PC GUIDE TO...Cool camping

John Sootheran’s top tips for keeping your Chardonnay chilled and your fish fingers frozen while you’re on tour

- 

THIS IN-DEPTH GUIDE reveals the best ways to keep food and drink cool while you're on the road, using caravan fridges and electric coolboxes.

Some built-in, under-counter fridges can be a bit too small for a family of four or more, so keeping an electric-powered coolbox in the awning is a great way to expand your cold-storage capacity when needed.

Here, we’re looking at all the options to keep your provisions as cool as a cucumber, which means, at 2-5°C!

Caravan fridges

Unlike a standard kitchen fridge, most modern caravan fridges use absorption technology, meaning there are no moving parts and you have ultra-reliable cooling. Even better, they work on three power sources: gas, 230V mains electricity from a hook-up, or 12V from your tow car’s engine, when you’re on the move. The latter is a good way to initially chill your fridge as you head off on tour, but once sited, the system will most likely switch to mains or gas power, as a typical leisure battery would only power the fridge for a few hours at most.

Before you set off, it’s crucial to check that your fridge is functioning in all three modes. 'The last thing you want after a long, hot drive to your site is to find that your milk is identifying as cottage cheese, and your beers are scorchio'.

Absorption fridges are really brilliant at keeping food chilled, but they need to be running properly on the right power source for the conditions.

Carrying out a simple test before you leave will save you the headache of spoiled food and melted ice cream when you finally pitch up. Cool heads will prevail!