Paring down the kitchen fridge - RV-Dreams Community Forum

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

Paring down the kitchen fridge

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Keep in mind they make a 2 way portable freezer that goes in your outside storage.........I have one its great for long term

janni · RV-Dreams Family Member

This has been a tough one for me so will post a couple things. I rearranged the shelves a few times to get everything to fit the very best. I pared the salad dressings down to 2 and now make a homemade ranch and store it in a container that is short enough to fit on one of my shorter shelves. I put my iced tea in a "made to fit my shelf" container also. I shopped for these items with tape measure in hand. I have also started using those marinades that come in packets so I can mix them up with vinegar and oil I have in cupboard. I clean my vegetables and put in bags....then toss them in here and there where they will fit if the vegetable crisper is full. I store soda etc. behind a chair and restock often. I buy a lot of other things in small bottles. It is not the most cost effective but if you consider the cost of cooking and eating at restaurants it works out. My freezer is usually packed and stand back as you open the door! I try to take things out of bulky boxes and repackage. If necessary I cut out the cooking directions and tape it to item. Sometimes you just have to shop more often or a good excuse for dinner out ;) I would love to have one of those portable freezers as there never seems to be enough room.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Even though we have one of those 2 way freezers. the smaller one, we find freezer space to be our biggest problem. You just can't stock up as much. We also have to leave room for leftovers when the leftovers either have to be frozen or thrown away. "Look they have XXXX on sale, we should buy 3 or 4". "No, we don't have the room". "Arghhhh!"

We have a couple friends who replaced their dining table with a chest freezer so when they have guests for dinner everyone uses a TV tray.

WestWardHo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Dale & Ruth,

Good questions, I have been wondering about the same things as you! Janni, I like your ideas.
Bill, I'm with you, but we don't have room for the extra freezer. Doubt if we'll be boon docking for a long while and it seem that we go to the store every other day when in the 5er. I always forget something. Hoping that wil get better when we fultime!

Sherry

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

I too like different salad dressings. What i'm trying it to whip up enough salad dressing for 1 or 2 times. Most take the same basic ingredients plus a few additions. And it only takes a few minutes. Now if I could just figure more space for the olive selection...

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

For those of you with a portable freezer, any suggestions on brands? Does it run off the 12v system? How well do they work when you are in really warm locations? We used to have a battery powered cooler that could run off 12v and found that it didn't work as well as we hoped. Of course, it was one we bought 10 years ago so I'm hoping technology has improved.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Engel mt-27f Freezer

Ive had mine about 4 years with no problems.....it is 12 volt/110volt. it holds 22quarts no complaints here!!!

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

NWEscape: We have an older Norcold, but I think it is now sold as an Engel 43 qt unit. We got it on sale at Camping World before our 2006 trip to Alaska.

We also have a Coleman 12 volt cooler/warmer that works well enough to get refrigerated goods from a distant grocery to the RV. We did use it while waiting for a new cooling unit on our main fridge.

A good selection of 12 volt freezers is http://www.compactappliance.com/Portable-Freezer/Appliances-Freezers-Portable_Fridge_Freezer,default,sc.html . CompactAppliance.com is a good goto place for smaller appliances.

Cindy T · RV-Dreams Family Member

I, too, had a hugh fridge, freezer & pantry in the sticks'n'bricks. Even though we have a 4-door fridge in the RV, it can't compare to what I had before. I have to go to the grocery store much more often. I rotate things like salad dressings & marinades. So if last week we had one salad dressing, then the next week I get a different dressing.

Like others have said, you have to buy smaller packages or buy large but break it down into smaller containers to fit in the fridge. Containers that would stand up in a residential fridge, now lay on their sides in the RV fridge. I had to play around with the location of each shelf in the fridge & finally figured out what works best for us.

I also look differently at recipes. If a recipe calls for some ingredient that I'll only use for that recipe, then I might not try that recipe or I'll adjust it & use a substitute ingredient that I already have. It takes some thought to get used to living in a small space but it is certainly doable. You have to be open minded & willing to let go of some of your "absolutes".

