Ideas for larger-scale meal transport in an Interstate?

[Piggy Bank]

Could you adapt something out of this? It is merely copper tube and aluminum fins.

https://www.amazon.com/J1800002410-d...s%2C82&sr=8-75

[DaveG]

Curious why you don’t want to use a trailer. We are considering renting a small cargo trailer for a trip. As you mentioned in another thread purchase of the “right” one can be difficult.

[Dirkpitt]

why not a 12volt freezer and the ice block. freeze while driving and then use block overnight.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Dirkpitt

why not a 12volt freezer and the ice block. freeze while driving and then use block overnight.

This is a good question, and it's a method that we might migrate toward eventually.

BUT, the first question is *WHAT* 12-volt freezer, exactly?

Most of what I see in this product category is low-end mass market junk that plugs into a car cigarette lighter. Is there a product known to be extremely durable, that would be worth the investment and capable of withstanding road punishment, including outdoor carriage during wet weather?

The answer may be yes and I just haven't found it yet. The answer was certainly yes when I finally identified and purchased the Italian masterpiece known as the Vitrifrigo C115 marine refrigerator that replaced our original Dometic propane-fueled atrocity.

We developed the ice block strategy because we needed a fail-safe method, hence my focus on freezer durability. We invested heavily in our current set-up because we custom designed and welded a hitch carrier for the Yeti, which also serves multiple other purposes, with this whole approach having evolved across years of effort. So if we migrate away from this method, what we adopt in its stead would need to be pretty remarkable. Which is why I'm trying to improve upon what already exists, as a first measure.

Pic of the carrier that my husband welded. We have a thermal wrap to go around the Yeti while we are underway, to increase the R factor. The fuel can bracket is bolt-on-bolt-off design, so we don't always need to carry it. We do a lot of chainsawing on my wilderness property, which is why we need it:

[DaveG]

Originally Posted by DaveG

Curious why you don’t want to use a trailer. We are considering renting a small cargo trailer for a trip. As you mentioned in another thread purchase of the “right” one can be difficult.

Seems like this is somewhat of a brainstorming thread just throwing tested and untested ideas out. Early in the thread it's about how to keep a large amount of food frozen to allow feeding a group while boondocking. Thinking of just a brainstorm idea how about this:
If you do this activity often it may be worth investing. If not often then rent the big item, the trailer, only when needed. Obtain a GoalZero or equivalent and a small chest freezer. A pretty good but not large freezer (with a "flash freeze" option) may require about 700 watts and need to cycle once a day to maintain contents. A smaller cargo tailer can carry lots of stuff not just a chest freezer. (And the other pieces, gen & freezer, may come in handy in other ways and places during the time not boondocking?). Dragging a trailer into rough terrain may be an issue but then the van doesn't want to go into the wild either.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by DaveG

Curious why you don’t want to use a trailer. We are considering renting a small cargo trailer for a trip. As you mentioned in another thread purchase of the “right” one can be difficult.

Two words: Global shortages.

(1) Can't buy a trailer. Have put money down on one, but the odds of us getting it in time to customize with solar and lithium are not better than 50/50 at this point. The distributor from whom I wish to buy told me that CargoMate is backordered nationally by 8,000 units. Many do not have delivery dates until 2023. That's just one manufacturer, but the others are in similar shape.
Thread here.

(2) Can't rent a trailer for the same reason. Some of the tradespeople who wish to buy but are unable have grabbed their ankles on long-term rentals. They are using them.

And I am not sure that U-Haul would allow its trailers to be taken out of the country. Even if they did, there's no way I could mount solar on a U-Haul trailer - holes drilled in the roof?! - and the rental would cost me $525.00 plus tax.

For those reasons, I'm exploring Plan B.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by DaveG

Seems like this is somewhat of a brainstorming thread just throwing tested and untested ideas out.....

^^ THAT is the absolute best kind of thread EVER. That is exactly how new ideas are born.

[InterBlog]

For the benefit of those who may be encountering this thread for the first time, let me give an 8-year, 2-paragraph recap before I introduce a major plot twist.

Even before buying our Airstream Interstate, we discovered that transporting frozen home-made meals revolutionized long-haul travel to destinations where food is not readily available. It eliminated the need to spend precious limited vacation time diverting to obtain groceries and then slaving over a hot stove or camp fire, and it simplified the logistics during times when it was difficult to prepare meals from scratch in off-grid areas, such as during prolonged rainfall events. It took most of the work and hassle out of the meal process, which was ideal, because we really want to be on vacation when we travel, after all.

