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Cooler Recommendation?

Looking to get a new cooler for FTC ... but am not able/willing to spend an arm and a leg on a Pelican.  I also don't cook huge volumes, but enough for dinner parties of 10 -15 people. 

Can you recommend something reasonably priced that works well? 

StlScott

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Comments

  • SMITTYtheSMOKER
    SMITTYtheSMOKER Posts: 2,668
    edited August 2013

    I just bought a couple of these and really like the quality and size.  Wheels are a bonus.

     

    Link

     

     

     

    -SMITTY     

    from SANTA CLARA, CA

  • Scottborasjr
    Scottborasjr Posts: 3,494
    This is the time to look for a cooler as they should be marked down at your local market, Target, Walmart, etc. Unless you live in a town that has a big tailgate following for the local High school or college team. 80% of the time I have a cooler that holds no more then a 12 pack of beer that I can put my pork butts in unless I'm cooking for more then ten or so.
    I raise my kids, cook and golf.  When work gets in the way I'm pissed, I'm pissed off 48 weeks a year.
    Inbetween Iowa and Colorado, not close to anything remotely entertaining outside of football season. 
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273

    Yeti is top of the line in my opinion.  But if your doing FTC - not sure if a 2.99 Styrofoam would not be as good.

    Interested in what others think.

     

    Cookin in Texas
  • Jeremiah
    Jeremiah Posts: 6,412
    I love my yeti, and am secretly saving for a second. That said, the Coleman extreme 5 day coolers are great for the money. They'll hold the ice as long as the yeti, provided you either precool it or sacrifice a bag of ice (which is required too of the yeti. But I soo love my yeti :)
    Slumming it in Aiken, SC. 
  • Seanr7
    Seanr7 Posts: 207
    What's "FTC"?
    XL BGE
  • Rocket15
    Rocket15 Posts: 42
    FTC: "Foil, Towel, Cooler"
  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    I have several styrofoam coolers I use when I cook for friends... Work fine.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,674
    i would just stick with a cheap cooler for this, the kind people leave at your house to get rid of
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • sumoconnell
    sumoconnell Posts: 1,932
    I use my tailgate coolers, just a coleman.  Might be FTTTC more accurately.  SWMBO makes me use the 'dog' towels - older shower towels that she doesn't mind me getting smokey.

    Now that tailgate (aka football) season is upon us, I might need more coolers also!
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Austin, Texas.  I'm the guy holding a beer.
  • KennyLee
    KennyLee Posts: 806
    Jeremiah said:
    I love my yeti, and am secretly saving for a second. That said, the Coleman extreme 5 day coolers are great for the money. They'll hold the ice as long as the yeti, provided you either precool it or sacrifice a bag of ice (which is required too of the yeti. But I soo love my yeti :)

    @Jeremiah How are you cooling it or sacrificing a bag?  I need to figure that out.  I got one of those coolers last year and have been sorely disappointed.  Nothing but water in less than 24 hours.

    LBGE

    Cedar table w/granite top

    Ceramic Grillworks two-tier swing rack

    Perpetual cooler of ice-cold beer

  • Jeremiah
    Jeremiah Posts: 6,412
    I sacrifice a whole bag of ice. I also bring it in the house. 72 deg is a lot better than 95. I think it's due to the extra thickness of the walls and the thickness of the plastic. I'm hoping to score a deep freezer soon on cl that the whole cooler will fit in, then ill just stick it in there the night before. I've also started using dry ice. I've found that no more than a pound along with that first bag of ice works well. Any more and it tends to freeze the drinks. Hope that helps :)
    Slumming it in Aiken, SC. 
  • For Butts, I just use a smaller Igloo cooler I picked up at Walmart--holds several butts without any problem.  For $16, can't really go wrong.  Looks like this, and works for transporting smaller loads of cold drinks, etc when you don't need a full size cooler:

    http://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-28-Quart-Island-Breeze-Cooler/23735485

     

     

  • Hankyorke
    Hankyorke Posts: 146
    KennyLee said:
    @Jeremiah How are you cooling it or sacrificing a bag?  I need to figure that out.  I got one of those coolers last year and have been sorely disappointed.  Nothing but water in less than 24 hours.

