|
12-13-2007, 02:02 PM
|
#1
|
Ensign
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 5
|
hello fellow sailors. Im looking for some help. I did an atlantic crossing this year on a boat with no fridge or freezer (oh the pain). It made me realise how easy it is to live without one but different ways need to be found for storing food, the types of provisions bought and the recipes used to cook them. I am trying to compile a modern book on the subject. although the topic is covered in many older txt I want to put a modern slant on it. ie making it relevent to what is available in shops and new methods of storage ie vacuum packing.
If anyone has any great suggestions they have come up with and would like to see their name in print please email me at yachts_larder@yahoo.co.uk
thanks for your help, half of all profits from the book will go to the RNLI and the family's fund for the US Coast Guard at Elizebeth city
__________________
__________________
|
|
|
12-13-2007, 02:22 PM
|
#2
|
Admiral
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,619
|
Hi,
I will get back to you regarding a couple of recipies. Just wanted to say that I think your topic for the book is a great one. I suggest that you have a special section to two-burner meals, i.e. meals which do not require an oven.
Aye // Stephen
__________________
|
|
|
01-02-2008, 02:43 PM
|
#3
|
Commander
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 143
|
Stephen, Excellent idea for two-burner recipes. The years I spent in an apartment in Italy were all without an oven or refrigerator. On land, of course, one could go out daily for provisions. At sea, we must be more conservative. I did find something in the Middle East that was supposedly a stove-top oven for baking, though I never got around to trying it. Perhaps someone else here as heard of such a thing.
On board Sea Venture I have a great oven, but it generates too much heat for tropical use (hence a good barbecue). Hence, also, my preference for one-dish stove top cooking when the weather is anything but frigid.
Ben, I think you're idea is good. Hope you get lots of suggestions.
__________________
|
|
|
01-04-2008, 10:50 AM
|
#4
|
Admiral
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 3,067
|
Hi Ben,
Boats.com have an article on 2 burner skoff :--
http://www.boats.com/news-reviews/article/...ners-five-stars
May give some pointers. Also if you can find a Dutch Oven design this would be very interesting.
Richard
__________________
|
|
|
01-04-2008, 02:15 PM
|
#5
|
Admiral
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,098
|
I will try to contribute more later when I have more time to think (be kind, yesterday and today are two of my "senior days" and I have to do some quick fixes to mistakes I made yesterday!)
My interest in cooking is partly historical, adapting old recipes to modern techniques. One of the more interesting (to me) aspects of regional cuisine is that so many foods were created as a result of the lack of refrigeration and dependence upon locally produced foods. So, for example, sauerkraut was borne out of the need to carry that bountiful fall harvest through the winter and Spring. Sauerbraten and Boeuf a la Mode or Boeuf Bourgignon, corned beef, pastrami, dry-cured ham, bacon, sausage, are all ways to keep meat without refrigeration. Cheeses the same idea.
Powdered milk, canned cream.
More later.
|
|
|
02-07-2008, 12:19 AM
|
#6
|
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2007
Home Port: Washington DC
Vessel Name: SV Mahdee
Posts: 3,236
|
Sounds like a good thing to pull together.
Our family members, going back for 4 generations (since the late 1800's), have extensively engaged in backcountry wilderness trips via canoe or backpack lasting from 3 weeks to 3 months, mostly in remote areas of Canada. As such, we're a really experienced group in terms of hauling food around w/o refrigeration using all kinds of tricks to keep things from spoiling. I'll try to email you privately regarding some of our techniques and recipes.
While living in Japan for 2 years, I baked on a single gas burner stove. Its possible and not really that hard if you have a large enough (lobster or canning) pot to use as the "outer" container. I originally learned to do this when on extended canoe camping trips and needing bread.
There are some great books already out there that you might wish to look over include the following-- Harriet Barker's 1981 One Burner Gormet Book. I have a copy of that one and its great. 5. Further, you might wish to invest in an OLD copy of The Joy Of Cooking. The copies pre-1950 or so give a lot of info about ingredients and whether or not they require refrigeration. The section called "Know your ingredients" in the older ones is awesome.
And then there's " The Galley Guide: A purely humanitarian work planned out of consideration for those who cruise on water and for their digestive apparatus, the thing, after all, upon which success or failure largely depends"
Yes! that's the full title of the book.
The original owner of our boat, Sandy Moffat, wrote a few books including one about cooking while yachting. It's a hoot to read, since he writes from the perspective of a man who is used to having servants and/or a wife cooking for him and he's writing for his contemporaries in the yachting community. There are some good bits of info in his book. You might look for a copy of it: Alexander W Moffat's The Galley Guide. It came out in the 1920's and was reprinted a few times, the last of which was 1977. You can usually find a copy on Amazon.com Moffat Books on Amazon
A cookbook software developer/company owner is the granddaughter of Alexander Moffat and was inspired by his Galley Guide as discussed in this link. cookbook software
Have fun with your writing project.
|
|
|
02-08-2008, 04:52 PM
|
#7
|
Ensign
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 37
|
Top of the head thoughts:
Hanging nets don't work well for me -- even if they don't hit anything while swinging at sea the movement chafes at the flesh of fruits kept in them and makes a mess underneath.
Aluminum foil packets on the grill allow you to cook nearly anything on the grill and keep heat out of the boat. I haven't tried baking bread in the grill but it is on my list of experiments.
