azza_333

I guess milk can be carried in a thermos, but how do you carry other perishable foods like meat and stuff with you?

I have seen some insulated rack bags, but they don't look very effective. I would like to be able to carry meat for 24-48 hours, milk for 48-72 hours, and things like butter and such for 72+ hours, during a long summer tour.

bikemig 

I just don't. I'll pick up some fresh food at the end of a day but I certainly wouldn't carry fresh food for as long as you suggest.

azza_333

I did consider that, but say I buy 1L of milk, I am unlikely to use it all in 24 hours. I only plan to cook for Breakfast and Dinner, I will buy lunch each day.

Miele Man

The ONLY way I'd carry fresh meat for a day or two on a summer tour is if the meat was frozen and jkept in a small Igloo type cooler on the rear rack and the cooler had plenty of ice in it. Milk in a Thermos that works really well might keep it cool enough for a day. Remember that EVERY TIME you open the cooler or Thermos you're letting in a lot of heat. Beware! Food poisoning on tour is NOT nice.

DropBarFan

Beef resists going bad better than chicken; yogurt resists heat better than milk. Clarified butter, called "ghee" is widely used in India since it doesn't go bad in the heat. Really though, I don't think there's any practical way to cool things on tour. I suppose on a group tour one rider could tote insulated boxes & add ice at stores. Grocery delivery companies use dry ice which is available at some grocery stores. Perhaps light-colored panniers help a bit.

raybo

I wear a Camelbak. If I am carrying something heat-sensitive, I put as much ice as my Camelbak bladder will hold, fill the rest with water, and I put the perishables inside my backpack.

This way, I have both (very) cold water to drink and a cold storage pack. This is usually good for a few hours.

azza_333

Mabye I need to look into some new recipes, that use ingreadients that wont spoil easily.

Machka 

We don't.

Milk = longlife or powdered.

Meat = buy it fresh at the grocery store in the town where we're staying the night or purchased shortly before. If we don't have that option, we go with small tins of chicken or tuna ... or no meat at all.

Butter = a small container of margarine.


We usually buy the perishable products at lunch. At lunch we'll have large sandwiches with deli meat, cheese, and fresh veg. We'll also have yogurts and Rowan might drink a carton of milk (I don't drink milk).

saddlesores

milk: milk power. make as you need. bonus! lighweight!

H-milch: untra high past'rized milk also comes in 250ml boxes.

meat: sealed/sterilized packs of meat don't need refrigeration.

salt pork: with free electrolytes

spam & twinkies: known as the "immortals" amongst foods.
suitable for cycle touring AND zombie apocolypse!
(not necessarily in that order)

back in the long ago, if we knew we would be camping
along a stream, we'd take milk/yogurt/beer whatever,
keep cold in the water in a fishnet bag. of course that
depends on the local wildlife....

Squeezebox

With some planning you can improve the situation. Fish and chicken, only enough for supper & leftovers for breakfast. I'ld go with beef for evening through next evening, 36 hrs. Of course smoked and cured meats will last longer. A 2 lb chub of summer sausage will last longer un-refrigerated than it will take you to eat all of it. I would trust eggs to last close to 48 hours (unwashed eggs last longer). I would trust bacon for 2 maybe 3 days. Nido milk powder is in the Mexican section, way better than instant milk. Anything vacuum sealed will last a good while until opened, like the small packs of sandwich meat. Hard cheeses should last 2-3 days, cut the mold off plus a little more if necessary. Touring is a good time to stock up on fruits. Don't forget the veggies for vitamins and bulk.
If it stinks don't eat it. If it smells only a little put more hot sauce on it.
Disclaimer: The above is only my experience and opinions. I have no facts or data to back them up.

saddlesores

in much of asialand, eggs are not kept in the fridge. local supermarket
sells 10-packs (no dozens) from a display next to the fruit and veggie
section. convenience store sells 'em individually from a small bucket
next to the register. moe szyslak keeps his in a jar on the bar.

Tourist in MSN

Milk - I use so little milk that I even use powdered milk at home instead of fresh. If you typically use a lot of milk and switch to powder, you might want a small shaker cup for mixing it.

Butter - I used to carry liquid margarine in a squeeze bottle, but have started to just use olive oil in a squeeze bottle instead, no butter.

Meat - The salami that does not need refrigeration is my typical meat. If the package says you need to refrigerate it after opening, I instead don't refrigerate, but I will commonly cut off about 5mm of the end that was exposed and discard that. Sometimes I have bought canned or pouch meats or dried meats like beef jerky.

Cheese - You did not mention cheese, but I go through a lot of that. I just try to buy a variety that does not get too soft when warm, like Swiss.

Eggs - You did not mention them either but if I was going to be traveling where it is warm to hot, I would hard boil them first or carry powdered. This is the powdered that I currently use: https://www.rei.com/product/851891/o...ystals-12-eggs

I rely on smell to tell me if I should not consume something, that works very well as a warning and I can't remember the last time I got sick from food.

