Having a bit of a do this weekend & am intending to buy approx. ten bags of ice to chill beer, wine food etc but have got to wondering if I would be better off buying salt ice that if was still intact could be put in the freezer to use when going fishing?

Firstly is there any reason salt ice would not be suitable for the former application other than costing more?

Secondly could salt ice in a bin still in plastic bag be expected to last say 12 to 20 hours then still be in reasonable condition to return to the freezer for future use?

Thirdly where is the best place to purchase salt or standard ice on the North Shore ?

bazza salt ice will last 12-20 easy in a decent chillibin and in fact will stay almost rock solid unless broken so shouldnt have a problem getting it into the freezer

i have a mate who is an ex longliner  and they sold their fish to the Japanese who insisted on the best and freshest fish. he insists on slurry and NOT salt flake ice as it burns the fish due to its extreme coldness. best thing according to him is to have a cold slurry so the whole fish cools down for at least 24 hrs then fillet, believe me the results of quality fish are outstading 

Firey wrote: We were using (salt ice) ... in our cocktails and it tasted fine.

LOL. Really? I would have thought it would be quite different Firey.. unless you were mainly on Margaritas of course, and if so bravo to you!

I think you will find the amount of salt in salt ice is miniscule. Uncle the reason the slurry makes the fish salty is they use salt water in the slurry. Taste some new ice and you will barely taste salt

Brass monkey is the cheapest I've been able to find and I've tried a few. I've got a large fridge that I've cut the freezer off the bottom which I put on the back of my ute when we go on kingy charters and that (I've had 5 good kingies and a heap of snapper in it before with room for more so it's a good size), I can get this filled to the top with salt ice for $20 from brass monkey

Baz go and see Cod at Top Catch Whangaparoa cos he gives away free beer with every bag of salt ice sold

I think another salt ice merchant is on this band wagon as well... could be Of2fsh or Damo...

Saltwater freezes to a maximum of -21c but you need 300g/litre to do this. Normal salt ice with its minimal salt content will freeze only down to -2c

A couple of good handfuls in a 3litre fruit juice container will freeze to -10c and it is the release of energy at the transition of state change from solid to liquid makes this useful. A sea water slurry with these ice packs works great.

A number of Saltwater bottles in the freezer will take the same space of salt ice, work better and are reusable..