I can attest to the dry ice phenom. We've been doing this for a few years - freeze rock solid your meats and other frozen goodies. Lay them in an Extreme cooler and then top with dry ice. Close it. Duck tape it. Hide it. Open it once a day to pull out what you need and then shut it again. Everything stays fine for about 5 days until the dry ice evaporates and then you need to use blocks. Put everything else you need in another cooler...

As for the re-heating seal-a-meal stuff, I'm not a big fan of cooking anything I intend to eat in plastic - just doesn't sound like a good idea. So I would heat in the pot. Use a non-stick - they're really easy to clean!

Cheers!

more tips:
put things for the second half of the week in a different cooler. duct tape it SHUT until you're ready to use it. (maybe a list on top, outside, so you know what's in it.) the worst thing is to have people opening and closing coolers looking for something. every time they open, the temp in the cooler drops a degree or two. keep the cold in and the hot out.

use a different cooler for your beer and drinks. that way you're not opening and closing the food cooler.

Also, I've read that the dry ice gives off gases and needs to vent. I was planning to duct tape shut until I read that it does that, so I wont, and will also leave open the little drain. Not worried about liq. leaking out as everything else will be in containers/bags.
Also wrapping with reflectix.

www.dryiceinfo.com/

You can totally reheat in the pouch. It doesn't affect the taste of your food, the packaging says it is safe and it leaves you with much less mess to clean up. My camp did this last year and it was amazing. You can put the whole bag in boiling water or an RV microwave. Easy, fast and clean.

Although we did have some trouble with dry ice melting too quickly. Any tips on that one?

One more trick (from someone who can't STAND cooler tradge - dripped juices floating around your food etc). One you get to the point where you're going to have to rely on ice and are therefore vulnerable to stuff leaking, take your stuff & store it in lock & lock plasticware. Before we left for the playa I bought a few different sizes of this stuff; its got a waterproof seal & "locks" on all 4 sides. To test, I took a slice of bread, submersed it in a cooler full of water with 2 bricks on top to keep it from floating. The bread was still bone dry 2 days later.

I'm afraid of dry ice; I've seen too many instances of incorrect use & ruined food. However, if you can just keep the water OUT of your stuff, Arctica Ice can be very user friendly.

Dual Wireless Digital Thermometer with Alarm

Wow that is such a great idea. No more guessing about cooler temperatures. Camps that get temporary food permits should consider it money well spent ($21). One for the ice cooler and one for a deep freeze dry ice cooler . . . nice

www.digitalgiftstore.com/00985.html

www.amazon.com/Chaney-Ins.../B000P55SN4

www.coolstuffexpress.com/store...m.html

www.giftngadget.com/gng-chan...0985.html

Good advice from the Nevada Bureau of Health Protection Services

NAC 446.640 Ice. (NRS 439.150, 439.200, 446.865, 446.940) Ice which is intended for human consumption or which will come in contact with food or be used as a source of refrigeration must be obtained from an approved source. Ice intended for use in beverages must be manufactured in a chipped, crushed or cubed form. The ice must be obtained in plastic bags which are designed for a single use and are filled and sealed at the point of manufacture. The ice must remain in the bag until dispensed in a way that protects it from contamination.

NAC 446.045 Substantial health hazards. (NRS 439.150, 439.200, 446.940) Substantial health hazards include, but are not limited to, the following circumstances:

Potentially hazardous food is held longer than necessary for preparation or service at an ambient temperature which is greater than 40°F (4.44°C) or less than 140°F (60°C) or under any other condition capable of supporting the rapid growth of bacteria.

NAC 446.095 Storage of potentially hazardous food. (NRS 439.150, 439.200, 446.940) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, potentially hazardous food must be stored at a temperature of 40°F (4.44°C) or below or 140°F (60°C) or above.

NAC 446.115 Refrigerated storage. (NRS 439.150, 439.200, 446.940)

1. There must be adequate facilities for refrigeration at a food establishment, which are conveniently located, to ensure that potentially hazardous food can be stored at the required temperature.

2. Each refrigerated facility used to store potentially hazardous food must have at least one integral or permanently affixed indicating thermometer which is numerically scaled or a recording thermometer, accurate to plus or minus 2°F (1°C), located in the warmest part of the facility where it can be easily read.

3. Potentially hazardous food which requires refrigeration after its preparation must be rapidly cooled to an internal temperature of 40°F (4.44°C) or below and then stored at or below that temperature.

4. Large quantities of potentially hazardous food must be rapidly cooled utilizing such methods as shallow pans, dividing the food into smaller or thinner portions, agitation, quick chilling, adding ice as an ingredient or the circulation of water external to the container of food so that the period of cooling from 140°F (60°C) to 70°F (21°C) does not exceed 2 hours and from 70°F (21°C) to 40°F (4.44°C) does not exceed 4 hours.

5. Frozen food must be kept frozen and stored at a temperature of 0°F (-18°C) or below.

6. Ice may not be used as a food product after it has been used to cool the exterior of cooling coils, tubes of equipment or food, including packaged foods.

www.leg.state.nv.us/NAC/NAC-...446Sec045

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Bureau of Health Protection Services, Temporary Food Establishment Permit
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Nevada State Health Division have been inspecting the Cafe and other
theme camps that have large kitchens or gift food on the playa to make
sure you stay healthy on the playa. They also explore the event looking for
kitchens to inspect and to give advice. Their goal is prevent problems
so if you see them thank them and take their advice on food handling
safety... they know their stuff!

health.nv.gov/index.php

health.nv.gov/BHPS/ehs/eh...entCoord.pdf

I always reheat in an appropriate cooking vessel. Hot plastic is no bueno...