What made this strategy possible in both the transit and off-grid contexts was the Yeti cooler, which can keep food frozen for at least a week at a time, even in hot weather. This thread largely focused on methods for extending the freeze time and streamlining the logistics. We custom-welded a hitch carrier for our Yeti. A tremendous amount of time and money went into the whole scheme, in other words.

Fast forward to today, and to a discovery recently made by one of my non-forum buddies: the commercial dehydrator shown in the screengrab below (in case this link to it later expires). My buddy has created a mash-up that combines Airstreaming with homesteading. Those two lifestyle elements may seem counterintuitive, like polar opposites at first glance, but they are really not.

Long story short, you would not believe HOW GOOD the food is that can be prepared using this commercial dehydrator. We have a paradigm in our culture that food can only be produced, obtained, and prepared in certain specific ways, and nobody thinks outside of that box. When my buddy first bought this dehydrator, I thought, “Cool - she can make dried fruit and jerky.” *BUT NO*. She can use that device make pretty much everything she puts her mind to. She can dehydrate all manner of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and meats, and then combine those ingredients with spices into Foodsaver vacuum packs for long-term storage as one-pot meals, just without the water and the need for refrigeration or freezing.

And when those packs are later broken open and reconstituted, THEY ARE DELICIOUS. I had assumed that they would taste pretty much the same as the inferior freeze-dried crap that can be bought for exorbitant prices at camping stores, but they are much better. Furthermore, the dehydrated ingredients can be cleverly combined with a limited amount of canned or otherwise preserved ingredients to create value-added recipes.

And here’s the kicker for owners of Interstates and other severely size- and weight-restricted rigs:

THE RESULTING MEALS HARDLY WEIGH ANYTHING, NOR DO THEY TAKE UP MUCH SPACE. That is a total game changer. My Yeti cooler packed with frozen ice blocks and mounted on our hitch carrier… that whole assembly weighs well over 100 pounds in comparison.

Obviously there is an entry level price to be paid for the commercial dehydrator itself, and a significant learning curve for developing the best-tasting meals using it. But having learned these things, if I were starting this large-scale meal transport process all over today, I think I might go the dehydrator route instead of adopting the ice block challenge, especially given the much-longer storage potential of the dehydrated stock.

Pics below the dehydrator screenshot -

Dehydrated chicken and pinto beans, both of which are wonderful crunchy snacks right out of the container, as well as being key ingredients in one-pot recipes. And a meal of salmon burger, reconstituted broccoli, and sprout salad. The sprouts are the only component of the plate that was fresh. Everything else in the picture had been in non-refrigerated storage for at least 6 months prior to preparation.

[Tyler2you]

Hi Interblog,

I'm starting the planning for a fishing/hunting/backpacking trip to Alaska in May 2024 and we will be crossing through Canada on the way. I was wondering if you'd ever been hassled at the border over your food? One of the guys I'm going with used to make the trip every year and says there's a 20 Kilo limit on multi-ingredient foods like prepared meals. Meats apparently also have to be packaged with a label showing country of origin.

He thought the limits were per-person which should give us some margin, but wasn't positive. Probably the major issue would be all the homemade jerky we would be packing.

Appreciate any tips. Thanks

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Tyler2you

Hi Interblog,

…. I was wondering if you'd ever been hassled at the border over your food? …
…

Appreciate any tips. Thanks

I have not been hassled. As a matter of fact, when we crossed in 2020 during the pandemic, I was drilled on my onboard food supply because they were not going to admit us into Canada until they were sure that I was carrying two full weeks of food with us for quarantine purposes, given that we would not be able to step outside of my property line or access a grocery store.

I recommend not carrying any fresh fruits, meats, or vegetables. When I am asked about food, I reply, “I have nothing fresh - it’s all processed.” Upon answering that way, no further questions have ever been asked, except within the quarantine context. Cooking and freezing are both forms of processing (as is dehydrating). The point is to prevent infectious food-borne organisms from crossing the border. A vacuum bag of jambalaya cooked and then frozen inside a 35-pound block of ice is a low-risk item.

American border agents can be very sticky about certain items, depending on what is a prevailing concern. Citrus was a big deal for several years. Knowing that we should not carry fresh, I will carry canned fruit. At times I have had to produce the cans for inspection by the agents, and I always tell them that I will throw them in the trash if that’s what they want, but my understanding is that processed food is OK. I’ve never been asked to dispose of anything.

Dog food was also the big deal du jour some years back, with border agents not allowing opened packages to cross the border. Not knowing when the dog food restriction might once again rear its ugly head, I usually carry a sealed bag in addition to my flip-top kibble container.

