Memorial Day is past. Father’s Day is done. The College World Series wrapped up last night. (Congratulations Virginia Cavaliers) Fourth of July is almost here. All these things mean that if you are not using your cooler to get outdoors and tailgate or the very least to the beach or the park, you need to get on that.
Summer is cooler season and with football just around the corner, we discovered a new way to keep your cooler cold, organized and dry instead of using loose ice like you probably have for years. It is an insert that you place inside your cooler called the CoolerMate Insert. Check out their video to see all the features and benefits of how to use the Cooler Mate Insert.
As you can see in the video, the Cooler Mate Insert is filled with either cubed ice and cold water or you can fill it full of water and freeze the contents into a solid block of ice. Instead of digging through the loose ice to find your brand of beverage, everything inside is visible and easily reached. Also, if you are removing something and will be putting it back in the cooler after use, like mustard or the hot sauce, the issue of digging a hole in the ice to replace that item is no longer there. You just replace the item in the spot where you removed it and close the cooler lid and get back to grilling or playing some tailgating games.
I am not going to lie. I was a little skeptical of using the CoolerMate Insert. I had been using coolers filled with loose ice for years and the concept of moving away from everything I had known for years was a bit scary. Would it keep my cooler items cold just as long as if each item was bathed in loose ice and water? Would things not placed on top of the CoolerMate get warm if they were not touching and making contact with it? All valid questions so we decided to put it to the test in a real tailgating environment. We took it tailgating with us prior to the Angels vs. Astros baseball game on June 24, 2015.
As you can see in the above photos, the cooler use used was a 60 quart Coleman cooler. We simply placed the CoolerMate Insert to one side and used the high side as a sort of divider. We placed the food on one side and the canned beverages on the other. The temperatures while tailgating were in the low 80’s and the game started at 12:35 pm.
While tailgating, we opened and closed the cooler numerous times getting drinks and food out during the normal course of tailgating. Each time we went into the cooler, items were still cold but they were easy to find. Also, putting things back was easy too. In the photo when the cooler is filled, you will see a cardboard carton of eggs. I was able to put that in there and keep them cold without the worry of putting the carton in a plastic bag to protect it from disintegrating from getting wet.
We started packing up and went into the game around noon and the cooler with the CoolerMate Insert inside went back in the car and sat for about three hours. You know the heat inside a car can be brutal but when we came out and returned to the car, we grabbed some drinks for the ride home. The drinks were still cold and the food items were still cold as well.
After thoroughly testing the CoolerMate Insert, it is definitely “Tailgate Approved”. Even though it took some getting used to the thought of all your food and drinks not physically touching a piece of ice, the CoolerMate Insert performed as promised. Food and drinks stayed cold and organized and most importantly, DRY. If you are a tailgater looking to have better organization of your cooler and keeping things dry and to easily replace frequently used items, I would highly suggest looking at a ColerMate Insert.
For more information or to buy a CoolerMate Insert for yourself, check out coolermateinsert.com