    If you've ever used a stainless thermos its the same thermodynamic priciple, that's why they always say preheat with boiling water.  You are priming... You've got to cool the inside of the cooler (sacrificial bag) & put cold things in it.    Also minimizing the air inside the cooler really helps.  If you do it right the high end coolers are awesome, if you take them out of the garage fill them with warm beer and ice they aren't much better.  The ice is wasted cooling your beer and the cooler itself.  I used 7lbs of ice in my ORCA (after my 7 lb sacrificial bag) on a 6 day trip to MI this summer.

    @KennyLee - if you want to sell yours let me know :)

    LBGE

    BTFU!

  • Texasguppie
    Texasguppie Posts: 13
    edited August 2013
    A Cambro is the ticket unless you want it to do double duty as a true "cooler."
    It's designed to hold food at temp with very little drop per hour.
    Love mine. Best $180 ever spent.
  • troutgeek
    troutgeek Posts: 458
    If you can put up with a few mosquitoes during the summer, Wisconsin is nice.
    XL BGE - Large BGE - Small BGE - Traeger Lil' Tex Elite - Weber Smokey Joe
  • JWBurns
    JWBurns Posts: 344
    You bought the BGE because you wanted the best. Suck it up and spend the cash on a Yeti. It's a lifetime investment.

    Accept no substitutes!
  • Tjcoley
    Tjcoley Posts: 3,551
    The heavy duty styrofoam ones they use to ship Omaha Steaks, or Malnati's pizza work great. No big loss if you forget to bring it home. Great size, just be sure to use plenty of towels so you don't melt it. Held a brisket for 7 hours in one.
    __________________________________________
    It's not a science, it's an art. And it's flawed.
    - Camp Hill, PA
  • RocEGG
    RocEGG Posts: 89
    I have an igloo and a coleman 5 day extreme cooler. they are great,but you have to either pre-cool them (fill them with ice packs for a few hours/or dump a load of ice in them), or fill them to the brim with already cooled things from the fridge or freezer. When full and with pre-cooled items in them I find that I can use a single bag of ice for multiple days.
     I use them for FTC occasionally, but they are kind of big. I feel like they dont stay as hot as a smaller cooler with less air space to heat inside. The small igloo/coleman lunch sized hard plastic coolers work even better for FTC.
    Rochester, NY  - XL BGE
  • shtgunal3
    shtgunal3 Posts: 5,629
    My yeti holds ice for four days plus. The key is try not to use wet ice and fill the cooler all the way full. Even when the ice melts the water/drinks inside will stay under 40 degrees for another day. Im in Alabama and havent had a problem with it keeping cold stuff cold. I haven't used it for FTC yet. I normally use an igloo for that because I usually only FTC for an hour or two.

    ___________________________________

     

     LBGE,SBGE, and a Mini makes three......Sweet home Alabama........ Stay thirsty my friends .

  • Duganboy
    Duganboy Posts: 1,118
    For FTC a simple Playmate or Coleman cooler will do the job.  Spend your money on other BGE toys.
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273
    Just got back from a week long coastal cruise.   We are on a boat, our friends are on their boat.

    He just got a Yeti this summer.   We were away from ice machines for days at a time, and had to have ice for cocktails each evening.   He put a block in the middle, then put 2 and 2 bags on each side of the block.  That was our ice for a week.

    Granted, it was in the NE, not Texas, but I thought it was pretty impressive.
    Cookin in Texas
  • If I'd have bought my Yeti first, I would have saved enough for 3 more by not buying a ton of crappy coolers over the years.  True, they are expensive, but it will be the last one you ever buy.
  • hoffmand
    hoffmand Posts: 105
    You can FTC with any regular cooler, doesn't have to be a Yeti.  Preheat the cooler with hot tap water and you'll be fine.

    Now, if you need to keep ice for extended fishing or hunting trips then that's a whole different conversation.  But FTC will work in whatever cooler you can fit the food in.
    Cedar Park, TX
  • TEggSun
    TEggSun Posts: 244
    I completely agree with @Tjcoley if you are simply looking for a cooler to FTC.  Those thick cheap (or free) styrofoam coolers are more than up for the task.  I have held a 9lb butt for 7 hours and lost only 10 degrees.


    Transplanted from Austin, Texas to Medina, Ohio

  • KennyLee
    KennyLee Posts: 806
    Hankyorke said:
    KennyLee said:
    @Jeremiah How are you cooling it or sacrificing a bag?  I need to figure that out.  I got one of those coolers last year and have been sorely disappointed.  Nothing but water in less than 24 hours.

