Separate Food & Drink In Your Cooler With A Genius Cutting Board Hack - Tasting Table

"For all that festive fun, though, nothing is sadder than opening your cooler to find the beer squashed the sandwiches or the cooler's contents have basically become one smushed up, soggy mess. Luckily, there's a better way: By using cutting boards as makeshift shelves, you can keep your cooler tidy, its contents smash-free, and you can even help create layers for optimal cooling. This is one of the smartest ways to keep those picnic foods organized and in peak condition."

"Ideally, you want to keep your cooler packed at a ratio of 2:1 ice to food and beverages in order to keep everything at a food-safe temperature. And certain items need to be colder than others. With layers separated by cutting boards, you can create an efficiently freezing bottom up to a chilly top. Place a foundation of ice packs along the bottom plus ice cubes, then any raw meats and frozen items, more ice cubes, and a cutting board."

"Layer two should be ice, beverages, ice, followed by layer three of things like cheese, fruits, vegetables, and dips then topped if needed by a final layer of items like bread. Cutting boards keep these in place, helping everything stay as cold as it needs to. Plus, you can whip them out and use them for prep at your destination."

Use cutting boards as makeshift shelves inside coolers to keep items organized, prevent crushing, and support layered cooling. Maintain roughly a 2:1 ice-to-food ratio to ensure food-safe temperatures. Build from the bottom up: ice packs and ice, raw meats or frozen items, more ice, a cutting board, then layers of beverages and chilled items, with delicate items like bread on top. Cutting boards hold layers in place, improve cooling efficiency, and convert into convenient prep surfaces at the destination. Dedicated cooler dividers exist for the same purpose, and pre-chopping produce saves space.

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