Alie and Jims Carrilite · RV-Dreams Family Member

We put a mini fridge in our basement storage area. Its 8cu I believe with 2 doors, 1 fridge smaller one for the freezer. The nice thing is that the fridge part will freeze to about 20*. I run it off a small inverter so it runs during travel.
If there is any room in your TT it might be an idea.

TXRVr · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have a Norcold portable in the basement of our MH which is AC/DC. It is not one of those “keep a six pack cold” cooler units that goes in the back seat of the car/truck. It is so convenient that I take it out of the RV and put in the S & B when we are not traveling. But they are not cheap. If it had not come as a package deal with the MH, I'm not sure I would have paid for the add-on cost for the convenience it provides. One can do the math and figure it would take several years of significant food savings to recoup it's cost.

There are some very good suggestions in this thread on how to cope with the fridge/freeser space issues. Each of us has a way to improvise, adapt, and overcome when that is possible. But, is not letting go of the S & B mentality part of the adventure? I'd really like to have a 52 inch plasma TV in the bus for Super Bowl, but it ain't possible.

NW please consider this. You are no longer going to be shopping at Sam's for that 24 roll package of toilet paper. If you are going to be a full timer, you might as well turn in your Sam's card. smile

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

We still shop at both Sam's and Costco and find both cards worthwhile. Costco toilet paper comes in a 30 pack, but it is 5 6-packs internally so we find room for it. But we can't buy too much of anything at once, so we go weekly. It still requires discipline but both Costco and Sam's memberships can be used with a standard RV fridge. It has been working for us for over nine years.

Where we are for the winter, Mesa AZ, there are both Costco and Sam's around. Most places have just one and a few have neither. I figure I should be saving 10% so if I use the Sam's card more than $400 a year it is worthwhile, most years we spend more like $750 at Sam's. Costco is no problem, we use it enough that we make money on their Executive Membership, which breaks even at $2750 per year.

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have to agree about keeping the Sam's card for now, if nothing else it's worth it just for the savings on gas in our local area right now.

Great suggestions, I know it won't be like living in the S&B home, but our new fridge in our DRV is larger than the one in our TT that we're selling. I'm also in the habit of only grocery shopping once a week so I need to possibly reconsider that habit. We did find that when we were on the road in the TT that we had a lot less food spoilage, we were more likely not to buy anything that we didn't plan to use within 1-3 days so I'm sure that will continue in our new DRV.

Ann-Hank · RV-Dreams Family Member

Does anyone get together with other FTers while on the road and split cartons from Costco?
Ann

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have done it with other fulltimers ........ we would split large family packs of meat and bulk buys of staple products.....works out well when I can do it...

Even a case of TP or paper towels is a good price if you split them..........normally if Im staying a month or 2 somewhere its pretty easy to do it, or if I catch someone on the road that is going to...

MarkS · RV-Dreams Family Member

There is a big difference (almost X3) between the Engle price and the Edgestar price. Engle has some glowing reports on here. Does anyone have any experience with Edgestar? The specs on the two look about the same.

Things that I know I am going to use, e.g., toilet paper, paper towels, canned green beans, tuna, chicken, coffee, I like to buy in bulk. I hate to have to run to the store for TP because we ran out at the worst moment. And the price of it! It isn't stationery! Although... that's for another thread. Bulk buys is reserved for items that I can "calculate the monthly usage" for. If I can't calculate a daily or monthly usage I don't need it in bulk. You have to be careful to buy things you know you will use and not items think you will use. Sams and Costco stay in business betting you will buy stuff because it looks like a good deal. What am I going to do with this three year old case of high protein chocolate covered grasshoppers?

I don't know the cubic feet available in the upper bunk of the truck but, I do know that it holds a lot! I plan to fill it with necessary items for our trip to Alaska. TP, PT, laundry soap, and Keurig Koffee, to name a few items. I bet I can put enough up there to last the whole summer.