Factors To Consider When Buying Ice For An Outdoor Party In The Summer Months
Throwing an outdoor party during the heat of summer can be a challenge. There are so many factors to consider. Chief among them is how much cubed ice you will need, especially if you plan on serving iced beverages.
A good rule of thumb is to plan on buying 1 to 2 lbs of ice per each guest. However, those figures fail to take into the account the specifics of your party.
In most cases, since this thing is going down in the summertime, you can automatically bet on the 2 lbs per person. And, when you factor in that the party will be entirely outdoors, you can bet on needing approximately 54% more thanks to melting, which will likely be severe.
So, if 25 guests attend, the amount of ice you will need breaks down as follows:
25 (guests) X 2 lbs (ice) = 50 lbs
50 lbs (ice) X 1.54 (melting factor) = 77 lbs (ice)
77 lbs of ice is roughly the minimum amount you will need to serve and chill beverages for 25 guests.
However, there are many factors that are difficult to quantify when it comes to how much ice you will need. Therefore, it's always best to buy a little extra.
Being Safe
The rate at which ice melts is determined by exactly how much heat is added to it over time. There are many factors that determine that rate, including:
- The air temperature
- The shape of the ice
- The amount of insulation, whether in cup or cooler
Since it's difficult to impossible to calculate all of the factors involved in ice melting, unless you have a thermodynamics background, it's easiest just to plan on buying an arbitrary amount of extra ice.
Running out of ice at an outdoor cocktail party is a disaster. Serving hot drinks quickly kills the vibe of the party, which would make all your efforts to plan and execute this thing for nothing.
A good but completely arbitrary percentage extra would be around 15 to 20 percent. Again, this part is completely up to you.
How Many Bags
Given a fairly common bag size of 10 lbs, you'll need to buy 10 bags to serve 25 guests, assuming a safety factor of 20%:
77 lbs (ice) X 1.20 (19% safety percentage) = 92.4 lbs
Note, You'll actually be buying 100 lbs of ice because most ice services or retailers aren't going to split pre-packaged bags.
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