What Food to Buy Without Refrigeration?

[mbianka]

Just checked this site out. Lot's of freeze dried food options:
Freeze Dried Food & Baking Ingredients | #1 in Storable Foods | Honeyvillegrain.com
Going to try some of the products myself even though I have refrigeration available on board.

[boatman61]

Boaties Mulligatawny

3 Tb spoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger and 1 of garlic, same again with ground cumin, coriander, 1/2 of chilli and garam masala..
6oz of red lentils, 3 diced potato's and carrots small tin sliced mushrooms, 3 chicken stock cubes and 2 pints water... 1 lemon, handful of chopped fresh or dried coriander.

Heat the oil in a pan, chuck in the ginger n garlic, couple of stirs then add the spices another quick stir and chuck in the veg.. add the lentils water and stock cubes and bring to the boil then simmer till lentils are very soft (45mins).. salt and pepper to taste... add the coriander and lemon juice stir well and serve with white rice or on its own... if you've access to fresh chicken breast slice and use that instead of the veg... or with...

[frank_f]

It's simply amazing how much that sounds like it's going to be tomorrow night's supper.

Thank for the recipe Boatie

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by frank_f

It's simply amazing how much that sounds like it's going to be tomorrow night's supper.

Thank for the recipe Boatie

I prefer ghee... but its hard to get hold of in many places... half n half oil and butter gives it a richer flavour... forgot to say give the veg/chicken a quick sauté before adding the rest...
Bom Appitito...

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by Krogensailor

...As to the original question, here's my take on food for the voyage, whether it's around the bay or around the world. Minimal refridgeration. Maybe just a freezer for fish, meats and a spill over for the beer. Dry good's, as in beans, rice, grains,(whole), dehydrated what have you. Oat meal, dryed fruit, raisins etc. canned meats, if thats the way you go.

Very good, I'm with you here. And you are right, any food that is white has been stripped of their nutrients.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by mbianka

Just checked this site out. Lot's of freeze dried food options:
Freeze Dried Food & Baking Ingredients | #1 in Storable Foods | Honeyvillegrain.com
Going to try some of the products myself even though I have refrigeration available on board.

Thanks for the link. Lets us know your findings. I'll be interested in the sodium content (if any) of their products, as I am not sure what is the dehydration process.

[Live4boating]

Emergency essentials catalog at beprepared.com has a lot of freeze dried and dehydrated food. We have a 28' camper we like to stock with emergency supplies in case we have to evacuate for a hurricane. We have about a 2 month supply stored in every cubby hole we can find in the camper. We have tried a lot of the food and its really good. Just don't buy mre's! They taste terrible and have a shorter shelf life in the heat. They are also a great source for all kinds of items you could use for "boondocking".

[Mike OReilly]

I'm curious if there are any full-time cruisers who dry their own food. I've been drying food for years. You can dry just about anything, and if done correctly, produces top quality, nutritious and excellent tasting food. Best of all, it can keep for years with little decline in quality.

We are moving on board full time next year. As a way of keeping costs down I'm thinking by dehydrating foods while underway so we can be quite strategic with our restocking. Hit a marina for a short time, buy in-bulk when stuff comes in season. Dry it, and then get out.

Anyone doing this?

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

...We are moving on board full time next year. As a way of keeping costs down I'm thinking by dehydrating foods while underway so we can be quite strategic with our restocking. Hit a marina for a short time, buy in-bulk when stuff comes in season. Dry it, and then get out.

Anyone doing this?

That's an idea I would also like to find out abut. Can you provide some hints on the process on a boat? Can you do it without the electrical equipment?

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Boaties Mulligatawny

3 Tb spoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger and 1 of garlic, same again with ground cumin, coriander, 1/2 of chilli and garam masala..
6oz of red lentils, 3 diced potato's and carrots small tin sliced mushrooms, 3 chicken stock cubes and 2 pints water... 1 lemon, handful of chopped fresh or dried coriander.

