Keeping food longer

[MORNING LIGHT]

In my boat, I only have an ice box, like most of us I guess, but when you go sailing for more than 5 days is there a better way to keep the foods and meat for a longer period of time?

Last season we left with some dry ice and it was not so bad but, 1) it's expensive, 2) it takes a lot of space. Having just a 26 foot Capri we don't have the extra room that some of you might have. I love my boat and it's the only negative point.

Since we plan on going away for 2 weeks next season, I don't feel like spending time looking for ice in marinas every 2 days. I'd rather be sailing.

 

[kloudie1]

Other than refrigeration, more preserved and less fresh is the answer. Some times, a change in diet items might be required. Ross and Sumner on this forum have done some interesting provisioning .. There are books from folks like Lynn and Larry Pardey that speak to this .. The premium ice boxes http://www.yeticoolers.com/ can help. They are expensive but have much better insulation than normal ones. Another brand is Engel..

 

[Duke]

ML, Space is always an issue on a boat and there are trade-offs, but you might try a supper insulated second cooler loaded with frozen foods and ice that you can keep sealed until the on-board box needs to be replenished. You will also have to manage to keep the melt water from all sources (foods or ice) from contaminating the food. Dealing with frozen foods, dry ice may be a reasonable possibility.
Duke

 

[Stan Breaux]

Also, freeze as much as you can. I freeze a gallon jug of water (be sure to remove at least 8 ounces first). I also freeze a bunch of 1/2 liter bottles of water. If you are bringing any other food that can be frozen, then freeze that, too. It will all act as ice. I don't use any bags of ice that will melt and leave water in the cooler. This setup in one of the good insulated coolers will last 5 or 6 days, and then after that you have to start buying ice.

 

[Ross]

If you have any experience with home canning it provides the most cost effective answer to your food questions. It does force a change it your menu as you don't get grilled meat but you are able to have a rather complete menu just the same.
If you can meat in 4 ounce and 8 ounce jars you hve many options for use. Just as with canned tuna you can make it into spreads or into cassaroles. The menu that you can have will also depend on your cooking facility. As oven is a great plus.
This link is to the gold standard of home canning. If you choose to can in jars smaller than pints use the processing times for pints. http://nchfp.uga.edu/index.html
Ask some more questions and I can give more specific answers.

 

[kendall]

I do pretty much the same as others here.

Freeze as much as you can, then use jugs for the ice. It keeps the food dry and also acts as a fallback water reserve. If you stick with wide mouth jugs and jars you can refill them with purchased ice for longer voyages. Once they've melted, as long as they've been kept clean, you can use the water for cooking.

On my boat I built an insulated box for the big ice chest to sit in, it extends the cold time quite a ways.

The canning suggestion is a good one.

 

[Ross]

If you can anchor or dock near a grocery store you can buy water in gallon jugs and ask the manager to freexe them over night for you. They always have extra space and if you explain why they will be glad to do it.
Don't overlook the benefit of making quick breads on top of the stove. Pancakes and muffins are practically the same recipe. and very thin very eggy pancakes make excellant wraps for all kinds of fillings. Fresh eggs will keep for two or three weeks if just kept cool. Millk can be powdered or ultra pasturized. Bacon can be dried at home to reduce the water content and then it will keep without refrigeration. Dry a pound of bacon down to about 8 to 10 ounces.
Ham, beef, chicken, turkey, and link sausage all can well.

 

[RichH]

Its not necessary to 'refrigerate' and 'freeze' all foods. Simple washing of fruits and fresh vegetables, etc. and then 're-washing' with dilute solutions of 'clorox' will greatly enhance their 'storage life' ... preventing/retarding mold, etc. spores from 'activating', etc. Once their 'outsides' are sanitized you can long-term store many of these in the bilge or other 'coolish' spaces.
Lots of stuff can be bought canned and/or freeze dried .... New Zealand canned butter is one of our 'staple' favorites for long distance cruising.

do websearch for 'food preservation' for more info.

 

[arknoah]

Also using dried foods can be an option. In addition, I was reading an older copy of Good Old Boat Magazine. One article mentioned several things, including building a wooden frame that is the same shape as the bottom of your icebox. If you line this wooden frame with plastic, you can freeze a block of ice that is exactly the shape of your icebox, which often lasts longer than purchased blocks or cubes of ice.

