A tip for living with marginal refrigeration

[SoulRaven]

A tip for living with marginal refrigeration.

 
During this winters 5-month long snowbird expedition I have been using a 40-quart cooler and buying ice.
 
As I travel from each 7-8 day free campground I buy food, fuel, and ice to last the entire week and squat at the campground the entire time to save on motor fuel and vehicle wear and tear.
 
So instead of buying a quart of fresh milk for the week for $2.30 I buy a quart of 2% milk in the carton that does not require refrigeration before opening with a 10-month shelf life for $1 at the Dollar Tree.
 
During the first part of the week I eat all the fresh food that requires refrigeration. When the ice turns to water by midweek breakfast is now pancakes or oatmeal and lunch/dinner comes from a can or box for the rest of the week.
 
I only buy cured meats like bacon/hot dogs and ½ dozen eggs for the week. The sodium nitrate may not be healthy in the long run but it’s a better alternative to food poisoning in the short term.
 
Early in the week I drink perked coffee with the milk in the carton as a creamer using the rest of the quart of milk in cold cereal, late in the week I use the same stovetop percolator and substitute tea bags using no creamer. 

 

[akrvbob]

Good tips! Have you added extra insulation to the cooler? You might be able to extend the ice to most of the 7-8 days? Especially with the cooler weather we've been having.
Bob

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Powdered milk is a good alternative to real milk. A lot of people don't know this and the dairy industry doesn't advertise it  but most milk we buy from the cooler is reconstituted powdered milk. The industry figured out that they could take a perishable product like milk and make it into a non perishable, ship it across oceans without the weight, manage to fool everyone by making it taste exactly the same. Clever huh.

 

[SoulRaven]

I have a 40 quart 7+ day "extreme" cooler, and I buy the big blocks of ice, and they will last a full week even in the summer.

If it's really hot, I sometimes wrap my cooler in a moving blanket.

Also, if you keep your ice in a separate container, the other food doesn't get wet.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Users from around the globe says Thank You to Mr.LooRead for this post!!!

 

[cdiggy]

Block ice works great! It last a lot longer than cube but is harder to come by. Bait shops usually have it. Some grocerys have it cheap out west. Definitely worth looking into.

 

[gypsychic]

most milk we buy from the cooler is reconstituted powdered milk.

The rest of what you say may be true but I don't know about this part of it. As a dietician student I toured a dairy processing plant within the last 10 years. I saw the dairy trucks unloaded-look like gasoline trucks but carry milk instead, all the way through to the end product of packaged milk for the cooler, cottage cheese, sour cream etc. It is true that they take most, if not all, the fat out of the milk and then add it back to each grade of milk. Maybe that's what you're thinking of?

Personally I think powered milk has come a long way from what I grew up on. Mom would mix powdered milk 50/50 with fresh to save $. Now its not much, if any, cost savings but for those with limited refrigeration it can be great. The shelf stable milk isn't bad either but isn't great. I prefer fresh non-homogenized milk myself but it's a rare treat for me. Otherwise I eat yogurt or kefir for my very limited dairy consumption. Otherwise I do without. As a child I hated the milk so much I learned to eat cereal dry & came up with ways to substitute milk in all circumstances.

 

[SoulRaven]

Block ice works great! It last a lot longer than cube but is harder to come by. Bait shops usually have it. Some grocerys have it cheap out west. Definitely worth looking into.

I have found that the convenience stores that have the big ice freezer outside, even if they only have the crushed ice inside, at many of them if you ask, they have the big blocks outside.

99¢ to $1.99 per week is a pretty reasonable price for refrigeration.

 

[Matt71]

Did you know that human beings are the only animal to continue to drink milk beyond the nursing phase?
I'm taking a culinary class on hygiene and sanitation and we've discussed how milk is actually not very good for you aside from the vitamin D.
Still better than pop.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

The rest of what you say may be true but I don't know about this part of it. As a dietician student I toured a dairy processing plant within the last 10 years. I saw the dairy trucks unloaded-look like gasoline trucks but carry milk instead, all the way through to the end product of packaged milk for the cooler, cottage cheese, sour cream etc. It is true that they take most, if not all, the fat out of the milk and then add it back to each grade of milk. Maybe that's what you're thinking of?

Personally I think powered milk has come a long way from what I grew up on. Mom would mix powdered milk 50/50 with fresh to save $. Now its not much, if any, cost savings but for those with limited refrigeration it can be great. The shelf stable milk isn't bad either but isn't great. I prefer fresh non-homogenized milk myself but it's a rare treat for me. Otherwise I eat yogurt or kefir for my very limited dairy consumption. Otherwise I do without. As a child I hated the milk so much I learned to eat cereal dry & came up with ways to substitute milk in all circumstances.

if you visit a modern dairy plant you will notice large high buildings that house kilns for  making milk powder this is the way of the future with dairying. remember every year cows have to be dried out in order to get pregnant again and start milking in the next season ever wonder where they get the milk supply during this period. At one time they had heards that were called town supply that were bred at different time, these have been phased out.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Did you know that human beings are the only animal to continue to drink milk beyond the nursing phase?
I'm taking a culinary class on hygiene and sanitation and we've discussed how milk is actually not very good for you aside from the vitamin D.
Still better than pop.

