am

I never have much luck with my Polar Bear cooler. Doesn't seem to keep ice for more than 12 hours for me.

Thanks for the tips & suggestions. The biggest reason for us to carry a cooler of meats is to save time cooking & cleaning up. I'll certainly report back on how it all turns out!

We just try to never be in a hurry in the BVI...too much of that here in L.A. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Why is it anymore or less cleaning if you bought the meat at Riteway? You don't actually pre-cook your meat? YUK
Where are you in such a rush to get to? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

I know this is one of these subjects on this board that there are some very strong opinions on and I respect that. For us we like to bring some things from home. In my opinion it's very easy, saves money and saves time while on vacation from having to go grocery shopping. I would prefer to see the $20-30 per lb steaks I'm buying.

For things like steak or chicken, we marinade or season it ahead of time, vacuum seal it and freeze it. For things like bacon, we precook it and once again vacuum seal it. On the boat it's easy to take it out and throw it on the grill or prepare a BLT/bacon cheeseburger. Cooking stuff like bacon on boat is just a mess I don't have to put up with.

We don't bring everything but to me there are certain things that makes sense. It all fits in a 12 pack cooler that we carry on or put in a bigger bag to check. Then we use that cooler for our outings, in the back of the boat and on the dinghy.

It's really not a big deal and we still place a pretty big order with Riteway and Ticos for all the other stuff. Last time though they didn't have and didn't deliver some of the stuff we wanted. That was bit disappointing

Also for me, the absolute last thing I want to do is get a cab or walk to grocery store and spend a couple hours of my vacation time shopping. But that's me.

Yup - this is for sure one of those "to each his own" topics -- we also happen to use a charter company that is - literally - directly across the street from the big Riteway - so admittedly, that is a BIG advantage. We provision the booze and the "basics" in advance for delivery - and we buy everything fresh (all veggies, cheeses, meats)ourselves. We got some GREAT ribeyes at Riteway last year and some fresh fish too!

And we love cooking bacon on the boat - but, again, that's us! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Ya'll know...cooler people are basically just cooler people! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />
My wife and I are heading to SXM tomorrow, NEWS FLASH: NO COOLER on this trip ha! I'll miss my Polar Bear cooler, its performed well on many trips! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

I think going to the grocery in a different country is an adventure...you never know what you will find! We preorder the heavy/bulky stuff, then shop for fresh, usually when the boys are doing the orientation for the boat - the blue functions! To each his own though, bringing a cooler of meat from Canada would be interesting, to say the least! Bridget, good to hear you got some good steaks/fish at Riteway..we will be using them as we are out of Hodges Creek and there is one near there...

With 8 of us on board this trip? We're going to have to re-provision at some point - and we're also planning to do probably 3 dinners on shore so that will make it a bit easier.

I've been told the Lipari 41 cat we have is bit "storage challenged" <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

We re-provision also, pick up bits and pieces at Leverick, Sopers Hole and Marina Cay. Mostly fresh stuff. May be new places to go, have not been down for a few years.

...exactly...and we have some newbies on board who might like to try some local restaurants or go off on their own for a nice dinner at Leverick, etc. With 8 adults on board...I hardly expect that everyone will want to do everything together, other then get from one anchorage to another, hopefully! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

" I would prefer to see the $20-30 per lb steaks I'm buying."

2 things, why would you not see your steaks, they are right on the shelf. Where do you find $30 a pound steak, Kobi beef? What are you marinating steak with and why? Any great chef will say, salt and pepper is all the seasoning for a steak.

I guess the big question is, is cooking a part of your vacation, we love to cook.

LOL, yes it's nice not to have to go everywhere 'en mass'

Having just visited the Riteway provisioning page...I can tell you that the steaks that have available for provisioning are $20-30/lb.....which is why we GO IN TO THE RITEWAY and buy them ourselves <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> They DO have steaks in the store that are not as expensive <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Well, unless I take my vacation time and go to the grocery store shopping then I am going to have to order online. I am going to have to buy them sight-unseen. The beef tenderloins that we bring from Costco cost $23.50/lb at Riteway and $27.88 at Bobby's. Sorry I was giving a general range. I do not have any desire to go grocery shopping on my vacation. Everyone has a different idea of what vacation is and grocery shopping is not one of my preferred activities to do.

For the chicken we marinate it. For the steaks we have some great seasoning that is primarily salt and pepper with a little hint of Cajun spice.

We also love to cook on the boat and we don't really eat out much in the BVI. I know a lot of people prefer to eat out but that will open up another opinionated discussion... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> Did that help?

For what it's worth everything in our cooler is precooked - except the steaks and my "special" burgers (if you want the recipe just PM me!) In our particular case, it's not that we're in a hurry to get anywhere - it's that our crew includes our two college kids who we don't get to see often and I'd rather spend time with them than in the galley. And at the same time feed them their favorite home cooked dishes (pulled pork, chocolate chip cookies etc). I've got a long provisioning list of the rest of our groceries to shop for at Riteway and we placed a pretty large order with Caribbean Cellars. If it was just my husband and I, I'd probably just throw a swimsuit in a bag and head down. As someone else pointed out - to each his own. There's no right or wrong way to bareboat and I appreciate everyone's input. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/hungry.gif" alt="" />

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> YES! I am now hungry with all this talk of steaks and "special burgers"! Thankfully, it is lunch time here in beautiful downtown Burbank <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

"Cajun Spice", now we're talking!

Tony,

Deep in Cajun Country!