Perishables How long?, How to Store?

[Rimica]

The eggs issue: We are canadians on a boat in Greece. We were a bit confused when shopping to see the eggs not refrigerated in grocery stores and did some digging. This is what we were told or found out:



In Europe all hens are innoculated for salmonella which in turn permits the egg to be kept at room temperature. They also do not wash the eggs to the same extent as in North America


In North America hens are not innoculated and therefore a risk of salmonella exists in the eggs hence refrigeration is required. In addtion the universal lily white color is achieved by severly washing the eggs which increase their permeability.


In any event once an egg of any origin is refridgerated it has to stay refrigerated. I do not know why but was told.


This is what I know and go by for the past 2 years and I have never been sick. Make your own research

[gmakhs]

I was disappointed by the boat galley book, there are better books like sailing the farm .

Now to your question fruits and vegetables can be preserved by solar drying easily for 4 months I do it all the time , saves space and no need fridge .

Eggsa unfortunately no longer than 1 month so just make sure to use unrefrigerated , to keep them longer you can buy eggs in powder or make your own dried eggs .

I don't keep meat for longer passages because is a pain to dry and my girlfriend doesn't like it , but it can be dried and stored .

Fish can be dried and salted if you want it for longer periods for not so long periods you can just dry it no need salt .

Buy a proper book on food drying and preserving (not related to sailing usually ) and you will be amazed .

P.S have been crusing 3 years with no refrigerator and never felt that I need one , except to preserve ice cubes for cocktails .

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by gmakhs

...Now to your question fruits and vegetables can be preserved by solar drying easily for 4 months I do it all the time , saves space and no need fridge .

...I don't keep meat for longer passages because is a pain to dry and my girlfriend doesn't like it , but it can be dried and stored .

Fish can be dried and salted if you want it for longer periods for not so long periods you can just dry it no need salt .

How are you drying on board gmakhs? I’ve been drying food for decades, starting with my canoe tripping, but I’ve continued to use the technique to stock our boat. As I type I’m drying a bunch of veg (mushrooms, zucchini, peppers), and a basic ground beef mix. It’s easy to dry, and has a wide range of uses on board for us.

I’ve yet to actually dry food on board though. I’m in the process of building a solar dehydrator based on Sailing the Farm plans. Is this what you’re using?

[jkindredpdx]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Carolyn Shearlock’s The Boat Galley Website ☞ https://theboatgalley.com/
Storing Food without Refrigeration ebook ($7) ☞ https://theboatgalley.vipmembervault...courses/view/5

+1 for Carolyn and the Boat Galley, subscribe for her emails re food storage and much more... https://theboatgalley.com/

[hellosailor]

Pelagic-
If you hunt online, the "New Settlement Cookbook" (circa 1900) and others of that vintage are free in PDF form. Refrigeration didn't exist then, so they make a point of how things can be kept safely without it.
The "egg thing" has to do with salmonella. IIRC in the US we try to combat that by washing all the eggs, which removes a protective coating and then refrigeration is required. In the Carib and other parts of the world, they vaccinate the chickens instead, so there's no egg washing and no refrigeration needed. Coating the eggs in waterglass (sodium silicate) or Vaseline is a way to "unwash" our washed eggs.
If you've ever tried the "Green Bags" sold online and "As seen on tv", they are actually dusted with something like a pumice dust, which apparently absorbs gas that is given off by aging produce. That also surprisingly extends the life of things somewhat.
And then there's Harmony House and a couple of other vendors of freeze-dried foods. Using their freeze-dried vegs for soups and things, instead of using fresh, gives you an extra option.

[Pelagic]

All great advice.....thanks everyone

[Adelie]

Annie Hills first book had tons of info on storing fruits and veggies.

[svsonora]

I bought a big pressure canner. It takes a different type of cooking to make food that tastes good, but you can do surprisingly tasty foods that'll keep for a year or even three. GF's parents are polish and apparently some of the stuff her grandparents canned in ww2 when the nazis were taking all their food, was good after even a decade plus (not recommended). Plus, there are a TON of government-sponsored guides on how to do it safely.

The heating process will destroy a lot of texture, so you have to work around that.

Few things I made that were really good - cubed beef sauteed and cooked in a concoction of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and onions. Chicken in similar sauce. Various fruits. Assorted Veggies. Okay, assorted veggies wasn't 'good' but it was nice to have greens while on passage.

I recommend using pint jars and not quart jars. Quart jars if you are going to be feeing 4+ people at a time.

That being said, canning is a PITA. Takes you something like 30 min of food preptime and over an hour of pressure steaming. Worth it though. I make something like 1.5 gallons of food by volume and it covers a big part of that season's food-underway needs, combined with non-perishable foods like rice, dried fruits, nuts, etc.

[Mike OReilly]

I just finished eating some ground beef that I dried in 2014. Still tasted great. Am in the process of drying a bunch of veg and beef for the coming few seasons.