Winter food storage

[bigdave_185]

We have been stocking things in our trailer as far as kitchen wears, utensils and dishes and such

What type of food goods would you guys say is a good idea of bad idea to keep?

I do a fair amount of the cooking at our home we freeze and vac pack loads of stuff, I hope to be able to walk out to my freezer and grab a few meals and toss them in the fridge and others wise add some canned veggies or some pasta roni kinda meals.

What are your thoughts for keeping the pantry stocked?

[sourdough]

Please clarify; do you mean stock as in leave there 12 mos. a year or stock as in when you get ready to hit the road?

[notanlines]

What Danny said^^^^. When we leave the RV in storage from April to the end of October we take EVERY bit of food out other than our spice rack and start fresh. This food is then moved to the house or to our RV in Wisconsin for the summer use. Ditto when we leave Wisconsin.
This way we know what to start with when we get back to Florida and we know everything is within reasonable dates. And yes, our first trip to Publix and Aldi's is a doozie, but it is what it is.

[sourdough]

Without any further clarification I'll just throw out some generalities that pretty much mirror what Jim said.

Obviously fridge is emptied upon return and filled prior to a trip. Canned goods, spices, jars and bottles of various condiments removed. Depending on the plans I may leave canned goods and all of the above if I leave in a short period, if not they come out. I stock for where I'm going; example: coming to FL I load lots of fresh roasted chilis I buy by the bushel from NM, vacuum pack and freeze as well as other items we won't be able to find here. Same goes for other places we visit. I leave paper goods, cookware and all that sort of stuff in the rig.

I buy canned goods and "groceries" prior to every trip and that trip, as Jim said, is usually a "doozie". I don't empty the house when we leave because I don't like to have to hurriedly move everything from the rig to the house upon return. I do however, unfortunately, have to do a semi annual/ongoing purge of all kinds of stuff to discard because they get too old. We throw away a lot of stuff. It happens when you leave for several months at a time.

[LHaven]

We leave some food in our trailer all the time. We don't leave anything boxed or bagged that would attract a rodent (cereal, rice, dogfood, etc.) We do have a few canned items, bottled condiments, and such. There are always canned drinks and water bottles in the fridge, even when it is turned off. If for some reason we had to bug out, we'd have a couple emergency meals available until we could get to a store.

[rhagfo]

Well before we full timed, living in the PNW we would go out all year, so the RV was fully stocked all year. The storage yard we used had cats, no mice. The only thing we would need to grab was perishable food from the house refrigerator.

[bigdave_185]

I’m addressing the halfway point I guess, not the end of the year not touching the trailer for months but not the ready to leave next weekend,

More generally what have you left beyond a few weeks but under three months


I’ll take the suggestion no boxes or dried food as it will attract rodents. Done with those nasty A-Holes!

Some canned meals? Sounds doable kid friendly and some adult food, veggies and such


No concern with the seasonings then?


Soda and some water in the fridge might not be a bad idea, some adult beverages as well.

Anything as far as toiletries?

[sourdough]

A few weeks to a few months;

All spices would stay. Bottled water can get funny tasting so it's always fresh bought - same with soda/adult beverages. I don't know what a "canned meal" is - with an RV go with "cooking fresh".

For the time frame you mention I would leave canned goods but you need to have the RV hooked up and running. You have to keep in mind that if the RV is unhooked, just sitting in the sun it could get 120 degrees in there if left untended - does funny things to canned goods pretty quick.

As far as toiletries, toilet paper, paper towels, plates etc. the rv is always fully stocked; razors, soap, wash cloths/towels etc. etc. We always carry body lotion but my particular kind does not like 1) heat and 2) long storage so it does not stay over time.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by bigdave_185

Some canned meals? Sounds doable kid friendly and some adult food, veggies and such
No concern with the seasonings then?
Anything as far as toiletries?

Stuff like pork & beans, hearty soups, Spaghetti-Os for the grandkid. Simple seasonings aren't a problem as they typically don't interest rodents or insects.

We leave our medicine cabinet fully furnished with everything except prescription drugs—toiletries, cold remedies, powders, first aid, sunburn cream, bug lotion, ointments, instruments.

The only time we unpack any of this stuff is if we have renters rooming in the trailer.

It helps that we are able to store our own RV within steps of our back door.

[dutchmensport]

If we are not using our camper, we remove the food items, even canned items. Why? In the winter, if the camper is not being used, the water in those cans freeze, expand, and break the cans, leaving a horrible mess in your cabinets.