    If you've ever used a stainless thermos its the same thermodynamic priciple, that's why they always say preheat with boiling water.  You are priming... You've got to cool the inside of the cooler (sacrificial bag) & put cold things in it.    Also minimizing the air inside the cooler really helps.  If you do it right the high end coolers are awesome, if you take them out of the garage fill them with warm beer and ice they aren't much better.  The ice is wasted cooling your beer and the cooler itself.  I used 7lbs of ice in my ORCA (after my 7 lb sacrificial bag) on a 6 day trip to MI this summer.

    @KennyLee - if you want to sell yours let me know :)

    Thanks for the input....there's my mistake.  Taking it off its storage place in the garage atop my diamond plate cabinets and filling with beer (albeit already cold), then ice.  Two hour drive to the lake house, and the ice is half gone and totally gone by the next morning.  I'll definitely prime it next go-round.  Can't believe I haven't thought of this yet......only been packing beer coolers for the better part of three decades. 

    LBGE

    Cedar table w/granite top

    Ceramic Grillworks two-tier swing rack

    Perpetual cooler of ice-cold beer

  • StlScott
    StlScott Posts: 77

    You guys rock.

    I was laughing as I read this thread ... definitely a wide range of opinions and the cost of items.  Appreciate the fact that a Yeti, while best in class and will definitely make it onto my bucket list, isn't a must-have.  I was between the Igloo Extreme Max (Costco marked them down to $29 here in St. Louis for the 62 quart one with wheels) or a Coleman.  Thought the Coleman looked to have better insulation ... but glad to hear I could do either. 

    For the folks that think, "he's nuts ... he spent all that money on the cooker, why chintz out now?"  Well, here's your reply  ;)  When I bought my egg ... so very long ago ... my large cost me $499 and my dinky little wooden table - that held it for over a decade and a half - was $50.  Prices on these have changed just a little  ;)

    I also remember when BGE had darn near zero eggsessories.  Can recall going into the store in Tampa where I bought mine - only to have them elated that a deep dish pizza stone was coming out.  Cast iron grates, half moons, electronic monitors ... all were way off in the future.  In fact, I felt that things moved so slowly, I stopped going to my local BGE dealer as I couldn't yet afford another - and they didn't have enough new stuff to feed my addiction.  So, I did what any foodie/dork would do:  I cooked on it without any real toys, completely oblivious as to how the world was changing  :)  Very happy it has evolved for the better in some aspects - and very sad (more than I can really say) to see how other parts are getting chintzier.

    So - I'll pass on the Yeti for now, and focus on the Stoker or CyberQ that's calling my name ... and that XL that will be gracing my patio before the springtime sets in. 

    In all seriousness, I really do appreciate all the replies.  Had no idea people were so passionate about their coolers  ;)

    StlScott

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    There are a bunch of high performance coolers out there.  I don't know how Yeti get such a cult following...probably because of Rudolf.   I have a Pelican and I think it's a better cooler...and it costs about 1/3 less.

    Cheap coolers fall apart.  I like the idea of a lifetime cooler.  That said, if you just leave it in the back yard, might as well get a cheap cooler. 


    image
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  •   I have a Pelican and I think it's a better cooler...and it costs about 1/3 less.


    Not sure about the 1/3 less.  Pelican is about $350 for the 65qt online. Thats what I paid for my Yeti in the same size.

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    edited August 2013
      I have a Pelican and I think it's a better cooler...and it costs about 1/3 less.


    Not sure about the 1/3 less.  Pelican is about $350 for the 65qt online. Thats what I paid for my Yeti in the same size.

    Looks like the price is up now, but I just looked at my Amazon invoice and I paid $219 with free shipping for my Pelican 45.  The Yeti 45 is $300-325.

    Shipped on March 1, 2013
     
    Items Ordered Price
    1 of: Pelican 45 Quart Elite Marine Cooler
    Condition: New
    Sold by: PCNation (seller profile)
    $218.99

    Shipping Address:
    • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    • Suite F
    • Saint Rose, LA 70087
    • United States

    Shipping Speed:
    Standard
    Item(s) Subtotal: $218.99
    Shipping & Handling: $0.00
      -----
    Total before tax: $218.99
    Sales Tax: $0.00
      -----
    Total for This Shipment: $218.99
      -----

    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..