food storage

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born2sail61

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due to major domestic upheaval(divorce looms!) I find myself living on my 20' sailing boat.
coping quite well other than I could really do with some advice re keeping milk/margarine/cheese/bread etc edible and safe to eat. I realmy could do without a bad case of the galloping trots right now. the boat has 255ah battery bank fed by a 50w solar panel and I think a cool box would be too much of a drain. so,any good hints/tips/advice would be appreciated,thanks.( going back to the wife is not an option!)
 
born2sail61 said:
due to major domestic upheaval(divorce looms!) I find myself living on my 20' sailing boat.
coping quite well other than I could really do with some advice re keeping milk/margarine/cheese/bread etc edible and safe to eat. I realmy could do without a bad case of the galloping trots right now. the boat has 255ah battery bank fed by a 50w solar panel and I think a cool box would be too much of a drain. so,any good hints/tips/advice would be appreciated,thanks.( going back to the wife is not an option!)
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It's probably not those foods you list that has made you ill. Bread should not be refrigerated. Dairy products go rancid and let you know they are on the way out long before they become harmful. Cooked meats are the usual culprit, and some vegetables as well like cooked rice, and surprisingly, part used raw onions.

To your storage question - your 50W solar panel will keep up with the electrical needs of a small compressor coolbox which use very much less than the thermo-electric ones. I run my CF18 on a 30W solar panel. It's not cheap costing over £300, but is big enough to keep the important food at the right temperature for one person for a week. Mine uses about 10 Ah per day at 12 V. I open it only 3 times a day and usually put pre-cooled food in it straight from a shop.

http://www.obrienscamping.co.uk/por...e-cdf-18.htm?gclid=CIPYmpuq6r8CFVHKtAodBlcAiw
 
Butter is not a big problem, put it in any kind of wet container to get evaporative cooling but then butter only melts but doesn't spoil. There was a PBO sketchbook about this recently. For milk there is really no option other than to refrigerate as even with evaporative cooling it will spoil quite quick. The only other option is to use other types of preservation like UHT which you can get in lots of small containers and will not spoil until you open it. There is also powdered for tea and coffee but it is not quite the same. Buy proper bread and there is no need to preserve it in any way, a good crusty loaf lasts long enough and can be refreshed by wetting it and putting it in the oven. The Italians use a type of very hard dry bread that lasts a long time but is not to everyones taste. I think it is the perfect thing for cheese and olive oil. Cheese lasts quite well even when warm, much like butter and the mould on cheese is generally fine to eat. An evaporative cooler would work here too or even simply hanging it over the side. The alternative is to simply put it in a jar filled with oil. Of course a good coolbox solves all the problems.
 
Much depends on where you are moored. If you can hook up to a mains electricity supply then even on such a small boat (for a liveaboard) it would be worth using a compressor fridge. If not, then evaporative methods will work, or a coolbox with regular doses of ice or freezer blocks - perhaps a local friend can freeze them for you? I am currently working late shifts and in this heat I buy UHT milk as it has to sit in the car whilst I'm working and can then be chilled when I get home before opening. On boats I do much the same, only putting the container in the cool box when I'm ready to use it. Other boxes are sealed and kept in the bilge which is effectively water cooled.

A friend used to keep milk, tetraopaks of custard and cans of beer along the keel - all came out at an acceptable temperature. Don't let the aluminium beer cans touch a keelbolt though, as they will rot out and spray the boat with beer.

Rob.
 
When buying milk get the filtered stuff from Cravendale (some supermarkets do their own version), it lasts much much longer than the regular stuff.

I also have a Waeco compressor Fridge, the CF25, and it is very good and easy on the power, I recon on average it uses about 1A per hour. I may buy a bigger one soon so the 25 will be up for sale...

Have you thought about buying blocks of Ice, a 2L bottle of frozen water stays frozen for a very long time when in a cool bag, if you have a local friend with a freezer perhaps that's an option?
 
I've been experimenting with freezing 2 pint plastic milk containers full of water. 3 of them in a medium size "soft" cool bag lasted for 24 - 48 hrs in some of the hot weather we've been having. Amazed to achieve cold beer on Sunday after leaving Friday night! Obviously you'd need someone to freeze them for you.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
It's difficult to find (or own brand equivalent) in billy-no-mates/just divorced sizes though. The Cravendale 4 litre one is too big for those of us without friends or family. It would need to last a month. Some Tescos do a 1 pint own brand equivalent.
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Cravendale also do 1pt bottles but not everywhere I guess, I am fortunate that a petrol station shop on the way to the boat stocks it.
 
Georgio said:
Nope, it pulls up to 5A but only when the compressor is running so it averages around 1A per hour or 24A/hr over a 24 hour period.
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I know it takes more when running and your 1Ah/h is an average, but 1Ah/h is 1A. It is averaging 1A. But if you think putting it as 1Ah/h means something different then that's fine by me.
 
You'll quickly learn how little actually requires a fridge to stay fresh. Personally I use the bilges for keeping things cool. Butter and cheese live in a cupboard. Milk is the only problem. If you just want it for tea and coffee the best I came up with was using little UHT packs with a shot of milk in each like you get at service stations.
 
thanks for all replies/advice. i'll 'cherry pick' the ideas most suited to me and my budget and try them. the liveaboard thing may only be for 4-6 weeks until finances are a bit healthier,but then again i'm lovin'it!
 
Georgio said:
Nope, it pulls up to 5A but only when the compressor is running so it averages around 1A per hour or 24A/hr over a 24 hour period.
:-)
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AngusMcDoon said:
I know it takes more when running and your 1Ah/h is an average, but 1Ah/h is 1A. It is averaging 1A. But if you think putting it as 1Ah/h means something different then that's fine by me.
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AngusMcDoon is right. Although strictly the unit of current is ampere but is normally abbreviated to amp. Similarly the unit of charge or battery capacity is strictly an ampere-hour

If it draws a current of 5 amps when the compressors is running, but the compressor only runs for 20% of the time, the average current is 1 amp (1A)

In 1 hour it will use 1 ampere-hour (1 Ah)

In 24 hours it will use 24 ampere-hours ( 24 Ah)
 
Woodlouse said:
You'll quickly learn how little actually requires a fridge to stay fresh. Personally I use the bilges for keeping things cool. Butter and cheese live in a cupboard. Milk is the only problem. If you just want it for tea and coffee the best I came up with was using little UHT packs with a shot of milk in each like you get at service stations.
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+1

You could also try Ghee instead of regular butter (it's actually boiled and strained butter) which keeps forever. Tastes a bit different though. Or cut your butter in small chunks and put them in a jar with salt water. Milk is usually fine if you only buy a pint and use it up quickly, I'm okay with dried skimmed milk. Eggs keep well if you boil them for 30 seconds.
 
Up until this recent bout of 22-25deg weather, I've been buying 2L bottles of milk on Friday morning, and they've been good all until Sunday PM.

However, with this hot weather, they've been going off around sunday morning. I keep them in a cupboard that has a 5" air gap around it.

No-one's mentioned sea water cooling - isn't the water considerably cooler than the air? maybe a waterproof bag hung overboard?
 
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