Katie Macdonald is the senior editor of News & Deals for the Food & Drink Group on the commerce team. She has written over 600 articles on food trends, cooking techniques, recipe roundups, gift guides, kitchen retailer sales, and product reviews. Her work has been featured on many publications including Food & Wine, Allrecipes, Cooking Light, Real Simple, People, and Food52.

She now leads a team of writers and editors focused on sales, launches, and trends in the food and kitchenware categories.

Expertise: food, kitchen equipment, product reviews, shopping content, news and deals.

Experience: As a native of south Louisiana, Katie inherited her culture's distinct love and appreciation for good food, recognizing its potential to bring people together and create unforgettable experiences. She began her career in food media as an assistant editor at Food52, where she wrote about recipes, home cooking tricks, food trends, and travel.

In 2019, Katie moved to Meredith's centralized ecommerce team as a food writer and editor, working on brands like Food & Wine and Allrecipes. She's covered a range of commerce stories, from personal reviews of nonstick skillets and baking dishes to guides on the best Black Friday kitchen deals, and is committed to providing expert shopping guidance to home cooks. If she's not writing about food, she's most definitely thinking about it.

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No matter how well a cooler is built, it's only a matter of time before the ice keeping its contents cold melts into a watery mess. But rather than settle for soggy sandwiches or lukewarm beers, thousands of Amazon shoppers have turned to a cooler solution to keep ice chests chilled: Cooler Shock Ice Packs.

Each extra-large pack can replace six pounds of ice, thanks to a special gel that reaches temperatures as low as 18 degrees Fahrenheit and stays cold for up to 48 hours. Activating the gel is as simple as filling the Cooler Shock bags with water, and the brand even includes a small funnel to minimize mess. After you seal the Cooler Shock bag, freeze for at least 24 hours and you're set.

To buy: Cooler Shock Ice Packs, $22 with coupon (originally $28) at amazon.com

It's not just what's on the inside that makes Cooler Shock ice packs notable. The flexible bags are made from aluminum and polyethylene and reinforced with strong nylon, so they'll last for years of freezing and thawing, as well as your toughest outdoor adventures. Plus, their .2 millimeter thin walls freeze more quickly and transfer temperature more effectively than rigid ice packs.

The Cooler Shock ice packs have earned thousands of perfect ratings from reviewers who confirm they truly outlast and outperform frozen water.

"I just used these for the first time on a four-day road trip and, whoa. I'm impressed," one wrote. "I'd thrown a bit of ice in the bottom of the cooler to compensate for only having three of these packs. 36 hours later, none of the ice had melted at all. That was impressive. 52 hours later, I pulled out a lunch and my hard boiled egg was completely frozen! I was sad I had to throw it out, but seriously shocked these packs had actually caused food to freeze!"

"These are what I call 'Cold Gold!'" another added. "We use these with our Yeti Cooler and we will get at minimum three days, and even then they are not 100 percent thawed."

The extra-large Cooler Shock ice packs come as a three-piece set. You can also choose a 4-piece mid-sized set or a 5-piece collection that's lunch box-sized. No matter which you pick, users say the accessories are cost-effective—one shopper writes that they've "saved hundreds of dollars."

Right now, you can snag the extra-large Cooler Shock ice packs for $22 with an Amazon coupon. And with summer just around the corner, it's the perfect time to pick up a pack or two.

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