Pressure cookers are indeed as big a boon as they are purported to be.
Anyone can make mayonnaise and the ingredients last much longer than the product.
The older editions of Joy of Cooking are most useful for cooking on a boat, particularly at sea.
Cook ahead before passages and vacuum seal meal-sized amounts; you can heat the meal by boiling salt water and dropping in the plastic bag. A trivet or folded towel in the bottom of the pot keeps the plastic from melting. The trivet is better so you don't have to get the salt out of the towel.
The Internet is a wonderful tool for the sea-going cook. Find recipe sites that match your cooking style (what works for me may not work for you) and catch up while in port. What you do is likely to capture the imagination of others and you'll get lots of good ideas.
Accommodation must be made for the environment. Regardless of what Amy Vanderbilt and Emily Post say, peas are best eaten with a spoon while at sea.
Elegance is a valued commodity. There is something to be said for linen napkins.
sail fast, eat well, dave
__________________
sail fast, dave
S/V Auspicious
|
|
|
03-10-2008, 01:49 AM
|
#8
|
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2007
Home Port: Washington DC
Vessel Name: SV Mahdee
Posts: 3,236
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Auspicious
Aluminum foil packets on the grill allow you to cook nearly anything on the grill and keep heat out of the boat. I haven't tried baking bread in the grill but it is on my list of experiments.
|
I like re-using things and since aluminum foil is a throw-away, we use it very sparingly. I go through a roll every 6 months or 1 year. Instead, we have used our small camping cookpots on the grill. We use them over an open fire when camping, so they're fine for the grill, too. They're small enough that they fit nicely. You can bake bread on the grill either with a cast iron dutch oven (heavy, heavy) or by setting up a double boiler type situation. Just put a smaller pot you can seal inside a larger pot. Put anything burn proof on the bottom of the bigger pot to suspend the smaller one above its bottom. By anything, I mean literally anything from rocks, shells, nuts, bolts, flatware, anything that will keep that little pot off the bottom of the big pot. You can make yourself a little metal stand if you don't like throwing weird stuff in the bottom of your cook pot! You keep water in the bigger pot at a level below the smaller pot (since boiling water is only 100C/212F it won't bake anything, but in the double boiler above the boiling water, the temperature is much hotter. Don't burn yourself while tending the boiling water which must be re-filled from time to time!). It works well for cakes, banana bread, things like that, too. I have a batter-bread recipe that works well with this method.
|
|
|
03-10-2008, 12:19 PM
|
#9
|
Admiral
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,098
|
Modern mayonnaise is quite safe, and is less dangerous in tropical climates than homemade mayo. If you wanted to carry mayonnaise for sandwiches, etc. in a boat without refrigeration, you can buy the individual mayonnaise packets found in fast food restaurants. They can be ordered from restaurant supply houses.
I preferred carrying lots of prepared mayonnaise and using my eggs for other things. When eggs ran out I substituted mayonnaise for the eggs and oil in the batter to bake cakes. The sweetness of the fruits I put into the batter pretty much offset the light vinegar-y taste in the mayo.
I think I'm missing something regarding Auspicious' tip about vacuum sealing pre-prepared meals in vacuum bags. Home prepared meals sealed in these bags is not sterile and cannot be stored without refrigeration or (preferably) freezing.
My brother loves pickled eggs, though I'm not quite as fond of them. However, for adding to salads and such, pickling eggs is a good way to keep eggs out of the refrigerator even longer than your fresh eggs. If you pickle them in vinegar and spiced beet juice, as he does, they're quite an attractive addition to meals.
|
|
|
03-11-2008, 04:04 AM
|
#10
|
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2007
Home Port: Washington DC
Vessel Name: SV Mahdee
Posts: 3,236
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeanneP
Modern mayonnaise is quite safe, and is less dangerous in tropical climates than homemade mayo. If you wanted to carry mayonnaise for sandwiches, etc. in a boat without refrigeration, you can buy the individual mayonnaise packets found in fast food restaurants. They can be ordered from restaurant supply houses.
I preferred carrying lots of prepared mayonnaise and using my eggs for other things. When eggs ran out I substituted mayonnaise for the eggs and oil in the batter to bake cakes. The sweetness of the fruits I put into the batter pretty much offset the light vinegar-y taste in the mayo.
I think I'm missing something regarding Auspicious' tip about vacuum sealing pre-prepared meals in vacuum bags. Home prepared meals sealed in these bags is not sterile and cannot be stored without refrigeration or (preferably) freezing.
My brother loves pickled eggs, though I'm not quite as fond of them. However, for adding to salads and such, pickling eggs is a good way to keep eggs out of the refrigerator even longer than your fresh eggs. If you pickle them in vinegar and spiced beet juice, as he does, they're quite an attractive addition to meals.
|
I agree about the mayo, though it is very easy to make small quantities of homemade mayo right when you need it, too. I also substitute mayo for eggs/oil when I'm out of those ingredients. It used to be very easy to find dried eggs or dry egg substitute for use when baking. These days, I'm not sure where you'd find it.
You can do quick canning in a pressure cooker, I don't know if the vacuum bags can be brought up to the 15lbs for 15 minutes needed to sterilize things. Probably would melt the bag? Canning does work, though. Even for left overs.
__________________
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
Search this Thread |
|
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
Recent Threads |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|