Dry Stores

[cat man do]

Maybe go traditional with roti canai breaky and Nasi lemak lunch with the small dried sardine [Sambal Ikan Bilis] on top.

yummy.

Dave

[Pblais]

Freezing the beer? Interesting concept. I'll try a 6 pack this weekend and see how it works out.

Start with one can. The mess when it explodes will be smaller plus you'll save the other 5 cans for drinking.

[Vasco]

I always froze a 12 pack when flying down to the Virgins. Invariably you arrive late at night and it's great to get on the boat and, if you've frozen them not too hard, (overnight in the freezer) the beer will be thawed and at a real cold temperature. Of course, this is good Canadian beer and freezing doesn't affect it at all. I can't vouch for the weak inferior beer sold south of the border.

[sluissa]

I can't say for beer, maybe alcohol changes the freezing point or thermal expansion properties whatever, but any time I've tried to freeze a can of soda, it burst the can and while there wasn't a mess, if I had allowed it to thaw without putting it a bowl, it would have made one. Pure alcohol I believe wouldn't do the same thing, but this is hardly pure alcohol we're talking about.

MREs are, last time I checked, about $4-5 a piece sold in boxes of 10-15 I believe from stores that sell things in bulk (Sam's Club). I havn't seen them in over a year though, so I don't know. Be warned though, real military MREs will tend to clog you up as far as going to the bathroom is concerned. The gum inside is supposedly a mild laxative, but I've not had any experience with the gum I couldn't say was the placebo effect. If carrying military style MREs, I'd suggest packing a bit of laxative in the med kit as well, just in case. Also, depending upon the menu, they can be a bit dry, so plan for at least 40oz of water to drink with each. That's about how much I generally drank, your milage may vary.

[Pblais]

MREs are, last time I checked, about $4-5 a piece sold in boxes of 10-15 I believe from stores that sell things in bulk (Sam's Club).

Some are better than others. Sort of depends on your taste. They make them suitable for many cultures and you may not like the ones not intended for your tastes. You can generally buy the entrées alone and I think they are a better value. Just try a few to find the ones you like. Some of them I found quite tasty and others I would not waste the effort to open. The suppliers will sell them via mail order when they have over runs.

Freeze dried vacuum packed is not a bad rout to go either. It tends to be more vegetarian but canned or MRE meat can add a lot to it. The key is to try to find a few great things everyone likes. It's nice if a meal can be a fun thing and not just something to eat. Looking forward to a meal helps a crew do some pretty hard jobs knowing there is a reward. Plan on an extra special meal at least every 4 or 5 days.

[Ex-Calif]

Re - Beer - I'll experiment with one. I know for sure what happens when you try to quick chill white wine in the freezer and forget to take it out - doh!

Re: MREs. I'll take a look during my trip. I'll also investigate the boil in the bag stuff. Problem with the ready made stuff is the sodium and other crap content levels.

"CMD - Maybe go traditional with roti canai breaky and Nasi lemak lunch with the small dried sardine [Sambal Ikan Bilis] on top."

mmm... roti - drool. Another healthy treat - LOL. Ikan bilis is a good condiment though.

[hellosailor]

Dan-
"Unfortunately one of the crew is seafood averse. "
Fish isn't seafood, and seafood isn't fish. Seafood has hard shells on it, no fins, doesn't swim, and generally doesn't have conventional eyes installed in a skull. Just tell him whats-er-name said it is "Chicken of the Sea".<G>

MREs: Anything with sorbitol in it, which includes most sugar-free gum, may have a laxative effect. Uncle Sam isn't putting it in there as a laxative, he's just skipping the fiber which adds no nutritional energy for combat soldiers. Read the ingredients list, you can buy many other "ultrapasteurized" foods without buying MREs these days, or stick to other basics without the funny chemicals. Half the purpose of MREs is to get the self-heater pack, but that's not bundled with civilian kits anymore. There's plenty of ultra-p. and freeze dried food in the camping stores but it isn't all that hard to find things that are cheaper, simpler, healthier. And don't need to be shipped that far.<G>

[scallywag]

Freeze Beer? I left one in the freezer one time by accident and the thing expanded so much that I had to hold it because the bottom became round. I bought this new beer that had a oblonged white thing bottled in the beer. Supposedly, it keep the beer colder. Since the beer was warm I put it in the freezer for about five minutes. When I took it out an popped the top the beer shot all over the kitchen. The wife was not happy about that mess.