Same with sodas and alcoholic beverages in the refrigerator. If there is no power, they will eventually freeze, break open and you'll have a horrid mess inside the refrigerator. It if has water and it's winter, and you are not actively using your camper and keeping it heated .... remove absolutely everything that contains water.

In the Summer, if you are not actively using your camper, the camper is in storage, and the air conditioner is not running, you'll run into the opposite situation. The heat that builds up inside an enclosed camper in the Summer can reach temps over 120 degrees.

Again, canned goods can explode under the heat and pressure, leaving a horrid mess for you to clean up. Have you EVER tasted a Coca Cola or a Pepsi Cola after it got hot (like over 100 degrees), and then cooled down again. They taste horrible. Although the can or the bottle may not break under pressure, the intense heat taints the taste, where the only alternative is to throw the drinks away. Beer does the same thing, even canned Tuna will become horrible tasting and smelling if exposed to heat like that, even if the can is never opened.

Dried goods are another matter. They can take cold a lot better than heat. But, like you said, it also runs the risk of attracting mice, bugs, and ant infestations that will take years go get rid of.

Again, IF the camper is going to sit unoccupied and without heat or air conditioning, you want to remove any and all food items. Now, on the other hand, if you have temperature control inside the camper, food items will store just the same as in your house. The difference is, the inside of your house is never subjected to an indoor temperature of below 32 degrees, even if you a power outage. And the high temperature never reaches that kind of danger zone either.

Remove the food.

[bigdave_185]

Thank you all for the replies. I had net even considered the medication cabinet and I know that would surely be missed when your sitting with a headache wishing to the lord you had some Advil or like lol

Thank you again

[LHaven]

Everybody's situation is different. I store the RV at home, and have 30A power to it. I live in a place where it never freezes. (Well, in a bad year, one, maybe two nights, but it's way harder to deal with our fruit trees than our RV.) Some days do get mighty hot, but stuff in the fridge is sitting in an insulated box (which is usually running anyway), and the rig cools off again at night. We take the RV somewhere every two months or so, so there's enough turnover that none of the food in it really "ages."

Our last camping trip was two weeks ago. Other than the laptops, CPAP, prescriptions, frozen food, and milk, all we had to load was some replacement underwear for what was in the laundry bag from the last time, and we were on the road. We appreciate the freedom to be spontaneous.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by bigdave_185

I’m addressing the halfway point I guess, not the end of the year not touching the trailer for months but not the ready to leave next weekend,

More generally what have you left beyond a few weeks but under three months


I’ll take the suggestion no boxes or dried food as it will attract rodents. Done with those nasty A-Holes!

Some canned meals? Sounds doable kid friendly and some adult food, veggies and such


No concern with the seasonings then?


Soda and some water in the fridge might not be a bad idea, some adult beverages as well.

Anything as far as toiletries?

Canned items store well and do not need temperature control, except for the extremes. Don’t want it freezing or getting too hot. Freezer and refrigerator space is more limited, and those items are definitely shelf life sensitive. You want your fridge consistently at 36-37 degrees, and freezer below 20. During camping season lots of canned goods stay in the 5er, just because of easy storage. Water and other liquids stay. The only thing that comes out in between trips are anything perishable. Always keep paper goods stocked and black tank treatment stocked. As for fridge and freezer, always keep items within code dates and rotated. Anything in a can, spray bottle, or other container that can be damaged by temperature extremes comes out.

[KarenK]

Just don't leave a half of watermelon in the sink under the cover and forget about it when you get home. Plug mine in when I get home during the season and take out bread, milk, perishables. Winter, take out all food, cans, liquids and cleaning bottles. Hard liquor doesn't freeze so that stays, keep it in a plastic container in case a bottle breaks in transit. Wine will freeze. Last year and this year kept it plugged in over winter to power flashing light noise emitting sensors to deter mice along with those pine smelling bags. No evidence of any mice but could be from filling any small gaps underneath the camper. Welcome and have fun with it!

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by bigdave_185

Thank you all for the replies. I had net even considered the medication cabinet and I know that would surely be missed when your sitting with a headache wishing to the lord you had some Advil or like lol

Thank you again

Read the labels of the items in your medicine cabinet. Some items, especially liquids, pastes, or ointments can seperate at temperatures outside of the "room temperature" norm. If you are going to store any medicine (either prescription or over the counter) consult your pharmasist. Some pharmaceuticals and personal care items can become less effective due to extreem temperature exposure.

[dd45529]

I would like to add to the items to remove...anything in hard plastic jars or bottles. We had a very determined mouse who chewed through the lid on the peanut butter jar and he had a banquet for friends and family. Jar was empty and the lid was in several pieces.