I carry a stainless steel thermos bottle but that is to keep my coffee warm in the morning, not to keep things cool. I usually bike tour where the temperature ranges from freezing (0 C) up to 70s F (or about 25 C). Thus I rarely have had to worry about food lasting less than 48 hours as I try to travel where it is cool enough to avoid such problems.

Squeezebox

I think Europe sells unwashed eggs for longer shelf life, or at least used to. There's some sort of bacterial slime on the egg that protects it from the bad bacteria. (extremely simplified explanation)
Buy a gallon jar of pickles, eat all the pickles, fill with eggs. The vinegar will eat away the egg shell and cure the egg. =pickles eggs.
I wonder if applying a thin layer of cooking oil or vasoline would provide a block and improve shelf life. A fairly easy experiment, I might try it and report back.

Salamandrine 

It makes no sense to carry perishable food. Buy as much perishable food as you need on the road.

I guess you could carry a small refrigerator on a trailer and a generator to run it. The noise might get to be annoying.

Squeezebox

Perishable foods really do not need to be kept to American restaurant's standards to be safe. My chef son and I have had several arguments. If you are on tour follow what people did 150 yrs ago before refrigeration. I have hung deer and sheep in my garage at 45*F or below for several days to age with great results.
If it smells real bad let the dog and chickens eat it. If it smells a little , more spices.
Google cures meats and learn a bit about what is possible.
Relax you will not die.

Squeezebox

Some things are more perishable than others. like fish and chicken. Summer sausage is almost nuke proof. So fire up some brain cells and learn some about longivity and perishability.

nun

Some foods just don't travel well and should be avoided....milk, eggs and fresh meat. But things like cheese and salami are great. When I buy fresh food I only buy enough for that day.

DanBell

You're going to have a hard time traveling with butter for any length of time in Japan in the summer. It's going to be stinking hot and humid. Your butter will melt the moment you think about leaving the air conditioning. I don't know anything about meat, but soy milk keeps for a while unrefrigerated. For best results, buy milk that is not already in the cooler at the super market. Some of it will be in the fridge, but some will just be on the shelf. If you're needing to keep it for a while, buy the stuff off the shelf. Of course, you won't have cold milk, if that's specifically what you're looking for. My approach to touring in Japan has been to buy fresh stuff for immediate use when available, then do nonperishable for other meals as necessary.

indyfabz

How about olive oil instead of butter? I don't leave home without it.

Darth Lefty 

Go on tour somewhere cold?

i think those single servings of ultrapasteurized milk in juice boxes should do ok but it's pretty flavorless

Miele Man

You CAN get FOOD POISONING from food that does NOT SMAELL or TASTE BAD! I would NOT take any chances with chicken let alone leftover chicken.

Cheers

Salamandrine 

Meat: jerky and/or small dry salami or other forms of traditional preserved meat

Milk: UHT shelf stable milk is probably available in Japan. No refrigeration necessary. Or powdered milk.

Butter: small bottle of olive oil. If the temperature is relatively cool (perhaps 65F/18c or less on average), just keep butter in a little sealed plastic container. It will be fine for a few days. I don't recall people bothering to refrigerate butter at all when I was growing up.

fietsbob

Use Salt !


trailer-ice chest?

battery-electric powered fridge ?

Trailer/caravan fridges run off propane.. a flame

Miele Man

That is VERY BAD ADVICE! Spoiled meat does NOT ALWAYS SMELL or TASTE bad and can be very dangerous if ingested on tour.

From storage lifetime - Is smell a bad way of determining whether meat is still good? - Seasoned Advice

"What causes illness and death are often things that we can't taste, see, or smell. Salmonella, E. coli and C. botulinum are usually undetectable by our senses. Mishandled food that has been heated to temperatures far hotter than is necessary to kill any and all dangerous organisms can still kill if those organisms have produced chemical toxins or deadly spores. We usually can't sense those either."


From How to Identify Spoiled Meat | LIVESTRONG.COM

"Unfortunately, not all food contaminants can be detected by sight, touch or smell, including dangerous salmonella, E. coli, C. botulinum and dangerous mercury levels in seafood."

Cheers

Salamandrine 

Good points. People used to not refrigerate anything, but they used to die young too.

Part of the issue is what we as modern people are accustomed to. Sure you can hang a deer carcass out to age in cool weather, but if you leave pre-cut meat from the grocery store out it will spoil fast. It's already been aged, and there is vastly more surface area and hence opportunity for spoilage. You can't really take modern habits and transfer them to another age.

BTW the same goes for salami. Dry salami with the white moldy exterior - fine. Small ones are best. Cut as needed. Don't bring pre sliced salami from the store, it will spoil.