John

[rtbates]

Better yet, cook several meals at home and freeze individual portions. Defrost as needed. It's very easy and while it's frozen in the ice box it acts like ICE!!

I have never frozen beer, BUT if it's got any water in it, duh, it should expand and explode. I know softdrinks sure will.

[cat man do]

Bought a carton of beer's once before doing a 300K coastal blast.

Iced 'em down and put salt in with the mix.

An hour later or so later, went to get one and had a pile of exploded and fizzing beer.

The Horror, no beer for a couple of day's.

Making a big stew/curry and freezing individualy in takeaway chinese containers is a good tip.

Done many passages using that method.

Dave

[Kuapa'a]

... a bit of trivia: Water reaches its maximum density at 40 degrees fahrenheit. It's the reason ice floats. It's less dense.

Water does not compress. And whenever you freeze water, the tiny crystals formed expand the total mass, causing things like exploding cans of beer. Same principle as watching a small green plant take root in between a crack in the sidewalk, and before you know it, buckled concrete.

In many ancient cultures people used to quarry stones by wetting a wooden wedge that had been driven into a crack made in the rock.

... just my $0.02 worth.

John

[hellosailor]

Who'd even think of doing that to beer.

Schoolboys in Masschussetts used to call that a "Coke Bomb". You'd lose the two cents(?) deposit but you'd take an empty Coke bottle, fill it with water, recap it tightly, and leave it on someone's window sill on a cold winter night. Sometime in the middle of the night, the strong bottle would finally give out...BOOM.

Something the plastic ones just don't do.<G>

[bearphish]

Wanna' get fat? Cruise with MREs. Hehe. I'll stick with fresh fish, conch and pasta with a dry packet sauce, etc. To each their own, but when I was in the Army, we ate those things like there was nothing else. There WAS nothing else, but we were BURNIN' the proteins and fat caloric content as fast as we took it in. Hard to do on a cruise unless you are stopping here/there to jump in the water for an hour or two hardcore swim every single day... Just my ever-so humble opinion!

[JB_in_Fla]

re: frozen beer

I've frozen American beers, err, forget them in the freezer for a cool down, and they did bulge, but not bust. The poster above is right, it made it a real pain in the butt to put the can down since it wouldn't sit flat and would fall over.

We're talking 5% American beer. I know from personal experience that 25% tequila will NOT freeze (Margaritaville Lime is only 50 proof). At least not in my freezer it didn't. I am curious to know what alcohol content will sufficiently lower the freezing point so they won't expand. Perhaps the other poster talking about "good Canadian beer" knows a thing or two. Perhaps the high alcohol content beers won't freeze easily?

Does anyone use keg beer? In the kegerator one will keep for a month no problem. A month being how long it last around me, so it may go longer or may not, they just don't last that long around here. Would customs look strangly at a big keg of beer, or would that help lend creedence to the "ships provisions" claim? I just looked it up on google, they say a keg will last 4 months after opening if you keep it chilled and use a co2 system. In high-school and college we all pumped kegs, but I think I've paid my dues on that one and the co2 is like an "easy" button! I know the kegerator uses electricity, but I am fine with that. I'm sure crafty people could get away using ice/dry-ice combos to keep it cool w/o electricity, or even adapt a cold plate type system. I imagine the battery drain in that type of system to be manageable.

[Pblais]

I am curious to know what alcohol content will sufficiently lower the freezing point so they won't expand.

Water expands when it freezes with or without hops and malt added. There may be a level of alcohol that will not freeze depending on the temperature of the freezer and concentration of alcohol.

Does anyone use keg beer? In the kegerator one will keep for a month no problem.

If you have the electricity required I'm sure a keg has no different behavior if it is on a boat or land. They don't liked to be bounced around! Makes for a lot of foam even in a CO2 system. Best to tie it down very securely. In rough weather it could bust loose and damage the boat and or injure the crew. Besides, it would be so full of foam it would take days before you could drink any of it. Actually sounds like a poor idea to transport a keg on the water.