In sum, I have never been hassled, but of course, where the border is concerned, past performance is never a guarantee of future results.

[InterBlog]

Almost nine years on this thread now, and I am in the process of leveling up my food transport logistics once again - maybe for the last time.

I've got an Engel MT45 on order. One poster (Slowmover?) mentioned that as a brand name for consideration about 5 years ago, but the options were not resonating with me at that time. But re-researching the options again this year proved to be fruitful. I chose this one for two reasons:

(1) It can be used as EITHER a fridge or a freezer. That represents invaluable versatility. My Vitrifrigo fridge is now 5 years old and it should last a long time to come, but it doesn't hurt to have a second unit that I could run as a fridge in a pinch.

(2) It's designed to be rugged and to stand up to the kind of constant vibration that we deal with on the road. I hope it lives up to reputation.

We intend to carry it in our solar trailer along with the EcoFlow Delta Pro that will power it, but we will retrofit our custom hitch carrier to also carry it in a weather-protected manner if we ever need to travel more lightly with it while leaving the trailer at home. It has a roughly comparable footprint (25.5 x 14.3 x 20 inches) to the Yeti 50 (24 x 18 x 17.5 inches) that has been carrying our frozen food all these years, so a retrofit should be achievable given that we do our own welding.

So in other words, if this transaction works out, I will be abandoning my ice block monolith strategy and going forward with an actual powered portable freezer. That will cut my work way, way down - what a luxury it would be to not have to worry about completing all that work every year, to form up those massive ice blocks. Just put the frozen food in the unit and turn it on.

What remains to be seen is:

(1) Whether it actually works out as intended, and

(2) Whether Wachuko buys one of them, too.



Screenshot of the product listing in case it later disappears:

[InterBlog]

Milestone moment as I begin filling the Engel with Foodsaver’d frozen meals.

It’s about the same size as the Yeti cooler I used for years, but I am NOT losing half my storage volume to ice, so it feels cavernous by comparison.

[InterBlog]

All high-end mobile appliances should come with a custom clothing purchase option, and Engel did not disappoint. Amazing craftsmanship and design in their fridge/freezer transit case. I am one of those people who tries to buy high quality items one time, instead of low-end stuff that needs to be replaced frequently. I am hoping that this freezer lives up to its “legend” reputation.

Engel is aware that the weak spot in the freezer is the lid, which doesn’t have cooling coils running through it. The case is extra-insulated on top to compensate for that.

[InterBlog]

Postscript directed at T1N Interstate owners -

FYI, Engel makes a 17-quart fridge-freezer that measures 21.2" L x 12" W x 14.2" H. As such, it would fit inside the Interstate’s closet and still leave plenty of room for other items.

Seventeen quarts is not very large, however, and surface area to volume ratios being what they are, the 34-quart alternative measuring 25.5" L x 14.3" W x 16.3" H offers twice the volume and would fit nicely on the floor between the jack-knife couches all the way to the rear, without interfering with the bed operation, and with side clearances sufficient for ventilation (for those owners who have the RS Interstate lay-out).

Either option would extend the food range on remote trips - the 34-quart considerably so.

The Engel MT-45 that I described in posts above above was a perfect choice if we are hauling our utility trailer, but it was never our intention to haul that trailer on every trip, just extended trips to Canada. For that reason, I’m considering smaller options for extending future trailer-less trips.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Here (below) is what my in-freezer tray looked like on the outbound side of this year's trip. I've learned to get more efficient about packing it, over time.

This thread has mostly been about the Yeti cooler, but we use the FoodSaver to optimize storage for the Vitrifrigo freezer as well. This cache tends to be "food of last resort". I tend to hold it in reserve in case we want to extend a stay somewhere, and I don't care to go for groceries or start the cooking cycle all over again.

It's difficult to tell from the photo, but the FoodSaver packages do fill most of the space, including the vertical space. They appear more shallow in the photo, but there's no wasted volume. I should have taken a side-on pic as well.




Pic from a few years ago showing a less-well-packed freezer tray at the bottom:

Here’s an update that is coincidentally being posted TEN YEARS TO THE DAY after I launched this thread.



Preamble:

We *know* that user forums are intensively mined for new commercial ideas - what better way to leverage investments than to capitalize on marketable ideas freely published by SOMEONE ELSE and therefore owned, trademarked or patented by nobody?! Forum data mining is a no-cost cut-to-the-chase method of identifying exploitable market holes that need to be filled by innovative new products - a total no-brainer.

And how many times have we discussed van mods on forums like this one only to see the exact same idea appear in the consumer market a year or two or three later? Coincidence? Great minds thinking alike? Maybe - but some of the product developments are so incredibly specific that I suspect we had a hand in them, and for that I am tickled pink.

