 |
| Whew... |
Is refrigerator cleaning a part of your spring cleaning? We have to do it routinely, or who knows what science experiments will actually begin to move on their own. Maybe we could employ Mr. Death to clean out the deceased items on a regular basis.
 |
| Snidely Milk Lash |
We have choices for refrigeration on Denali Rose. We have the usual in-counter (deep dive) fridge, which we try to keep organized with small crates.
 |
| Well organized. |
 |
| Not so well organized. I do know that the cheese bin is on the bottom. |
We were keeping our leftovers in hard sided containers, but we found they took up too much room, and switched to zip-lock bags.
 |
| Various sizes of this, you use the pump tool to pump out the air after you seal the container. |
 |
| Various sizes of zip-locks, I made the holder, and it hangs on the wall above the counter. |
We also have a sharpie pen close by to label the bag. Items inside these bags can quickly become those "dead things" if you don't know what it is, or when you put it there.
We also have a front door fridge that is mounted under the countertop.
 |
| Also with organizational bins. |
This unit is very old, eats power, and I have to get on my knees to see in, and pull items out. I'm dreaming of a new drawer model to fit in here.
 |
| My dream fridge. |
We would already have installed one of these except for one problem.
 |
| The aft side of the galley. |
The current fridge is in the lower left, and it is 23 inches wide. The width between the handrail on the left [in the above photo] and the mast on the right is 19 inches. Soooo, it's either dismantle a wall, or pull the mast off of the boat to get the old one out, and the new one in. [This predicament is also why our stove has an oven almost tall enough for a pie...] Neither of those options will be happening anytime soon, so for now we will use what we have.
We also have a dedicated freezer, it's the size of a large cooler, and it holds quite a lot. We need to eat up what's in there now, so we can make room for all of the fish we intend to catch. (Wishful thinking, please send positive vibes.)
 |
| The aft side of the lower dinette. |
 |
| The Engel freezer inside the bench seat. |
 |
| Organized meats, but no room for ice cream. Alas! |
We turned off the heater to the v-berth, and closed the door. This action created another cool storage room, so we put large refrigerator items in there on the port side upper bunk. It has worked out great, but just today, it's getting too warm, (finally), and almost everything got moved out.
 |
| Fruit, onions, veggies, yogurt, and pickles were stored up there. |
Maybe......
 |
| Clearing off the countertop, always need more space. |
What is on your spring cleaning list? Do you have more than one fridge to clean? Let us know here in comments, or on our
Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.
There's actually a really easy way to clean refrigerators. Simply open the door and let the occupants that have become mobile out when then knock. Then all you need to do is herd them to the door and kick them off the deck and into the water. That saves me LOTS of time and effort :-)
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely have to try that one! Thanks for the tip.
DeleteOur experiment using ziplock storage bags instead of plastic boxes ['Tupperware'] to store leftovers improved our storage capacity quite a bit- while perhaps increasing the risk of a leak. [None yet knock-on... my head...]
ReplyDeleteThere is, however, another trade-off: when the uninitiated go looking for something in the top loader, they might get the impression it is a lab fridge full of stool samples, donated organs, murder victims, or wherever their imaginations might lead them...
I was so hoping for one of those drawer units. But really, no space for that at all on board Galapagos without major remodeling. We've been so happy with the Engel freezer, only wishing it were larger. Again, no place for one as tall as the one you have. Under settee was too short by two inches, meaning, again, major space revisions would be needed. We compromised by getting a smaller unit and thinking that if we love it and its not big enough, we could get another one. But I think this will do for now. Having that makes our fridge much larger and it works better. I use the locking plastic containers for almost everything and I am learning slowly how to cook for two rather than 4 to cut down on leftovers. It's a journey.
ReplyDeleteSize doesn't matter, Melissa, as long as you keep room for ice cream...
DeleteIn our case leftovers are part of the cooking strategy- mainly because I'm lazy and [usually...] like my own cooking...
Leftovers mean no cooking needs to be done the next day. However, sometimes they sift to the bottom, and become xxxxx. (this is where you use your imagination)
Delete