Food Storage

We load the trailer up with non-perishables in the spring and just bring perishables when we use the trailer. Peanut butter no problem, all canned goods, spaghetti etc.(in tightly closed containers). Have never had a problem.

My only suggestion if you are worried about rodents would be to put items that are in chewable containers (i.e. spaghetti boxes) into something tougher. We actually use a small, plastic box that we can seal for the cardboard box stuff. As a bonus, it makes things easier to pack in the house and carry to the trailer.

I have 4 or 5 snap lid totes that we bring into the house and raid the cabinets before a trip. All fresh dated can goods, perishables, previously opened stuff. If we leave it in the house during a week or two trip, it dates out.might as well use it. It stays in the totes in the trailer. Easy to access and take outside when outdoor cooking. Zero issues with bugs and other creatures. When we get home the food is transferred back into the house. Zero waste!

We transferred dry cereal into plastic vertical bins made for such storage because they fit in our RV cupboard very well vs assorted open cereal boxes, plus the infestation issue is fixed. Also use small plastic totes as mentioned above.

After five years of trips short and long, I don't leave anything in the RV unless we're on a trip after living in a hot climate for years. My theory (right or wrong) is that canned and packaged food deteriorates faster in high temps. There's no question that spices do. We clear out all the food at the end of a trip.

There's also the issue of hauling around excess weight in canned goods you "might" use. We usually hit Walmart once or twice a week for milk and fresh meat/produce, and it's easy to add the remaining ingredients.

So I start each trip with the basics like seasonings and condiments I know I'll use often for simple camping meals, plus a couple of weeks worth of ingredients and snacks. I've figured out what might be hard to find on the road, and do stock extras - for example, we like spicy V8 in small cans but it's not always available.

FWIW, we keep NO food in the camper when not in use. Infestation and heat being the rational.

IDoMyOwnStunts wrote:
My only suggestion if you are worried about rodents would be to put items that are in chewable containers (i.e. spaghetti boxes) into something tougher. We actually use a small, plastic box that we can seal for the cardboard box stuff. As a bonus, it makes things easier to pack in the house and carry to the trailer.

This. We use plastic containers with tight fitting lids for cereal, pasta, crackers, rice etc. It's fine to leave canned food as long as the temps are high enough it won't freeze and burst.

Peanut butter is not the best thing to leave in the TT. It may not do well if your TT gets really hot while stored. It can separate and get a funky taste.

If you have a place to plug in the trailer, you can just leave the fridge on and running with things like condiments, soft drinks, etc. Just check it occasionally. And if you turn it off, you MUST clean it totally out and leave the door propped open, or the inside will mold.

Do you keep food in your house? Open stuff and stuff in the fridge come in the house when we get home and back to the camper when we leave. Everything else stays. It may depend how long your camper will stay unused.

Food comes in 3 "flavors" for this discussion:

Some foods are packaged in such a way that they can easily keep for several years (Think of a Star Trek TOS episode where they land on a planet where all the adults have been killed off and the per-pubsent children are like 300 years old. They are still eating Canned goods that the adults had layed up.. Food packaging is not quite that good ... yet).

Some food keeps well.. for a while (say 2 weeks or a month

Some spoils quickly if not refrigerated.

The solution is to rotate the food so Try to keep it "Fresh" as possible.

I too like the idea of keeping the pantry as well stocked as possible.. you never know when you need to jump and run as it were.. After all

Where is the best place to shelter from a Hurricane
A: Underground
B: Outdoors above ground
C: indoors above ground
D: IN a shelter outside the storm area (DING DING DING DING)

With a motor home or Trailer.. you have your shelter,, GET OUT OF DODGE.


(Also applies to many other natural, and man made, disasters).

During the camping season we are out pretty regularly so our galley is stocked like our kitchen, we keep condiments and other perishables in our Dometic fridge between trips. We store our TT in the backyard and it's always plugged in making for quick getaways at a moment's notice.

K Charles wrote:
Do you keep food in your house?

Irrelevant - in hot weather our house A/C is running but it's not in the trailer when it's parked here at the house so interior temps can easily hit the mid 90s. Emptying the fridge, turning it off, and emptying the cupboards of any remaining food that could go off in really high temps only takes a few minutes ... would rather do that than open a rank can of beans on our next trip. :E