I've been getting into Texas BBQ and been bragging to my brother in Canada. And he has been begging me to show him. So I decided to bring my own meat since briskets are hard to find and other meats usually way more expensive in Canada. I buy mine in bulk and I had already everything I needed, thus needing a big cooler! We bought this Driftsun 110Qt cooler by default. The Yeti I wanted was back order. The other brands I knew were back order as well. And my trip was approaching quickly and I needed a cooler! My wife did some research and found the Driftsun so we ordered it.
I pre-cooled the Driftsun by bringing it into the house 2 days before the trip. The night before, I put two bags of ice in the cooler. The morning of the trip, I moved the cooler into the truck and started packing:
1 frozen 15 lbs full packer brisket
1 unfrozen 14 lbs full packer brisket
2 frozen beef tenderloins
8 frozen short beef ribs (you know the brontosaurus looking kind!)
4 frozen pork rib slabs
4 packs of frozen wings
I added ice as I was packing and topped it off with more ice. I didn't count how many bags. I think overall I added 6 or 7 10lbs bags. I also placed 3 temp probes to monitor the temperature. Then I closed the lid, never to reopen until I reached destination.
During the trip, the temperature on the 3 probes stayed steady at 28, 29 and 31 degrees. I left at 9am Saturday, arrived at 23:00 Sunday, left the cooler in the vehicle overnight when I arrived. We opened the cooler on Monday around noon. So so roughly 50 hours after I left.
When we opened the lid this is what I found. The top ice was still covering the meat. It had seized into more of a block of ice. We literally had to take a hammer to chisel at it. Needless to say that everything was still frozen solid. And I had to use the hammer to keep chiseling and prying the meat out. Not an once of water in the cooler. And remember the unfrozen 14lbs brisket? Well, it froze!!! Came out frozen just like I took it out of my deep freezer.
After it was emptied, I left all the ice in the cooler and kept the cooler in my vehicle. On Tuesday I looked inside; there was still no water in the cooler. On Wednesday morning I started to hear some water as I drove around. Not much. On Thursday evening I opened the cooler. It was still loaded with plenty of ice but with lots of water as well. If there were still food in there, it would be totally safe. Today is Friday, I have not looked but I expect more of the ice to be gone.
The cooler will be useful on the trip back as well. It will be loaded Canadian favorites!
I hope this review will help some make their decision...
| Brand | Driftsun |
|---|---|
| Color | Grey |
| Material | Plastic |
| Package Information | Bottle |
| Capacity | 75 Quarts |
| Product Dimensions | 18.5"D x 33.5"W x 18"H |
| Item Weight | 39.1 Pounds |
| Special Feature | Insulated,Portable |
| Pattern | Solid |
| Team Name | Driftsun |
| Insulation Material | nylon,stainless steel |
| Chamber Height | 13 Inches |
| Chamber Width | 12 Inches |
| Item Package Dimensions L x W x H | 34.1 x 19 x 18.5 inches |
| Package Weight | 17.71 Kilograms |
| Brand Name | Driftsun |
| Manufacturer | Driftsun |
| Part Number | DS-ICE-75GREY |
| Size | 75 QT |
