Meal Prep / Storing Meats

[ColourfulOwl]

I have an owners version of the Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 361. It came with a front opening fridge and a massive icebox, which the manufacturer spec says its 220L in volume.

I eventually plan on converting the icebox into a large top loading freezer, but in the mean time I did have questions that I'm hoping the more experienced liveaboards might be able to share some insight into.

How do you handle and store your meal prep without a freezer? How do you store meats etc, and roughly how long do you usually get before the start to turn? Is it the same as at home, or does the marine environment just do it's funky stuff like it does to everything else xD

 

[V1701]

Well I can't really say whether it's the same as at home because I haven't had a brick one for almost 20 years. Unless you count one of the boats I had which was made of concrete...
I batch cook meals and they keep in the fridge for a week in sealed containers. Meat I find keeps almost as long, e.g. I can open a pack of chicken thighs, use some & put the others in a bag with all the air expelled out. If it looks ok & smells ok, it's ok. Haven't had a freezer for a long time...

 

[Fr J Hackett]

If you don't have a freezer vacuum packing is the answer it will prolong the life of meat over just storing in a bag.

 

[Sea Change]

Depends to some extent on the meat. Raw chicken won't last as long as something like chorizo.

When we didn't have a freezer, we would load up the ice box with frozen meat and eat it in order- starting with chicken, then on to mince, and the sausages last. You'd get maybe five days doing this.

The freezer has been an absolute game changer. Just did a four day upwind passage in strong conditions, and we had a ready prepped meal each night, cooked the week before and frozen. Minimal time down below and no compromises on quality of the food. Cottage pie is the favourite- proper comfort food, not greasy and heavy like lasagne, just needs shoved in the oven.

If you already have an ice box, it's pretty simple to fit a refrigeration kit. You won't regret it.

 

[dansaskip]

Well I might be in a minority but I don't have a fridge nor freezer on my boat. Keep it simple suits me fine. Ok I don't eat a lot of meat which does simplify things but when I do I confine myself to the tinned variety. With regard to veg if you pick it well I have found that they keep surprising well especially if you buy from markets and not supermarkets ( where they chill stuff, which makes it go off quicker) and give it a good wash perhaps even in Miltons or similar baby bottle sterilising stuff. Even on a long (30day) passage of the Pacific I had veg every day. Of course some veg keeps better that others, carrots, hard white cabbage , potatoes and onions for instance are good, peppers, courgettes don't last long. Rarely prepare meals in advance just cook fresh meals every day, gives me something to do on long passages. For those very rare times when it is too rough to cook ( never on my Transatlantic and perhaps once on transPacific) there are pouches of third like rice and quinoa, lentils curries etc which don't even need heating to be perfectly edible. Just need a change of attitude from living ashore.

 

[Neeves]

One advantage of a freezer is that it allows you to store the food you catch, whether its mussels, oysters lobsters or tuna. We would catch Mahi Mahi, Kingfish and Spanish mackerel in tropical waters and salmon and tuna all the way south to southern Tasmania. We had a crayfish licence and caught crayfish in Tasmania. We caught barracuda but found them inedible, we froze them and they were the bait in the crayfish pot.



We caught freshwater eel on the Gordon River. The Tuna we would catch would be 2-3kg - far too big to eat and finish immediately - we would simply fillet and freeze. Filleting obviously ensured you maximised the amount of protein you could store.

Our freezer was about 60l, custom made and was built under the galley sole, Josephine is standing on the freezer lid, with a top opening lid. Insulation was about 100mm and we vented 'round' it and onto its compressor fresh air ducted from the bow locker and exhausted to the transom. Our fridge is behind Josephine on the left in the picture.

Its difficult to understand why one would not trawl, its fresh, it offers variety, its free and it offers a diversion when you catch something. We had 2 game fishing rods with braided dyneema lines. As soon as we had clear, no other vessels nearby, water we would begin trawling. We had brackets for the rods on the stanchion, adjacent to the helm and on the transom.

To relieve boredom you do need extensive recipes, a stock of herbs, spices and some decent red or chilled white wine. Chinese supermarkets, for preserved vegetables, and Japanese stores for dried seaweed are a good substitute for green vegetables. Bean sprouts you can grow yourself. Drumhead and wombok cabbage last for ever, along with carrots, potatoes and onions


Lateral thinking helps.

Jonathan

 

[Graham376]

We have a 270L top loading fridge box with a large oval evaporator freezer compartment. The box is poorly insulated and the BD50F compressor draws 7amps and hammers the batteries in summer heat, often >30 degrees below deck. Wonder if OP will have enough battery capacity and means of charging for 220L freezer.

 

[Sea Change]

We have a 270L top loading fridge box with a large oval evaporator freezer compartment. The box is poorly insulated and the BD50F compressor draws 7amps and hammers the batteries in summer heat, often >30 degrees below deck. Wonder if OP will have enough battery capacity and means of charging for 220L freezer.

Our freezer draws about 2.3A, it's a Frigoboat kit from Penguin. The compressor fan blows through the wall in to the forward heads so doesn't add extra heat to the saloon.
I considered water cooled but it was a lot of extra cost and would have made installation harder (and necessitated a haul out).

 

[DownWest]

Friend who cruised a bit basicly, just used meats that he cooked up and bottled in Kilner jars. No fridge or freezer, as he didn't have an engine or genny. Worked for him.

 

[AndrewB]

In my day keeping the freezer going was impractical when blue-water cruising. So it was canned meat.

In many countries what is available in supermarkets is rubbish though there is some half-way decent stuff in Britain and France. However the very best was survival supplies, mail order only, in the USA. Excellent quality steak (100% meat), fish (not just sardines!), whole boned chicken, pork chops, duck, finely sliced bacon, Cheddar cheese, butter, etc.

Not only for us, but very popular as trade goods in exchange for fresh fruit and fish in remote islands where meat was unavailable.

 

[Sandy]

How do you handle and store your meal prep without a freezer? How do you store meats etc, and roughly how long do you usually get before the start to turn? Is it the same as at home, or does the marine environment just do it's funky stuff like it does to everything else xD

Traditionally, meat was in the form of Fray Bentos pies, but as they no longer contain meat you need to be inventive.

Fresh fish is good, sausage is good, not the British banger but Spanish/Italian/German style, quorn is a great replacement and you can always fall back on tinned meat if you really need to eat it.

Are you planning a 180 day circumnavigation or just a 20 day passage?

I had pals who did a three year trip from 60°N to 60°S without a fridge let alone a freezer; they are much over rated. Just rethink what you eat.