Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones. Especially when they utilize materials you already have aboard the boat in your time of need.
On my boat, I need a way to keep the sun off my ice chest. Oh sure, I could buy a better ice chest, or install something inside the cabin. But the one I have fits into the available space at the stern, between the two fuel tanks, just perfectly.
And then I remembered that I had one of those red and silver “space blankets” aboard, and I had a length of dowel aboard (it’s actually the handle from one of my kids’ fishing nets; the net went missing a couple weeks ago).
Et voila, the ice chest sits in the shade all day long.
I had a chance to test this all last week, and my observations suggest that this makes a huge difference in rate-of-meltage and consistent internal temperature. Potato salad was just fine stored in here for a full seven days, and I only augmented the block ice with two bags of “party” ice during the entire week.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Now your mother would tell you that one shouldn’t keep potato salad that long…….just a heads up.
Otherwise, Good Thinking!!!
Hmmm. Now that I back in full force (after a knee replacement) I shall have to provide YOU with the same training I gave the kitchen staff at our Community Center where we live. Without quoting the Washington State Food Sanitation and Safety code, in general, “…pententially hazardous (protein-containing) foods can be kept for no longer than 3 days if the tempertaure is maintained at lower than 41 degrees F…” At home we fudge a little, and so far, we’ve been lucky, but ask Heather about her recent food-borne illness.
But, using the space blanket to cover the ice chest is a good idea, and we shall be doing that, too.