Simple, non refrigeration cooking, favorite hints and meal

Hi everyone,
I couldn't help putting in my two cents worth here. Craig and I have packed our horses into the Montana wilderness areas for over 25 years. That means traveling a week with no refrigeration and very little space. I learned how to dehydrate hamburger Like Two Bears only rinse it well after browning with very hot water. That removes all the grease, then spread on your dehydrator trays and dry until it looks like small rocks. It will last for weeks that way. Cabelas has really good dryers. The tortillas make great burritos with the re-hydrated meat. Or a huge pot of spaghetti. We took all the Hamburger Helpers with us on our trips repacking the box with the appropriate amount of hamburger granules, dry milk etc. Made for a wide variety of suppers for us. ( Sorry, some sodium) but no cans and only small amount of trash.....Pack it in Pack it out!
You can take frozen veggies like peas, green beans even broccoli right from the packages and dehydrate them too. Theses work best in some sort of one-pot dish.
I have even done frozen blueberries for yummy hotcakes. I look forward to my new challenges doing some meals aboard Salty this summer.

Julie
 
I am buying a food dehydrator too

On Tuesdays, City BBQ has ribs for $1.25 per bone. Yahoo! I think I will made a big salad tonight and pu a couple of bones tomorrow for lunch
 
One of my favorite boat, one dish, meals comes in a package -- Bear Creek Soups. Easy, thick and tasty. I'm with Tom, I like potatoes, and so a potato covered with a thick soup, like a gravy makes a good meal. Not much of a meat eater, but my survival packs include jerky and peanut M&M's (oh oh, secrets out.) Costco has large packages of dehydrated mushrooms that reconstitute readily and add to almost anything.

It has been my practice for extended trips to use 2 coolers. One with everything in it frozen, and then add a chunk of dry ice, Keep that one closed and covered and it will last easy into next week. The first cooler has frozen stuff on the bottom, and then layered up from there. Limiting the number of times it is opened helps it's serviceability. I have recently started adding the outdoor remote from my digital on-board weather station into the cooler to monitor it's internal temp. Again, making sure it stays cold and the stuff is safe to use.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Engle makes a nice line of freezer/fridges running on 120 and 12 but they are a lot more expensive than a block of ice (unless you are in the Sahara).

For long trips we start out with it fon freeze setting and transfer stuff to the normal fridge as needed. Later you can turn it down to "cool" and save on power.

Very impressive set of test data supplied with it which accurately shows consumption figures for various temperatures/ settings etc.

It is also study enough (for most of us) to sit on :-)

M
 
The other problem with any of the freezer chests, is that they use power--more than many outboards can supply, especially on short runs. We have been using the Norcold Chest type freezer since the mid 70's.

One factor both on ice, and refers--is that in northern climes--where both the air temperature and water temperature is colder, ice lasts longer, and power requirement for electrical freezers is far less.

We do put wet towels over the ice chests when in desert areas, which helps preserve the ice.
 
Bob,

You are right. I tend to forget that I have two BF 135's running back there with big alternators and 300Ah of House batteries plus a Honda 2000i so I can usually keep up with the power draw.

Plus if you fill the freezer with already frozen food it works rather like ice blocks and doesn't need much power. The Engle is also mounted below the transom seat so it is out of the sunlight (when that happens) Today would not be a problem as we have no sun and 4" of snow with a lot more in the forecast.

M
 
Grumpy,
I don't know how well your Engle's freezer is protected from salt spray (and I don't know the relative salt spray resistance of the Engle). But the death of our first Norcold Chest was when I used it in the cockpit of a 23 foot boat, and it got some fine spray, and corroded.

But I agree that they are great solutions--and a good way to keep food for a cruise. Unfortunately none of these freezers have a lot of insulation. For comparison we built a freezer in the boat we took to Europe--it had 8" of closed cell foam insulation, with double vapor barriers and no voids--glassed in liner. We lost the generator, and that chest kept ice for almost a month sailing from the Med to France. (picture that we could only purchase a ton of ice at a time in the port--and they put it on the dock--we shoveled it into the dinghy, with just enough room for us left in the boat--and 2" of freeboard. The rest of the ton of ice went to the local gypsies, who scooped it up.
 
Here's what you need Bob. Costco to the rescue with the "Easy Meal® 4-person Freeze Dried Food Supply for 6 Months" - only .95 Cents per Serving, 6,096 Total Servings, "just" $5,799.99. You're welcome. :wink:

PS - there's a claimed 25 year shelf life on all items so if you don't use it all in your lifetime, what you don't use you can pass on to the kids in your will.
 
Bob,

Yes, that is a legitimate concern and I really won't know the answer until it dies. They claim that this model is as "marinized" as possible and I have deliberately put it under the transom seat so that it will get no direct spray.
That said, it is obviously a salt laden atmosphere, and......

I would prefer to have it in the cabin but the Admiral and the dogs have other ideas about real estate in there.

If it craps out early, then I might just adopt your idea and build-in a real ice chest down there. You can probably still buy a Ton of ice for the cost on an Engle :-) I can just see you ferrying a dinghy full of ice with a bunch of French sailors on the dock making comments...

