To Keep Your Popsicles Frozen In The Cooler, Bury Them

After a chilling winter of hibernating in our homes, warm weather motivates us to get outdoors, and there's nothing more refreshing than an ice pop enjoyed in the backyard. However, if you want to take your summer party on the road, it's all too easy for your pops to go soft and melty before you know it. Whether you opt for nostalgic Fla-Vor-Ice tubes, Bomb Pops, or make your own icy treats, literally burying them in ice is a surefire way to transport them with no melting in sight.

This trick can be especially useful for homemade Popsicles. It can take up to 12 hours for them to freeze, and who wants that time and effort to go to waste by having them melt in a poorly-stocked cooler? Instead, add a layer of ice to your cooler, then spread out your pops on top (ensuring none are overlapping), and cover them entirely with more ice. The bottom of the cooler is the coldest spot, so as long as your desserts stay buried in the ice and the cooler is kept out of direct sunlight, they will remain frozen and ready to enjoy.

If you're taking along other food and beverages with you, it's a good idea to store them in a separate cooler from the ice pops. A cooler's temperature rises each time you open the lid, and while that might be okay for a beer or soda, it can melt Popsicles real fast. 

Setting aside the nostalgia of enjoying your favorite childhood brand, homemade ice pops are versatile, easy to make, and you can control exactly what goes into them. All Popsicles will benefit from the ice-burying trick, but whether you opt for kid-friendly mixed berry pops or grown-up watermelon and parsley ice pops, there are a few more factors to consider for longevity.

Recipes that include dairy or extra sugar will have a softer consistency to start with. Ingredients like heavy cream, pudding, and yogurt have a high fat content, lowering the ice pops' freezing point. While these ingredients offer a creamy, pleasant mouthfeel, they cause melting much faster. To avoid disappointment on a scorching day at the beach, save recipes like our frozen key lime pie ice pops for another time.

Additionally, adults looking to turn their favorite cocktail into a frozen treat might love a blueberry moonshine or maple bacon bourbon ice pop, but alcohol presents its own challenges. Too much booze prevents liquids from freezing solid, so stick to a ratio of four parts juice to one part spirit for most recipes. Don't be tempted to add a little more Campari to our spiked cantaloupe pops, and keep alcoholic Popsicles tightly shut in the cooler until you're ready to enjoy them. Even a little booze will make them much quicker to soften.