Here’s
how we approach turning Our Dreamtime
into a giant pantry.
We’ve
been acquiring non-perishable provisions for quite a while and finding good
storage places for them in every nook and cranny aboard. No real problem
there.
Next
job was taking care of our protein needs. Hunting for well priced bargains, we
built up a good mix of meats including good quality beef, steak, lamb, chicken,
pork and duck which was supplemented with seafood including frozen marinara
mix, calamari, mussels and some nice salmon fillets. To save money we often
purchased bulk quantities which were separated into portions for two, and
vacuum packed using our cryovac machine before being deep frozen.
The bags are reusable by snipping the heat sealed part off with scissors when opening them. The bag can then be washed out thoroughly and heat sealed again when refilled. It will be slightly smaller each time but the only waste is the tiny bit of bag snipped off.
The bags are reusable by snipping the heat sealed part off with scissors when opening them. The bag can then be washed out thoroughly and heat sealed again when refilled. It will be slightly smaller each time but the only waste is the tiny bit of bag snipped off.
Our cryovac machine is an essential part of our provisioning. |
As
our departure date approached, the provisioning continued on ‘Our Dreamtime’ with
a visit to the local farmers’ markets to buy fresh root vegetables. Karen then
washed, peeled and chopped a selection of these and once more they received the
cryovac treatment in meal size amounts and frozen.
When
the freezer finally reached capacity, we emptied it all out and then separated
it all into bags making up a week of main meals for two. For example, a bag may
contain 2 vac packs of steak, two of chicken along with one of salmon, duck and
a marinara mix to make a pasta meal.
The contents of our deep freezer spread across our salon for sorting before being repacked ready for us to eat our way through 56 meals to get to the bottom. |
When
all the frozen vac packs were sorted in this manner we reloaded the freezer in
such a way that we can eat our way down from the top enjoying a good variety of
meals week after week. All in all 56 main meals for two, sliced cold meats etc
for 34 lunches for two, an assortment of vegetables, fruit and herbs all in
cryovac bags plus even some puff pastry has filled our deep freezer to the max.
Vacuum sealing extends the life of all sorts of things such as sliced lemon ready for our G&Ts somewhere up the coast. |
Immediately
before departure, we purchased another two weeks supply of different meat main
courses which were again vacuum sealed in twin portions. These went into the
coldest area at the bottom of the refrigerator and will be used up before we
move onto the frozen supplies.
For
vegetables that weren't going into the freezer Karen still uses the techniques
of long term storage that her mum taught her as a child living aboard their
charter boat. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are separated into brown paper bags
in meal portions and are kept in well ventilated, cool dark storage. Onions are stored separately away from
potatoes in hessian. Carrots and beets
are wrapped in paper towel and refrigerated. Whole pumpkins last a long time,
make sure the stork is still attached.
Soft
green salad / vegetables such as lettuce broccoli, beans get dried and wrapped
very tight in paper towel and stored in vegetable bags in the refrigerator. We
check for moisture and change the paper towel when required. Celery is cut and
wrapped in aluminium foil.
Everything is labelled to make things easy to find when under way. |
Most
fruit we try to buy on the green side so it will ripen along the way. We only
ever buy enough ripe fruit to last us a week or so. Berries are washed in one
part vinegar to ten parts water then dried well. Some we cryovac and freeze to
be used for baking and cooking. The rest we keep in small containers with holes
in the lid in the top of the fridge as they don't need to be really cold.
Apples, oranges are kept out of the fridge spread around in a number of fruit
bowls and a string hanging basket. We rotate fruit often to help ripen evenly
and to avoid pressure bruising in one place. Bananas we buy very green leaving
them on the main trunk. As they ripen and are taken off the main stem we wrap
the stems in glad wrap they last much longer. Tomatoes are also purchased green
and not refrigerated so they last much longer.
We
are cheese lovers so we carry a large range. There’s nothing better with a nice
drink for sundowners. We try to buy cheeses in wax coating and the good old
cheddar we put in Olive oil in containers in the fridge. Brie Camembert and
blues have very long use by dates but we can’t help ourselves and tend to eat
them way before they get a chance to spoil. Cream cheese and cottage cheese
containers are stored upside down in the fridge.
Deli
meats such as Salami, Chorizo we cryovac and or hang.
Along
with a large range of dried herbs spices and blends, we have a fresh herb
garden on board. It gets secured in the forward head when under way but spends
the rest of the time out on deck or in our cockpit for sun and watering.
Nothing beats fresh herbs from our little on board planter box |
Of course we plan to supplement our supplies with lots of these. |
Needless
to say, we have also provisioned Our
Dreamtime with what we hope is an adequate supply of the absolute essential
commodity in all three varieties, red, white and sparkling.
To stay right up to date with what we’re up to and see lots more photos check out and 'like' our Dreamtime Sail Facebook page at Dreamtime Sail
If you have only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, or work through our previous adventures, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway.
We hope you enjoy reading the previous posts to catch up on our story.
Awesome! Great tips. Thanks heaps and happy sailing
ReplyDeleteThanks! Hope all's good across the Tasman. Cheers!
DeleteRead and understood. Great advice. Now all we need to do is decide a departure date :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the read. Cheers!
ReplyDelete