M
 
rogerbum":627lfgzp said:
Here's what you need Bob. Costco to the rescue with the "Easy Meal® 4-person Freeze Dried Food Supply for 6 Months" - only .95 Cents per Serving, 6,096 Total Servings, "just" $5,799.99. You're welcome. :wink:

PS - there's a claimed 25 year shelf life on all items so if you don't use it all in your lifetime, what you don't use you can pass on to the kids in your will.
Click to expand...

The Easy Meal Freeze-Dried Foods Supply offers a mix of Breakfast, Fruits, Vegetables and Entrees enough to feed a family of 4 for several months.

Kit Details:
Shipment of 63 cases arrives on 1 pallet
Each case contains 6 cans of 1 item
6,096 total servings Nutritional & Ingredient Information
25 year shelf life on all items
Best if use by date printed on all cans
Kit Contains: Easy Meal Breakfasts
7 Cases/42 Cans of Granola with Blueberries and Milk (20 Servings per Can/840 Total Servings)
3 Cases/18 Cans of Scrambled Eggs with Bacon (16 Servings per Can/288 Total Servings)
6 Cases/36 Cans of Breakfast Skillet (10 Servings per Can/360 Total Servings
Easy Meal Fruits
3 Cases/18 Cans of Bananas, Sliced (20 Servings per Can/360 Total Servings)
2 Cases/12 Cans of Strawberries, Sliced (16 Servings per Can/192 Total Servings)
3 Cases/18 Cans of Apple, Dices (33 Servings per Can/594 Total Servings)
2 Cases/12 Cans of Apple, Dices with Cinnamon (33 Servings per Can/396 Total Servings)
Easy Meal Vegetables
4 Cases/24 Cans of Garden Green Peas (23 Servings per Can/552 Total Servings)
4 Cases/24 Cans of Green Beans (20 Servings per Can/480 Total Servings)
4 Cases/24 Cans of Golden Sweet Corn (22 Servings per Can/528 Total Servings)
Easy Meal Entrees:
5 Cases/30 Cans of Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (10 Servings per Can/300 Total Servings)
4 Cases/24 Cans of Chili Mac with Beef (10 Servings per Can/240 Total Servings)
6 Cases/36 Cans of Chicken a la King (11 Servings per Can/396 Total Servings)
5 Cases/30 Cans of Chicken Teriyaki with Rice (10 Servings per Can/300 Total Servings)
5 Cases/30 Cans of Macaroni and Cheese (9 Servings per Can/270 Total Servings)
Standard shipping via Federal Express is included in the quoted price. The estimated delivery time will be approximately 7 - 10 business days from the time of order.
Delivery is available to Hawaii. An additional Shipping and Handling fee will apply. This fee will be quoted at checkout. Additional transit time may be required.
Delivery is not available to Alaska or Puerto Rico.

Costco.com products can be returned to any of our more than 500 Costco warehouses worldwide.
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This year, we are going to bring with us on cruises non-refrigerated, home canned stews, soups and deserts. We have already made two batches of home canned, beef stew in a pressure canner, which has a shelf life of 5 years. It tastes great, is low-salt, and is very low on fat. There is no comparison between home-made stew and commercially produced products that taste like MREs, and which are rife with salt and preservatives. Not only will this food be great for cruising, but it is also great as an emergency food source at home.

Rich
 
Yes, when we started cruising in large sailboats Marie canned a lot of meet--chicken, beef etc. We got away from that because of the storage issue in C Dories.

I have seen the "survivalist" food rations--and think I will pass on that--sort of like the propane that Tom Talked about for Year 2000!
 
I thought I would bump this to ask about freeze dried foods and recipes. My daughter stumbled on Thrive Life, a company in Utah, that makes some really tasty stuff, even dry. I never thought eating freeze dried corn or broccoli was a possibility, but it was really good.

I am thinking about buying a few different veggies and meats to mix up into a soup, or perhaps just a side dish. Anyone have experience with this? Their Fuji apples are wonderful, too.

Here's a link to the company...

http://www.thrivelife.com/foodstorage
 
I havent tried any of the freeze dried foods, but am interested to...

Our daughter is really fond of smoked fish and pepperoni , so I try to vacuum seal plenty of that to keep on the boat. 2 year olds can be a bit finicky.

Before our last 10 day fishing trip in october, I made a large stock pot of pork chile verde from scratch at home. It took all day but could have fed a neighborhood. I measured out portions and placed them in 1 gallon freezer bags to freeze solid. Instead of alot of ice, I used that to keep everything cool and alot of that stayed frozen for close to a week. Those home cooked meals were amazing reheated on the wallas served with some chopped tomatos and tortillas.

We also had a large bag of granola on the boat, not my favorite thing to eat but I did put alot of that away during those morning when we needed to be fishing and not cooking food.
 
Hey Dr.Bob! Just caught the first post from January 2012 and haven't read all the responses. You might want to check out "The Bean Book" by Rose Elliot. Seems beans are a cost conscious cruisers best friend.
 
Mountain House has dehydrated or freeze dried pouches,can find them many locations. I have eaten them while back packing they are good .Some other brands were not really good,but Mountain House keeps you coming back for more.
 
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