Product:

Case in point. On this thread and others, I talked ad nauseam about my struggles to maximize the amount of prepared food I could take within the small space of the Interstate. I struggled to find ways to freeze food portions in a way that was not common - using rectangular prismatic shapes - so that I could pack and stack them into whatever limited freezer space I happened to be using for the trip in question.

This became a particular challenge for me when I was using the wire mesh insert that fits precisely into my Vitrifrigo’s small freezer. I struggled to freeze and then Foodsaver exactly what I needed on the road and fit it all into that basket like puzzle pieces without wasting any space.

Fast forward five to ten years, and the makers of Souper Cubes could not have designed a better product for me if I had custom-ordered it for my own exclusive use. Is it a coincidence that this is THE product that I needed all along but did not have until today? Maybe. Or maybe someone looked at what I was publishing on the open internet and said, “Hey, that same idea would work for the rest of America’s 8 million RVers too, but also for college students with tiny dorm fridges, and for people carrying high-efficiency coolers such as Yetis, and for people with undersized freezers in New York City apartments, and for people with limited freezer space in their employers’ lunchrooms, and a bunch of other people, too!”

If I had a hand in the development of this product, I’m glad. Over the past decade, numerous forum posters have asked me why I always give ideas away instead of trying to develop them as a business. My answer has always been that I already own a different kind of small business and I don’t have a desire to start yet another. But I am elated when I see ideas get produced, because then my original problems finally get solved.

Comparison of my freezer insert with the Souper Cubes set I just bought. Could those freezer trays be any more perfect for my application??

[Boxster1971]

InterBlog - thanks for updating this thread. I'm looking at getting an Engel MT27 as it is the perfect size for my Interstate 19 to fit between the front seats. After doing some research on Engel portable frig-freezers I found some interesting video that present data that the transport covers actually hurt the performance of these units.

Here are a few links from an Australian YouTuber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fhnGbGyZVg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9xjYKs1Kx4

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

…….transport covers actually hurt the performance of these units.

….

Thanks Mike - this is extremely useful info, and it’s funny you should mention it because I’ve gone through some despairing moments recently when I’ve been forced to confront the possibility that I may not have optimized my original Engel choice. I bought an MT-45 for our TRAILER, but I should have retained the OPTION to carry an Engel INSIDE the van as well as outside, even if that meant sacrificing some food storage space. God help me because more money might have to fly out the door in order to purchase the MT-27 as well. Ugh.

Why do I say that? In no small part because I’m 10 years older than I was when our Interstate gig began, and the older I get, the less comfortable I am with struggling and pushing boundaries. Our CargoMate trailer is fantastic - it gives us basically unlimited options - but if I’m traveling without my husband, in most situations it’s too much for me. I need to take the van by itself, which means I need a smaller 12 volt freezer. Couple that with age-related changes in my health that require me to watch my diet much more carefully and oh, crap, I need to buy another Engel freezer…

[Boxster1971]

I'm right there with you InterBlog. I bought a large Dometic CFX3-55IM in 2022 for our 70-day tour of the Canadian Maritimes. It worked great and I could keep it in the back of our 2013 Interstate Lounge Extended Sprinter. But it's too big for the Interstate 19. Alos the Dometic is very heavy and hard for me to handle. I plan to give it to my fisherman brother.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

I'm right there with you InterBlog. I bought a large Dometic CFX3-55IM in 2022 for our 70-day tour of the Canadian Maritimes. It worked great and I could keep it in the back of our 2013 Interstate Lounge Extended Sprinter. But it's too big for the Interstate 19. Alos the Dometic is very heavy and hard for me to handle. I plan to give it to my fisherman brother.

Plunge taken, Black Friday markdown realized - but NOT before I spent several hours vowing that I would not repeat the mistake that originally landed me an Engel 45 which is great for my trailer but too large for inside the rig. I took the time to mock up both the 35 and the 27 out of cardboard, complete with hinged lids, and the 27 was the clear winner. Whenever I fail to do a cardboard test fit of anything, I pay a hefty price, and my original freezer choice was no exception.

There are actually 4 locations inside the van where the MT-27 could theoretically be placed, although it could not necessarily be operated in all of those, especially the closet.

But we often decide to rearrange the van and stow certain items as long trips progress. Let’s say we were on the road for a month and consumed all the frozen food in the Engel, without an opportunity to cook more. In that scenario, we might just turn it off and stow it in the closet for the remainder of the trip.

Several U-Haul boxes were harmed during the making of this demonstration: