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Old 05-28-2016, 03:20 PM   #61
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Canada has some excellent grocery chains (Costco too) as does Mexico. Small islands anywhere tend to be problematic. But when cruising we do like to focus on that, not going shopping.
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Old 05-28-2016, 03:27 PM   #62
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That was part of the reason for my initial question and is behind our reasoning. When cruising in the US, we can find fresh vegetables and fruits and berries along the way and generally do ok, but meats are a gamble so we prefer to stock all we can from a source we know and trust. When cruising outside the US, finding good meats in a grocery store is far less likely.
Canada has some excellent grocery chains and Costco too. Mexico as well, but the culture there is much more around fresh foods from narrowly focused local specialists. But when cruising, we rather focus on that and keep the need to go shopping to a minimum.
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Old 05-28-2016, 03:49 PM   #63
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That acquisition was 2013, and you've never been back again?
We've been to Charlotte since but not bought any groceries.
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Old 05-28-2016, 06:46 PM   #64
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I just replaced my fridge (and freezer) after the unit died full of bait! I gotta tell you.....that really stinks! I'll spare you the details!

After installing my new fridge, the first thing I put into it was some good IPA beer (of course) and the freezer's first tenant is bait! Since the fridge came with a small ice cube tray, that got placed into the freezer before I departed the boat. I never made ice on my boat before.
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Old 05-29-2016, 06:35 PM   #65
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I just replaced my fridge (and freezer) after the unit died full of bait! I gotta tell you.....that really stinks! I'll spare you the details!.
Ambient (brand) makes a refrigerator/freezer temperature gauge with an alarm. I bought one. It has one gauge in the display and then two remotes. $45 on Amazon.

And both refrigerator and freezer have alarms that you can preset to any temp.
I like mine.

Ambient has "improved" (specialized) their units. I did some serious debating as the old one had a barometer in it too. I miss that feature but couldn't justify buying two when I Needed the reefer/freezer model.

You will want Ambient not the Acurite brand sold at Walmart. Acurite (when I tried 'em) were only visible from dead on center. That's not good if you want to view the meter from across the boat.

I like this one (the refrigerator model) because of the alarms. It's something to consider if your rely on your refrigerator. No surprises.
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Old 05-29-2016, 08:07 PM   #66
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I think that's a great idea!



I got one for Christmas and love it but you've got to be onboard to hear the alarms. This happened during my 2-week hiatus from the boat after my daughter's wedding.

I plan to only set the alarms during extended periods aboard, but love the dual temps and alarms. I set one to each fridge for easy reference.
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Old 05-29-2016, 10:33 PM   #67
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I was in Sam's the other day and noticed all the fresh chicken was Tyson branded, so the comment about the quality makes sense. Might be why even though its over an hour farther than the hour we are from three Sam's, Ann always waits until we are going by a Costco to stock up on meats. We are on the last of a "six pack" of thighs I got a few months ago and they have been really good. Anyone who's seen some of the boat food pix I've posted here knows we take it pretty seriously.

By the way, Kroger owns a bunch of local chains, including Harris Teeter here in the southeast, as well as Ralph's out in SoCal, Fred Meyer in the PNW, so some of you have likely been in one. I've always found the quality to be acceptable, and found the post-acquisition Ralph's near where I stay in LA much better than the "pre"on my visit earlier this month. Still went to Gel$on'$ or Whole Food$ for produce though, nice to have a choice, not that the stuff at Ralph's looked "bad".
Here in east Podunk, NC, HT has been the only somewhat upscale choice vs. Food Lion, Piggly Wiggly, Walmart, but Publix is about to bring some competition; though I have to say the pork products at the Pig are pretty good (and about the only thing that is).

When you are cruising full time, one doesn't always have the optimum choices, which is why strategic vacuum seal freezing is great when you do.
vacum sealing i learned about years ago and own three. Two that use bags and one commercial chamber machine. Keep one at the ranch one at my other home and one that goes on the boats or in the camper. The chamber machine cost $1700 and the fact is it is no better than the $100 Cosco machines that take up little space and can go anywhere.
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Old 05-29-2016, 10:38 PM   #68
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You describe my wife to a T. It amazes me how can we agree on a specific shopping list, representing the ingredients for a carefully planned (by me, but agreed by her) series of meals, and she shows up with three times as much food. She also shows up with three times the clothes she needs covering every possible occasion, even though most of them (including even formals and funerals) aren't even a possibility. The reality is that we already have all the food and clothes we need on board for at least 2 weeks, even if we don't catch any fish for dinner. As a result (and thanks to the fact that I have a commercial quality vacuum packer), our main freezer has 9 cubic feet of professionally sealed food of all sorts (or at least all -- there are a few items, like mushrooms, that are apparently unsafe to vac pack), dating back years. Surprisingly, I find that steaks and other meat are (almost) imperceptibly identical to their recently frozen counterparts.
I also have a commercial machine but mushrooms i dry then vacum seal. Vacum packing saves freezer space and properly done keeps the item as good as fresh
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Old 05-29-2016, 10:43 PM   #69
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I think that's a great idea!



I got one for Christmas and love it but you've got to be onboard to hear the alarms. This happened during my 2-week hiatus from the boat after my daughter's wedding.