 

[Cool Beans]

What?!?!

You mean you want more than Salt Pork and Hard-Tack?



Not sure if you can do it yourself, but you can buy salt cured meats. Ham comes to mind. I know they preserved beef in salt back in the day. . .there is also plenty of canned tuna and chicken. Almond milk can be kept un-refrigerated if you buy the right brand. . .most veggies are good for a few days to a week outside of a crisper, though they do get rubbery as they dry out, same goes for fruit.

Any longer than a week, I would stick with canned or dried stuff, as mentioned above.

My granddad told me once when I asked him what he ate when he was out sailing. . .he said "anything that you just add hot water too"

 

[Benny17441]

I saw a fellow provisioning for the Bahamas one time. It seemed he wanted to provision for the whole trip. I said to him, "Mate they have grocery stores and fuel pumps in the Bahamas". Unless you are planning on sailing to an area away from civilization there is no need to provision for two weeks. Stoping to re-stock every 3-4 days should not be that much of a hardship. Fresh meats don't keep very well in just ice but it is better to eat fresh meats every 3-4 days rather than once in two weeks. Most ice coolers on boats are highly inneficient due to poor insulation. Have you considered the possibility of using the ice cooler for dry storage and bring aboard a well insulated portable cooler. Eating well aboard requires planning. We pre-cook meats and vacum seal them in plastics bags and freeze them. We have developed a list of canned products that are good and convenient to use aboard. For example cooked bacon is available in cans in sensible portions. As part of the planning we will make a daily menu. Frozen pre-cooked meats will thaw out over a period of 3-4 days while in ice and that is all we need. This menu will be flexible and serve as a guide but will give us an idea on how to schedule dishes. If we run into a couple of good steaks those will be served 1st day out. It is wise to plan for a couple of extra canned meals in case of bad weather or emegency. Our boat now has refrigeration aboard but we still sail on a trailerable with just a portable ice cooler. Throwing a couple of restaurant dinners on that menu list will work wonders to keep the Admiral happy.

 

[RECESS]

For $100 to $150 you can buy a great fishing cooler that will hold ice for 5 days. You get a day or so more if you use large chunks of ice. We use the two liter bottles from soda and fill with water. As others have said it gives you more reserve of water. I also love not having water in my cooler. It makes long cruises awesome. We are about to leave out on a nine day cruise from Carrabelle to Destin and back. Only about two nights in marinas. As Ross said, we can go to a small grocery and ask to leave a few gallon jugs of water that we will purchase from them in the freezer over night. I have yet to be told no. We avoid the big chain stores though.

 

[Ross]

I built the ice box on my boat when I refitted her. It has insulation 4 inches thick all over and and will keep cold in 80 to 90 degree weather for about 10 days. Typically I carry a half dozen half pints of of red meat and a half dozen half pints of poultry meat plus pints of broth and soup, there are also pints of pasta sauce and quarter pints of mushrooms and meat spreads for appitizers. I have pounds of pasta and noodles, rice and flour, oatmeal all of the ingredients for making quick breads and most important we keep a jar of pop corn on the boat. We have been out for two weeks and touched land only for pump outs . I marinate meat to improve the keeping qualities. and cook that early on the trip. I pre cook bacon at home and finish it when we want it for breakfast.

 

[Gail R]

Also using dried foods can be an option. In addition, I was reading an older copy of Good Old Boat Magazine. One article mentioned several things, including building a wooden frame that is the same shape as the bottom of your icebox. If you line this wooden frame with plastic, you can freeze a block of ice that is exactly the shape of your icebox, which often lasts longer than purchased blocks or cubes of ice.

Good point on the homemade ice -- make it yourself and it's more solid and long lasting than blocks you buy at the store. I always freeze up a couple blocks a few days before we leave on our two-week cruise. That ice will last into the second week. I have not yet mastered the custom mold, though.

Other than that: Freeze meats and keep them low in the ice box (the ice box on the P30 is against the hull, and with our cold water temps, it stays pretty cold). I keep breads on the shelf high in the ice box and they won't get moldy as quickly. Eat a few dinners ashore and buy locally when in port.

