Upright cooler? Or organizing methods for regular coolers?

ChanW

We depend on a cooler to supplement the three way fridge, and I was trying to figure some way to keep the cooler more organized.

Upright with shelves would help, but they're not very easy to find, and not really very efficient with the cool air 'falling out' when you open the door.

We have a chest freezer at home, which is usually just as disorganized as our camping cooler is. An upright with shelves would be easier to organize.

Any ideas for an upright cooler?

Or good ways to organize a regular one?

Photomom

Photomom

Sorry about the crummy picture. We have a Coleman cooler that came with a tiny plastic bin. I ditched that and got a couple Rubbermaid storage containers that fit on the ledges near the top. I use those for veggies, cheese, and the like that I want to keep up out of the water. 

Photomom

When I take meat I first put it in a freezer ziplock and put that in a waterproof lock n lock container, which gets buried in the ice. 

DurangoTaB

We use a vacuum sealer for a lot of stuff we throw in the cooler...less worry about gett No soggy and takes up less space. I would think a vertical cooler might not be as effective at cooling...stuff on top would be warmer.

ChanW

I think that's the way to go Photomom. Inner containers, keeping things above the water.

Yes Durango, that's why we usually put things like chips, bread, crackers, cereal boxes, etc on top, cuz it doesn't need to be cool, and to keep them dry.

Photomom

Yeah, just measure and buy containers accordingly. The nice thing about the Coleman coolers is the ledge you can use to support bins. The ones I have hold a lot of food.

ChanW

Yeah, maybe the layer method is a plan. It would make it easier to replace the ice too.

Mr_Mrs_Gnome

I built a cold smoker out of an old cooler. We hot glued 4 cans in the corners and have a rack that sits on top of them. The ice goes in and then the rack goes on top of the cans with bacon & cheeses on the rack to stay out of the ice/water.