I plan to only set the alarms during extended periods aboard, but love the dual temps and alarms. I set one to each fridge for easy reference.
Hey that looks like mine! <smile>...Don't use it anymore cause i lost both sensors that go in the freezer. I have a small light up high that warns me when the power is down at the outlet the freezer is on. I have had issues with circuit overload finding my freezer almost thawed and that gave me the incentive to buy the same control you have. The light is more dependable than the alarm which is not laoud enough for me
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Old 05-29-2016, 10:44 PM   #70
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I find the advantage of the commercial machines to be their ability to do volume. If you're sealing 10 packages, then you'll have to give the Foodsavers a brief rest along the way. Also, the Foodsavers won't hold up to commercial volumes.
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Old 05-29-2016, 10:48 PM   #71
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We have nothing in our freezer currently.
Hubby's new toy at home is a freeze drier so he's been freeze drying everything under the sun and storing it all in Mylar bags with oxygen scavengers.

The very first thing he freeze dried when he first bought it was ice cream. Lol
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Old 05-29-2016, 11:04 PM   #72
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I find the advantage of the commercial machines to be their ability to do volume. If you're sealing 10 packages, then you'll have to give the Foodsavers a brief rest along the way. Also, the Foodsavers won't hold up to commercial volumes.
True but my experiance has been i often revert to the $100 machine cause the sealer burns up in my commercial machine. I've never replaced a sealer on the cheapos but i must keep on hand extra seal wire for the commercial machine. I've never done volume except for when i was raising certified organic chickens at my ranch. Didn't work, they tasted great and I kept all 75 for my own use and givaways. The intent was to start doing this commercially. I think maybe a dozen were eaten then lost power, didnt notice for a few days so they ended up ground and used to feed the pasture. That was an expensive ah oh
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Old 05-29-2016, 11:16 PM   #73
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A single ice try fills our boat's freezer. Good we drink wine and don't fish other than at the supermarket.
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Old 05-29-2016, 11:34 PM   #74
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A single ice try fills our boat's freezer. Good we drink wine and don't fish other than at the supermarket.

.....I've had freezers like that. Greenline boats are all electric with fairly large freezers they are the only manufacturer i know of that builds boats designed to be energy efficient with all the creature comforts.

I used to like wine but modern practice involves manmade chemicals in huge quantities which are ruining our great farmland in Ca. not to mention the adverse long term health effects. Vineyards are like a cancer covering the ground here. I know of a couple of wineries making wine the way God intended without chemicals, additives, but they are the exceptions. Drop by and i will take you to them most are only open a few hours a week and one dosen't bother to open because he sells out at $40 1/2 bottle before he even has it bottled. Good stuff once you taste it you will find it hard to drink the chemical stuff. Beer has gone the same way except that it isn't destroying the land
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Old 05-29-2016, 11:44 PM   #75
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We have nothing in our freezer currently.
Hubby's new toy at home is a freeze drier so he's been freeze drying everything under the sun and storing it all in Mylar bags with oxygen scavengers.

The very first thing he freeze dried when he first bought it was ice cream. Lol
not a bad idea. One of my customers wanted dried honey. Claimed he saw it in a store and thought it would work great on his nut products. I laughed because honey is 18% water the water is the catalist that carries the simple sugars anitoxidents and nutrients that comprise honey. I found the product it was, Aunt Patties Organic Honey Crystals and was sucrose not honey. I called the company and they got mad at me so i called their organic certifier and they wouldnt talk to me so i contacted the USDA that certifys the certifiers and they told me the word honey can be used on anything because there is no legal definition of honey.
So I'm sure you could find a market for dried ice cream
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Old 05-29-2016, 11:54 PM   #76
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not a bad idea. One of my customers wanted dried honey. Claimed he saw it in a store and thought it would work great on his nut products. I laughed because honey is 18% water the water is the catalist that carries the simple sugars anitoxidents and nutrients that comprise honey. I found the product it was, Aunt Patties Organic Honey Crystals and was sucrose not honey. I called the company and they got mad at me so i called their organic certifier and they wouldnt talk to me so i contacted the USDA that certifys the certifiers and they told me the word honey can be used on anything because there is no legal definition of honey.
So I'm sure you could find a market for dried ice cream
Well NASA's got the market on that already...the astronauts eat it in space.

Pretty sure freeze drying honey wouldn't work very well. As an experiment and because for some reason we had like 6 bottles of It, hubby tried to do bbq sauce. It was a disaster.

He's done hamburger patties, pork chops, steaks, various fruits, and eggs so far.
Good on a shelf as long as it's sealed up for like 25-30 years.
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Old 05-30-2016, 12:25 AM   #77
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I remember buying and enjoying astronaut ice-cream at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale. It was one of our special treats when the budget allowed. We'd get Neapolitan because I liked chocolate, Son preferred vanilla and Baby loved strawberry. We could share.

My Orion bank stock paid for our museum memberships so we went all the time. It was a great place to explore, learn and have fun. They added an IMAX movie house too.

I liked the scale where you could pick your planet for weight. One in particular agreed with me! Cannot recall which planet it was but I was right trim there!
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Old 05-30-2016, 11:37 AM   #78
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He's done hamburger patties, pork chops, steaks, various fruits, and eggs so far.

What's it like when it's rehydrated? Does the food return to its original texture and taste?
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Old 05-30-2016, 11:47 AM   #79
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He's done hamburger patties, pork chops, steaks, various fruits, and eggs so far.

What's it like when it's rehydrated? Does the food return to its original texture and taste?
Yes, have you actually eaten any of his preserved foods? Perhaps they're perfect. I know you have to add water to them, but don't know anything more.
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Old 05-30-2016, 12:13 PM   #80
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He's done hamburger patties, pork chops, steaks, various fruits, and eggs so far.

What's it like when it's rehydrated? Does the food return to its original texture and taste?
Yes it does...I can't tell a difference between a rehydrated hamburger patty and a fresh one. Same with the other meats.
Now the fruit we don't rehydrate. Strawberries and raspberries are delicious.
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