I've found that every year, I pack less and less fresh food because we like to check out the local flavor, so to speak. I also keep a couple of "emergecy" provisions on board -- Tuna Helper, tortellini and one of those Knorr sauces, etc. that do not require refrigeration. For coastal cruisers like us, that works well enough.

I also have a favorite place to get replacement ice when we're in Penobscot Bay. The ice at this place is crystal clear and lasts way longer than that compressed snow crap that most places sell.

 

[manus]

We cruise without refrigeration: if you do your research and practice a lot, at home and on the boat, you will find what works for you. It can be done, with nutrition, variety, and whatever is important to you in mind. One of the secrets is--especially if you are offshore for long periods--the one pot meal, especially for lunch and dinner. Just another aspect of sailing that makes it a constant learning/re-learning experience.

 

[dmc]

Freezing water in................

various sizes of "tupperware" containers can also help fit the ice and food into the icebox. Dri-ice will last longer if its in a sealed container, be careful plastic can become brittle with dri-ice in it.

Peace

dmc

 

[Bob 04 H260]

We found cabbage, onions, carrots, tomatoes all kept well out of the cooler and can be used for a salad. Eggs and cheese seem to last forever without being in a cooler. We try to buy fresh meat every 7 days. Dry hard sausage keeps well and can be used for lunches with cheese or sliced thin for a pizza done on a porcelain tile heated up on our BBQ. The Uncle Ben's rice dishes work well as a side dish and only need to be warmed up. Smoked pork chops last longer than fresh meat in a cooler. Stale bread makes great french toast.
just a few of the things we found work for us, Bob

 

[RevisionC26]

We sail a Capri 26 as well. One thing to do with the icebox is cut some insulation (we use 6 layers of thin silver windshield block and foam), using the lid as a pattern. Just lay the material on top of the stored items and it will keep the cold around the food. This helps a lot. Also, I've posted recipes for salads that are tough enough to handle an icebox. Delicious too!

http://www.sailinggreenbay.net/salads/

 

[Caboteur]

Before installing refrigeration, we had a large ice-box. We sailed to Bermuda & back with the ice-box! We were six on board!
Once well insulated: minimum 4" foam and some VIP (vacuum insulated panels), a gasketed and insulated lid and planned opening of the ice-box we had ice for six days in tropical weather.
We had main dishes prepared and frozen, it was a very slow race to Bermuda and we emptied the ice-box on the seventh day!
For short cruises, we have meats marinated and vacu-packed by the local grocer. We also buy smoked meats (pork, turkey and beef).
You wrote about going to the Thousand Islands from Ile Perrot... there are good grocery stores and ice within walking distance from the St-Lawrence all the way up and back! With your Québec and an Ontario fishing permits and a rod you should bring in a few fresh meals. Perch, bass, rock bass, walleye and pike are all good eating.
Most fruits and veggies will keep for at least a week in a hammock style net. Eggs will keep at least two weeks on the counter (three months if you grease them and turn them periodically).
If you want cold beer (or pop) just put the can or bottle in a wet sock and hang it up in a shaded and airy spot. The evaporation will chill your beer, just remember to put another one out when you open one...
Now when you decide to go the other direction toward Tadoussac... just put everything in the bilge... the water there never reaches 40°F! They don't even sell ice!
Enjoy the Thousand Islands, it's a great cruising area.

 

[sailme2]

Helps alot....

We also have only an ice box on our boat.
We started several years ago vacuum bagging end freezing everything we could. We've found that (within limits) meat is still good 2 or 3 days after it's defrosted as long as the bag is intact, and it's kept cold. This extends 'fresh' meat for several days.
Things like steaks, roasts, hot dogs, link sausage, etc keep better longer than 'loose' meat like hamburg or other ground meat.
When we leave home on vacation we can usually plan on using our frozen meat for about 4 - 6 days, then, it's the grocery store every couple of days. Several small groceries we know of in northern Lake Huron will let you buy meat and leave it in their freezer ovenight. A couple will even vacuum bag for a small charge.
As far as block ice, we bought several plastic shoe boxes and make ice in them. It's a convenient size for our ice box. Also, we save our plastic grocery bags and put our ice in them....keeps the blocks from freezing together as they melt.
The hard part, no matter what shape your ice box is, or what shape your ice blocks are, is getting to stuff on the bottom. I'm sure you all know that the things you want or need first are always on the bottom.