Heat the oil in a pan, chuck in the ginger n garlic, couple of stirs then add the spices another quick stir and chuck in the veg.. add the lentils water and stock cubes and bring to the boil then simmer till lentils are very soft (45mins).. salt and pepper to taste... add the coriander and lemon juice stir well and serve with white rice or on its own... if you've access to fresh chicken breast slice and use that instead of the veg... or with...

Feedback:
Lovely flavour! I made this today .
No mushrooms on board, so I sautéed two sliced onions with the garlic and ginger. I also added a tsp of whole cumin to the other spices (this is always yummy with potato) and added a teaspoon of turmeric too (stopped it looking anaemic).

After it started simmering I covered it and brought it to pressure, turned it off and left it for a few hours to let it finish cooking slowly and for the flavours to develop. Yummmmmm (even without the fresh coriander)

So it's a great boat dish with no refrigerated or tinned items and little gas used or heat generated .

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Feedback:
Lovely flavour! I made this today .
No mushrooms on board, so I sautéed two sliced onions with the garlic and ginger. I also added a tsp of whole cumin to the other spices (this is always yummy with potato) and added a teaspoon of turmeric too (stopped it looking anaemic).

After it started simmering I covered it and brought it to pressure, turned it off and left it for a few hours to let it finish cooking slowly and for the flavours to develop. Yummmmmm (even without the fresh coriander)

So it's a great boat dish with no refrigerated or tinned items and little gas used or heat generated .

Nice one...
Glad you enjoyed it... I tend to try and tame things down a tad as my taste is often a bit to fiery for a lot of folks... I usually chuck in small green chilli's as well with the ends cross nicked... gives the flavour but not the 'heat'... so I can blow my mouth away happily without being sadistic to others...

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I'm curious if there are any full-time cruisers who dry their own food. I've been drying food for years. You can dry just about anything, and if done correctly, produces top quality, nutritious and excellent tasting food. Best of all, it can keep for years with little decline in quality.

We are moving on board full time next year. As a way of keeping costs down I'm thinking by dehydrating foods while underway so we can be quite strategic with our restocking. Hit a marina for a short time, buy in-bulk when stuff comes in season. Dry it, and then get out.

Anyone doing this?

I've dried fish (jerky) on board with only the sun. All you need is cookie drying racks and a drip pan or foil.... and a hot sun. (of course brine)
I have no reason to suspect the sun wouldnt work for tomatoes, fruits etc also.
Dried food has amazing flavor. Of course real dehydrated cane juice is the only suger to have IMO. Alot different that beet sugar or corn syrup for sure. Originally Coca Cola used real sugar, now ... corn syrup...

[Krogensailor]

Anyone doing this? ________________Hi Mike, I have a couple of dehydrators in use. One large and one small. We dry all kinds of food. I like snacks, we dehyd thin slices of various veggies and spray them with a product called Braggs, has no sodium. As far as electrical needs there is only a small fan in the dehydrator. I plan to take the small one with us when we move aboard. They do sell, or you could easily make a solar dehydrator.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I'm curious if there are any full-time cruisers who dry their own food. I've been drying food for years. You can dry just about anything, and if done correctly, produces top quality, nutritious and excellent tasting food. Best of all, it can keep for years with little decline in quality.

We are moving on board full time next year. As a way of keeping costs down I'm thinking by dehydrating foods while underway so we can be quite strategic with our restocking. Hit a marina for a short time, buy in-bulk when stuff comes in season. Dry it, and then get out.

Anyone doing this?

I can only get it to work in low humidity. When the air is moist everything goes moldy super fast. If there is a way in humid conditions I haven't figured it yet.

[Mike OReilly]

I've never dried anything on the boat yet, but will be doing so next year when we move on board full time. On land I use a home-built dryer similar to this; basically it's a big box with multiple wracks and a low-temp heating element. The heat keeps the air dry, and keeps it moving.

I'm building a solar dehydrator using the plans from Sailing the Farm, but for serious bulk drying I'm thinking something like this version might be worth the space. Again, the idea would be to target areas when produce comes in-season. Buy in bulk. Tie to a dock for a week drying food, then get the heck back out.