Is bad food spoiling your travels?

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY GLENN MARSHALL

You’ve had to work hard to earn the cash you spend on food, so if you allow it to spoil you might as well throw your money away. How can you save money by eliminating food spoilage?

When you’re getting ready to turn off the beaten track, packing enough quality food to last is high on the list. These days the task is somewhat easier as both the quality and variety of food that can be freeze dried, dehydrated, retorted, Cryovaced or vacuum-sealed is amazing. Even plastic storage containers are getting better.

Shelf life is of paramount importance: getting sick from tainted food when you’re out in the bush is the last thing you want to happen. Always check that packages are sealed correctly so that oxygen and moisture can’t breach the seal and cause bacteria to grow.

Here are some ways that you can carry food products safely, easily and for long periods of time to allow you to spend more time bush without the need for a freezer.

FREEZE DRIED FOODS

Freeze-drying food is done in three stages. First, the food is frozen, and then up to 98% of the moisture is removed in a vacuum chamber. Finally, the food is sealed in an airtight container. Since the structure of the food isn’t changed during freeze-drying, the food retains its physical properties like taste, colour, shape and texture. All you need to do is add water.

Freeze dried food is perfect for RVers as it is lightweight, easy to store and doesn’t require refrigeration. Since yeast and other microorganisms cannot survive in freeze-dried food, it is a fairly safe option.

Freeze-dried food has a shelf life relative to the temperature at which it is stored. If you can store your food products at an ambient temperature below 21˚C you can expect a shelf life exceeding 10 years!

DEHYRATED FOODS

Food is dehydrated by heating and circulating air around it, absorbing the moisture from the food. The air temperature is low so that your food is dried, not cooked. By removing the moisture from food, the growth of microorganisms and bacteria is prevented.

Apart from the initial outlay for a dehydrator, this method of preparing food is one of the cheapest and easiest methods of food preservation.

Store dehydrated foods where it is cool, dark and dry. The quality of your food is affected by heat, so the storage temperature determines the shelf life.

RETORTED FOODS

In the past, retorted foods were sealed in a metal can or a glass jar and heated to kill all microorganisms that might exist in the food, but now advances in polymer technologies have enabled plastic pouches to be developed. Now that we can reach temperatures of 120˚C to heat the food, microorganisms are completely destroyed.

Retorted products can be stored at room temperature for extended periods of time as long as the seals remain intact. With cans being so heavy, and glass having a high risk of breakage, the introduction of plastic pouches and metal foils has been a godsend for RVers. They are compact, lightweight and easy to store.

It is advisable to check the packaging every so often, especially if you have been driving in rough country where rubbing can cause breaches in the plastic pouches. If a seal has been broken, it is advisable to discard the package.

Retorted products are easy to reheat, in a pot of boiling water, in the microwave or in an oven.

CRYOVAC FOODS

A Cryovac machine is similar to your home vacuum sealer but on a larger scale. It is used by butchers for your meat requirements and by other food manufacturers for products such as cheese, processed meats, fish and seafood. As with vacuum-sealed foods, refrigeration is still required for the types of foods that need it. Cryovac foods have a longer shelf life than vacuum-packed foods. For example, Cryovac meat can be stored for up to 6 weeks (chicken is less) in a fridge kept at a consistent 4˚C and longer in a freezer without suffering freezer burn.

Butchers will Cryovac your meat for a small charge if you ask them, although you have to book ahead to get it done with some butchers.

VACUUM-PACKED FOODS

A vacuum sealer removes the air from the bag, using a fan to extract the air without letting any additional air enter. When all of the air has been removed, a heated strip melts the plastic to produce an airtight seal.

This is a tool that anybody who loves camping should own. Not only can you vacuum-pack fresh meat, you can use it for fruit, vegetables and almost anything edible. We use ours to help when marinating food. It is also excellent for portion control and extending the life of food.

Being relatively small and light, a vacuum sealer is ideal to keep in your RV and can still be used with an inverter when bush camping. Dometic have a 12V/240V version (see box at right) that doesn’t require an inverter and allows you to vacuum-seal your fish as soon as you have cleaned it.

REHEATING YOUR FOOD

Cryovac, vacuum-packed and retorted foods can be cooked in a pot of water in their packaging if required. It is easy to warm a casserole or fish in simmering water and you can then use the left over water to wash the dishes.

You can even wrap these packages up in foil and secure them in your engine bay as you are driving. By the time you set up camp, your dinner will be hot enough to enjoy. Others have dangled packages in hot bore water on the side of an outback track and found their dinner ready in no time.

FOOD STORAGE CONTAINERS

The perfect food storage container has to be spill-proof, microwavable and suitable for cupboard, fridge or freezer. It must also be able to keep your food fresh.

Tupperware is king when it comes to food storage. I have used many different types of plastic storage containers over the years, and I was forever having to contend with leakage or cracking. Tupperware is robust and has a lifetime warranty: you can’t beat that. Tupperware Fridgemates keep vegetables crisp and fresh for longer than any other container.

Store root vegetables in a cardboard box or wrap them in newspaper, and they will last for weeks.

It is best to buy vegetables that don’t need refrigeration when possible. Keep in mind that if you have no space to store them, vegetables kept in a plastic bag will sweat and age more quickly.

WATER USAGE

In isolated areas and in many bush camps, water is a priceless commodity and one that can be hard to come by – at least, water that is safe to consume. When you’re calculating your water storage needs, take into account any water needed for reconstitution of freeze dried foods or for reheating retorted, Cryovac or vacuum-sealed foods.

FROM THE ROAD

Rachel Treasure works for Happy Camper Gourmet, a company that produces freeze-dried and dehydrated meals for campers and RVers. “Food, especially meat, can be quite expensive on the outback tracks,” she says. Their company recognises that having good food that won’t spoil is a necessity when you’re on the road, and so their meals have a best before date of 18 months from when they were cooked. That’s enough to tide you over until you reach the next supermarket!

Rachel adds that their meals can be heated in a pot of boiling water of any quality – so you can save that precious drinking water, too.

Heike Herrling has been on the road for 12 months and has plenty of experience cooking and travelling on a budget, some of which she blogs about at www.heikeherrling.com.

“I’ve become a Tetris wizard when filling the fridge/freezer to the brim,” she says. “A full fridge is more efficient than a half full fridge as it keeps our food at a constant temperature and consumes less gas when we are free camping.”

She suggests you make sure that all fruit and veg is clean and dry before storing it in the fridge, to slow down the deterioration, and always buys meat with the longest use-by date. “As soon as I get back to camp, I either freeze it, or cook it.”

And the best way to get fresh produce? “Track down farmers markets and farm gate sales wherever you go. It is the best way to find a bargain.”