Food storage without refrigeration

[jonas parker]

Cruising World Magazine’s January 2009 Issue has a valuable article on food storage without refrigeration. It includes downloadable charts in PDF format. I would recommend that anyone not certain of the long-term power grid operation might want to take a look at these charts which list the specific food (everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to canned goods), the best way to store without refrigeration, the expected shelf life of the food, and informative notes. The article is titled:

Cruising without the Fridge
Stowage charts for provisions to help you have fresh food for your passages.
From "Hands-On Sailor" Dec 15, 2008
By Beth A. Leonard

It can be found at the following link:

http://www.cruisingworld.com/how-to/for-the-crew/cruising-without-the-fridge-1000067819.html

[biblegirl]

Some good tips there, thanks jonas :).

"mayonnaise keeps indefinitely", he he

[pinkfreud]

first your pemmican thread jonas, and now this.

i can't thank you enough! :D downloading the pdf right away, i'm sure the tips will prove to be very handy in the years to come.

sorry if i sound stupid, but can anyone explain why UHT products would have an advantage over more 'naturally' derived foods- such as raw/unadulterated dairy + dairy products and juices? (other than having preservatives pumped in them.)

[dreamweaver]

sorry if i sound stupid, but can anyone explain why UHT products would have an advantage over more 'naturally' derived foods- such as raw/unadulterated dairy + dairy products and juices? (other than having preservatives pumped in them.)

Surely it's just that UHT products will keep longer?

[pinkfreud]

Surely it's just that UHT products will keep longer?

sorry, i think i worded my previous post incorrectly.

...i do know that, just wondering what would happen in an environment where one has access only to raw foods and liquids instead of the supermarket/retail variety; i'm assuming that the storage capability would be much more limited, but yeah just wanna be sure.

[naturalcanvas]

Terracotta ''Zeer pots'' will keep your perishable food chilled!
Cheap AND effective!Make any size you like. Some of us that live on boats will use these, as 12/24volt fridges cost to much to run off of a leisure battery bank.

http://www.goselfsufficient.co.uk/potinpot-refrigerator-zeer.html

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

[void]

We'd do well to look to the past.

One feature of medeival castles (and far earlier) in Europe and the Middle east are the deep dark cellars.

Even in the middle eastern castles, large chunks of ice built up in these storage areas.

[measle_weasel]

Cruising World Magazine’s January 2009 Issue has a valuable article on food storage without refrigeration. It includes downloadable charts in PDF format. I would recommend that anyone not certain of the long-term power grid operation might want to take a look at these charts which list the specific food (everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to canned goods), the best way to store without refrigeration, the expected shelf life of the food, and informative notes. The article is titled:

Cruising without the Fridge
Stowage charts for provisions to help you have fresh food for your passages.
From "Hands-On Sailor" Dec 15, 2008
By Beth A. Leonard

It can be found at the following link:

http://www.cruisingworld.com/how-to/for-the-crew/cruising-without-the-fridge-1000067819.html

Nice article.

Ive always liked pickling and curing food for long term storage.

[yass]

Terracotta ''Zeer pots'' will keep your perishable food chilled!

Cheap AND effective!Make any size you like. Some of us that live on boats will use these, as 12/24volt fridges cost to much to run off of a leisure battery bank.

http://www.goselfsufficient.co.uk/potinpot-refrigerator-zeer.html

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
This is a really good resource, thanks.


The Pot-in-Pot Refrigerator: Zeer

http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww114/unfathomable_album/20525.jpg

For most of us a fridge in the kitchen is an essential: how else can you keep your food fresh? Or cool your drinking water on hot summer days? But a fridge is one of the biggest electricity-devouring devices in your home, and that's not good for the environment.

Per minute, it doesn’t need much electricity to run a fridge, especially if you compare it to an electric kettle, which can use 10 times as much, but remember that your fridge is on for 24 hours, 7 days a week. Even today's more efficient fridges that claim to be environmentally friendly still need a constant supply of electricity.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful for the environment – and your electricity bills – if there were a way of keeping food cool that didn’t entail such a drain on the national grid? Well, now there is!

The History of the Zeer

Unsurprisingly perhaps it’s in a hot third world country that such a method has been invented. The scorching 40 degree heat of a summer day in Africa is not conducive to keeping food cool and fresh. Farmers have to dispose of their crops quickly or eat rotten food, and a lot of the harvested produce is wasted.

In the 1990s, Muhammed Bah Abba was working for aid agencies in Nigeria, trying to find ways to help small communities, when he recalled his childhood experience growing up in a family of pot-makers.

He worked out that by putting one earthenware pot inside another and creating an insulating layer in-between, it would be possible to create an effective cooling system. He spent two years experimenting before coming up with the prototype for the award-winning desert cooler, which is now being marketed throughout Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

The desert cooler does not require electricity or any other power source, making it ideal for third world rural villages - or people trying to live their lives in a more environmentally friendly way. According to Science in Africa magazine a zeer will keep tomatoes fresh – or edible - for up to 20 days; even meat can be kept in good condition for a week or two.

And all it takes is some sand, water and two pots.

Here’s What You Do

Find two large flowerpots – earthenware not plastic! One should be about 2-3 cm's larger in diameter than the other. If they have holes at the bottom plug with a piece of clay or cork.
Put a layer of sand in the bottom of the larger pot.
Place the smaller pot inside the larger. The layer of sand needs to be thick enough for the two pots to end up about the same height.
Carefully fill between the pots with sand.
Pour water on the sand until it can’t absorb any more.
Cover with a damp cloth.
Check the water and the cloth regularly: you’ll need to refill about twice a day.
Keep in a dry, well-ventilated space.

How it Works

The water in the sand evaporates in the heat. This in turn draws heat out from the inner pot, thus keeping cool food stored inside. By keeping the sand wet, it becomes an ongoing process.

At the moment, the zeer, or pot-to-pot fridge, is only suitable for keeping food cool on a small scale, but has been proved to be so effective, that it may only be a matter of time before this environmentally friendly food and water cooler is developed further.

http://www.goselfsufficient.co.uk/potinpot...rator-zeer.html (http://www.goselfsufficient.co.uk/potinpot-refrigerator-zeer.html)

[freegionnaire]

Good thread, love the zeer :D

[tom bombadil]

Terracotta ''Zeer pots'' will keep your perishable food chilled!
Cheap AND effective!Make any size you like. Some of us that live on boats will use these, as 12/24volt fridges cost to much to run off of a leisure battery bank.

http://www.goselfsufficient.co.uk/potinpot-refrigerator-zeer.html

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Those pot in a pot things are the way to go.

Also, houses were made with s single door to the north and the majority of windows to the sun. They had a cool room on the north wall for storage and a centraly located fire and stove for maximum heat in winter. Anyway, most things were fresh for the day or dried/cured. They kept cats, and chickens were alowed into the kitchen to clean the floor.

We have a lot to learn from our fore-bears.