[corksil]

I'm going to see if I can come up with something like this that fits tightly within the dimensions of the cooler. If the rack is relatively the same size as the inside of cooler, nothing will be able to slip around the edges and get down to the area with the block-ice/water/ice-packs.

Adding more ice should be relatively simple. Lift out the rack, add ice, replace rack. Food stays on top of the rack during the process. Hopefully the fresh ice doesn't interfere with the feet of the rack touching down to bottom of cooler and being level.

This sounds like the winning strategy. Will try this for a few weeks and report back. Now then... the only design flaw I can see from this point forward is the ice being in the way of the rack feet and keeping it from sitting level within the cooler. If there were little tabs on the inner corners of the cooler they would give the shelf a place to rest and therefore not require it to have feet.

Will see if I can fab some stuff and try and post some pictures. This is a pretty dang simple concept --- "Best way to keep food in cooler."