No Frig Cook Book wanted

[Lynx]

Does any body know of a good cook book for no refrigeration cruising?

[Captain Smollett]

It's not a whole cookbook, but fwiw, Susan Hiscock gives some general recommendations in a small section of Cruising Under Sail.

[CharlieJ]

We cruise the majority of the time without iced food. We Do use the cooler, but mainly for keeping drinks cold, VERY seldom for any food. In fact, the only time we have food in the ice chest is the first couple of days of a longer cruise, when we may have some frozen meals stored in there, for the first few days. After that it's all non refrigerated foods.

We do keep ice in there, preferably block ice, for keeping drinks cold. Cruising where we do, on the Texas and Gulf coasts, cold drinks are far more important than cold food- we don't want to give up the room for the food  ;D

I really don't know of a cook book that specializes in recipes for that. We have and use several cookbooks for boats. Also, I have an online article about living woithout ice taken from the Good Old Boat online articles. It's from GOB Volume 2, Number 1, Jan/Feb 1999. Titled "Honey I tossed out the cooler", by Karen Larson.

It's still online, but the link is horrible, so look for the GOB articles.

It's really not all that hard to cruise without refrigeration- just walk the aisles of a large grocery store and look- there are MANY items available now that require no refrigeration, includeing whole milk in paper cartons that will keep for a year unopened.

Perhaps Laura will chime in later with some details of what she looks for.

[Norm]

A favorite topic!  I will ask Elizabeth (aka cubemonkey) to comment in detail.  First of all, she has a room full of cookbooks.  Second, she is a "wicked good" cook.

As you all know, I do a lot of cruising.  It is my job.  A chilly-bin is often not available or not reliable.  I plan around no cooling.  In 2004/2005 I did 9 months Boston-Caribbean-Portland with no ice or reefer.  We ate darn well.  (My 19 yo son, Andrew, was with me.  He loves spaghetti-o type meals... ugh.  He could spot the cans on sale a mile away.  Rip off the lid.  Jam in a spoon.  Kids.)

What I have learned is to eat vegetarian.  Fresh and healthy food.  Start looking into vegetarian cookbooks. 

I find adding a bit of meat to the recipies pretty easy.  Offshore that's tuna, spam (the other dark meat) corned beef, canned chicken, etc. 

Storing fresh fruits and vegetables is a challenge.  The locker must be dark, cool, and dry.  The dark part is simple on most boats.  It is the dry and cool part that challenges.  On Rumor, in '04/'05 we washed fresh food with a little chlorine and water to kill bateria,dried with a towel, stowed in a basket that was covered by a dish towel or paper towel.  Along the coast we shopped once or twice a week.  The lack of cold storage didn't make much difference.  The boy and I got to the point where a room temperature beer was just fine.

Best, Norman

[David_Old_Jersey]

The boy and I got to the point where a room temperature beer was just fine.

Their is a name for beer like that...... It's called PROPER Beer  ;D

I am not much of a cook, and nor is the Missus - I was thinking of sending her off to Classes for her next Birthday. But I am too scared.  :'(

Some decent (idiot proof) cookery books are on the list - preferaby without lots of stuff I have never heard off / never think off in the supermarket., but I suspect I will have to make my own book.

[CharlieJ]

Perro- I too can drink room temperature beer- but NOT the stuff that passes for beer made by most American beer brewers. There are some very good regional beers around, and they do fine, but I can hardly drink stuff like Budweiser ice cold, much less warm.  But then, we don't consider that beer anyway ;D

Down here my beer of choice is Shiner Bock. It's brewed in a local Czech brewery that's been around since 1908. The german immagrants brought the brewmeister over so they could have REAL beer, and it's been brewing the same way ever since.

[Frank]

As this is only my 2nd time going 'iceless', I'll leave it to more experienced to do the menu thing. BUT...I CAN tell you this..it is extremely "FREEING'....you're not worried about batteries..solar panels,switchs,running engines...or hauling ice,'finding' ice,draining water etc.True 'stress free' eating/drinking!!   Simple advice..aquire a taste for ice tea without ice and red wine...the rest falls into place

[barnaclephill]

FWIW

[barnaclephill]

Whoops, can't spell well.

FWIW I have 2 good cookbooks:

"keep it simple, sailor  ....easy recipes for small boats without a fridge" by Robbie Kirk, cost me $18 Australian. ISBN 0-646-43492-6 available from www.boatbooks-aust.com.au and telephoning the author.
General discussion first about ingredients/menu planning/pressure cookers, etc then sections on snacks; bread & cakes;eggs; batters; seafood;dinners;salads in 64 pages. Has a suggested 2 week menu, using some of the recipes in the book.

The other book seems to be written by her friend. It's called "Two burner stove chef" by Mary Marion. ISBN o-9750713-0-0 and it cost $16.50, probably available from Boatbooks Australia. It's book 4 of a series for caravanners & trailer sailors. 67 pages, more recipes per page, but a similar style to the other book.
I'd probably say it's a better book IMHO.
Publisher : Lake House, 88 Monterey Keys Drive, Monterey Keys, Queensland 4212, Australia

[skylark]

http://cruisenews.net/recipes/index.php

[Captain Smollett]

Great link...THANKS.   :)

Grog to ya!

[psyche]

I have several books for you to check on that you may find of interest: 1. The Storm Gourmet: A guide to Creating Extraordinary Meals Without Electricity By Daphne Nikolopoulos, Pineapple pressIt was written in 2005 after the Hurricanes hit the gulf coast area and no one had electricity. It is about foods you can stock up on in your pantry and prepare meals without cooking when the big one hits. It is adaptable for the boat. 2. The One Pan Galley Gormet Simple Cooking on Boats, Don Jacobson and John Roberts  International Marine/McGraw-Hill. Tells how you can turn a one burner galley into a goumet kitchen.  Some of the ingredients need to be refrigerated but many do not. But it offers many interesting and useful approaches to use in a galley. 2. The Bake Packer www.backepacker.com is a circular devise to use in a pan with water which lets steam do the baking. This is a great way to bake without an oven. You can use it to make bread, cakes or any bake goods. The military uses a similsr device. Check it out.  3.Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure. Lorna J. Sass, William Morrow press. "150 recipes to turn out a 2 hour taste in ten minutes" using your pressure cooker. This book offers a wide array of menus and recipes for vegetables, soups, Grains, Beans, desserts and more. 4. Charmaine Solomon's Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, Angus & Robertson publishers. This book offers a huge number of recipes and menus divided into the following sections Western Influence, Eastern Influence and East meets West...including great desserts. They use a lot of herbs and spices. I purchase most of my books through Bookfinder.com and save on the purchase. I hope this helps those that were interested. Dan

[CharlieJ]

We have the "One Pan Galley Gourmet" and I've tried several recipes from it, BUT both required more than one pan ;D

Looks to be a pretty good book none the less.

[AdriftAtSea]

I'd second the One Pan Galley Gourmet... However, I've managed to use just one pan for the few recipes that I've tried from it.

[Lynx]

I have One Pan Galley Gourmet, I do like it but most require some items to get chilled (frig or ice). However, I do like what I make from it. Just do not cook in a marina with a food service or you may find a job.

[Lynx]

I picked up a book printed in 1977 called "Two Burners and an Ice Chest" by Phyllis Bultmann. This is very good for a small boat and includes what you need for NO ICE cooking. Amazon has a few listed.

Great advice, includes what has been written on this board.

[Lynx]

I finally found a good one

Mix A Meal
http://www.mixameal.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1

Simple, easy with a lot of stuff in a small book, can cook for 1 or 10.