Butter!

[ylop]

We are believers that the simpler it is to just jump on the boat and go the more it will get used, and the more value we get from it (and in general use is better for it too).

to that end we were looking at how best to provision for short overnight trips etc. Going to the supermarket specifically to stock up seems like the sort of extra hassle that we are trying to avoid. We can easily keep her provisioned with many “essentials” and for example are planning to leave a few pints of uht milk or some of those individual milk pots on board. We’ve not found an equivalent for butter (or spreads pretending to be butter) -the only individual portions I can find seem to be intended for refrigeration. Whilst we have fridge on board we turn it off when we leave the boat.

so, what long shelf life / no fridge solutions have you found to avoid stocking up each time and then bringing back 1/2 full containers etc? Whilst I’m especially keen to hear about butter I’m interested in any conveniences like this you’ve discovered…

 

[dunedin]

We keep all the medium/ long life stuff on board. Things like margarine for short trip we just bung a bit out of the home tub in a Tupperware box and bring with us. In a soft cool bag with a bag of frozen peas around, sorted.

 

[Stemar]

A few tins, long life milk, tea, coffee, breakfast cereal and wine and you're good to go. Yes, bread, butter, salad and the like are nice to have, but you could survive an impulse sailing weekend quite happily without.

PS One other essential - a decent single malt

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Why not just take some of what you have in the house and take back any unused.

 

[Poignard]

We have no fridge on board and just keep butter(President spreadable in tubs) in a locker. It lasts for a few weeks at a time.

We use the same butter at home and don't keep the tub in use it in a fridge.

 

[Seashoreman]

If you are only using butter for bread I would suggest better quality bread and eat it raw or perhaps for certain uses try a decent mayonnaise.
It works with cheese, salad and cold meats etc. I leave olive oil onboard for cooking and general use.

 

[RJJ]

In UK waters, particularly in spring and autumn, butter at locker temperature (or bilge temperature) will last a long time. If it goes rancid, the sea won't mind. Do keep it in clean tupperware.

 

[doug748]

"We are believers that the simpler it is to just jump on the boat and go the more it will get used, and the more value we get from it (and in general use is better for it too)......."



Me too, fridges always seem much more trouble than they are worth

Though many people don't believe it, butter can keep 4 weeks in a cool place; I never bother taking it off the boat. Salted butter may last longer or it may be my imagination. Most supermarket eggs will keep 2 months or more. Potatoes are always welcome and last 3 months +. Babybel cheeses may not be great cheese but they will be happy for months as will other waxed cheeses, though they decline when opened. Yogurt seems to last most of the season. No need to take this stuff home if you use the boat regularly.
Cos lettuce keeps well as do tomatoes - up to a few weeks if bought firm. Part used bottles of olives in brine, gherkins etc will keep till you need them, as will most dressings, salad creams and (obviously) pickles.
This is handy stuff, keeps almost forever even opened:



Here is an under rated thing for spicing up canned chilli etc:



Keeps all season and into the next. Heat cut green beans in good olive oil with one of those sliced into it and fried, for an excellent light meal/ starter.

Very annoying that the French have lots of sauces with meat, which are rare in the UK. I always stock up:



The own brand supermarket tins are very cheap.

.

 

[Aeolus]

Try Naturli - I leave it in the top loading fridge but switched off with the door open when I leave the boat and it's fine for several weeks.
https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/naturli-organic-vegan-spreadable-225g (other supermarkets also stock it)

 

[ylop]

Why not just take some of what you have in the house and take back any unused.

Because it is equally part of the convenience factor - I'd rather not have to remember, go find a container, fill it, take it, remember to bring back to the boat etc. I am totally aware this is a first world problem.

If you are only using butter for bread I would suggest better quality bread and eat it raw or perhaps for certain uses try a decent mayonnaise.
It works with cheese, salad and cold meats etc. I leave olive oil onboard for cooking and general use.

Does substituting butter for mayo not just shift the "preserving butter" issue to "preserving mayo" one? I'm not sure better bread is really an easier option - that narrows down where we can buy bread and probably creates a keeping bread fresh issue.