It may not be better then pop for you. there is a doco out called the Truth about milk.

 

[travlinman and wife]

flying curbmaster you are right. I did a 3 year tour in south korea and drank milk with every meal . I thought I was drinking fresh milk. In my 3rd year the stars and strips the army newspaper did a article on were our milk came from. turns out it was powdred and ran through a process similer to a moonshine still.

 

[wayne49]

flying curbmaster you are right. I did a 3 year tour in south korea and drank milk with every meal . I thought I was drinking fresh milk. In my 3rd year the stars and strips the army newspaper did a article on were our milk came from. turns out it was powdred and ran through a process similer to a moonshine still.

The base exchange at Yokota AFB Japan only sold reconstituted milk. It was clearly labeled as such. Oh, wait, that was 1965 and lies hadn't completely replaced truth.

 

[LeeRevell]

When Navy ships go to sea, they have only about two weeks supply of real milk, bread and other things we Americans take for granted. Once the good stuff runs out, they bring out the non-refrigerated stuff. The white milk they gave us then was undrinkable. Yuck! The 'chocolate' flavor was marginally useable in cereal.
The fresh baked bread, though, was awesome!
Here at home, my big fridge crapped out, so I replaced it with a minifridge. Keeps me from stocking so much junk that ultimately goes bad. Works fine for me. If I could find block ice locally, I do have a cooler that could suffice too. Tried crushed ice last hunting season, to temporarily store venison. One cooler, a Coleman Five-Day Extreme model, works fairly well. The others not as well. But buying the ice every few days was a pain.
These days I avoid as much as possible buying food that needs to be kept cool.
My chest freezer, a smaller unit on my back deck, is the exception. I do keep some frozen food in it. But I have gone a week at a time with it empty.

 

[VJG1977]

Is anyone using 2 smaller coolers instead of 1 large cooler?  My thought was to use 2 of the [font=omnes-pro, sans-serif]Coleman's Xtreme coolers with added poly insulation.  The advertising says it will keep ice for 7 day.  There are some very expensive coolers that claim 10 days or longer.  The main difference seems to be the thickness of the insulation and tight fitting lids with gaskets.[/font]

[size=medium][font=omnes-pro, sans-serif]My plan is to use 2 smaller coolers with added insulation.  I would divide food between the coolers based on meal plans.  One cooler would not be opened until well into the trip.  This cooler would start out with ice and all frozen food: beef patties, chicken fillets, veggies, all in one or two meal portions. [size=medium][font=omnes-pro, sans-serif] A [/font][font=omnes-pro, sans-serif]wireless indoor outdoor thermometer would monitor temperature[font=omnes-pro, sans-serif] without having to open the lid.  [/font][/font]The second cooler would be used for the first part of the trip.  It would hold ice and some frozen meat with the non-frozen items.  For extended trips the coolers would alternate usage.[/font][/size][/size]

[font=omnes-pro, sans-serif]I do not drink milk and learned to drink my coffee black while in army basic training.  You can make some dishes that call for milk by substituting shredded cheese and added liquid.  With the use of canned meat, vegetables, shelf stable meals like Hormel and Dinty Moore and milk substitutes you could almost go [/font][font=omnes-pro, sans-serif]cooler-less.  If you think about it, people lived for thousands of years without refrigeration and none of the packaged foods.[/font]

 

[highdesertranger]

well I will chime in about the coolers bigger coolers are more efficient, you can use more ice. the more ice the longer it lasts. I use the powdered creamers, no refrigeration necessary, although the liquid ones will probably last until the next century has anybody ever read the ingredients. highdesertranger

 

[marigold]

People still live without refrigeration in much of the world! I've seen it first hand and learned some surprising things. This is a topic I've thought a lot about while designing my kitchen, especially since I decided against a fridge to save space and simplify. I've come to the realization that a fridge is best for accumulating condiments and rotten produce.

did you know...

Eggs don't need to be refrigerated! Neither does cheese (it might get sweaty, or get a little mold, but that can be cut off). Yogurt will be ok. Most cooked food can sit out at least overnight in warm weather and still be fine the next day, even meat. Pork spoils the easiest. Plant based foods keep best.

 

[LeeRevell]

Catsup, mustard and peanut butter need no refrigeration either. Nor does syrup. I often don't refrigerate my softdrinks. Just keep them out of heat. There are butter dishes that use a blanket of water to keep butter good without refrigeration. That's how Great Grammy did it.
I use the Hormel Completes meals a lot, and the various "Ready To Eat" rice meals. No fridge needed. Canned and foil-packet meats.