Though many people don't believe it, butter can keep 4 weeks in a cool place

this was the sort of thing I was wondering - obviously 100 years ago most people kept their butter out of the fridge. Are modern "spreads" less tolerant or more?

Babybel cheeses may not be great cheese but they will be happy for months as will other waxed cheeses, though they decline when opened. Yogurt seems to last most of the season.

Babybel is a handy idea. Does yoghurt really cope ok outside the fridge?

, gherkins etc will keep till you need them,

That would need to be indefinitely - as clearly gherkins are not fit for human consumption - or they would taste better!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Dipping bread in olive oil (ideally with a bit of balsamic vinegar) is a good alternative to butter. Cut the bread into "soldiers" for best results! Olive oil and balsamic vinegar will keep more or less indefinitely. Of course, use good bread.

 

[Daydream believer]

I have a halfords cool box that worksoff the engine or shore power. I have about 8 tupperware boxes that fit neatly in to it. For milk, I only drink coffee, so powdered milk does fine. I have soup on board & take some yogurts, pork pies etc.
When I leave the wife cooks some sandwiches for me & supplies nibbles which lasts a few days. Being a marina visitor, the local restaurants supply the rest.

 

[doug748]

"Does yoghurt really cope ok outside the fridge?"


In my experience small, sealed pots are fine.

My favourite is this stuff:



I try to get a 16 pot bundle and ration myself to one a day, the last one always tastes ok.

.

 

[wonkywinch]

I thought this thread was going to be about how far south to go before you turn starboard across the pond

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I thought this thread was going to be about how far south to go before you turn starboard across the pond

In August, I think you'd have had to turn north to find latitudes where butter wasn't liquid!

 

[johnalison]

I am an obligate butterphage myself and understand the problem. For short stays I think that ferrying small quantities from home is the only answer. Although tinned butter used to be available we have never used it. For longer stays, shopping ashore is the only answer, and I always regarded shopping as part of the holidays, a stark contrast to my view when at home. These days, we have a fridge on board, but it is certainly the case that without a fridge one’s diet is a little different. At school we had our butter ration for the week given to us to keep, and it was always a matter of decision whether to eke it out and risk it going rancid in hot weather or to consume it in the first few days.

 

[Zing]

Dipping bread in olive oil (ideally with a bit of balsamic vinegar) is a good alternative to butter. Cut the bread into "soldiers" for best results! Olive oil and balsamic vinegar will keep more or less indefinitely. Of course, use good bread.

Olive oil actually does go off. In months or less if stored badly. Keep in the dark and cool and ideally unopened.

 

[ylop]

Dipping bread in olive oil (ideally with a bit of balsamic vinegar) is a good alternative to butter. Cut the bread into "soldiers" for best results! Olive oil and balsamic vinegar will keep more or less indefinitely. Of course, use good bread.

I like your style but not sure it’s going to go well as toast for breakfast!

Although tinned butter used to be available we have never used it. For longer stays, shopping ashore is the only answer, and I always regarded shopping as part of the holidays, a stark contrast to my view when at home.

Tinned butter was a new one on me - but it seems from google that you can buy it like that - but in standard 250g+ quantities which probably isn’t really what we need for a weekend (50-100g?) otherwise we would just take a whole pack of butter. I agree that on a longer trip shopping is fine but on a weekend visit is either a pain to stop on the way (a 15 minute shopping trip actually adds 30+ min by the time you divert, park, get back on the route etc) or requires going somewhere in the boat with shops (during opening hours) which is a nuciance to have to plan around.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

If you are only using butter for bread I would suggest better quality bread and eat it raw or perhaps for certain uses try a decent mayonnaise.
It works with cheese, salad and cold meats etc. I leave olive oil onboard for cooking and general use.

The Italians dip their bread in Olive Oil.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

We have no fridge on board and just keep butter(President spreadable in tubs) in a locker. It lasts for a few weeks at a time.

We use the same butter at home and don't keep the tub in use it in a fridge.

An underseat locker contiguous to the (underwater part of the) hull would be better.