Food & Traveling

[RBPerry]

Ok, we are brand new to the RV world, and camping. How do you plan your food purchases, how much, dos and don'ts. I guess frozen is out of the question since we can't travel with refrigerator on.

[Muddydogs]

wing_zealot wrote:

Allworth wrote:
I cannot believe that I am the only one on this forum who is NOT comfortable with the propane on while in motion. I turn it off at the tanks. Every time the trailer turns a wheel.

The chance of a propane accident is tiny, but why risk it if it is not absolutely necessary. I watched a TT burn in the median about 10 years ago (after rolling over) and while I know there have been improvements in valves and controls, I'm not risking it.

We usually travel one day and then sit and play tourist for one or two days before moving on. On travel days the critical cold stuff goes in an RTIC (think YETI)cooler with blue ice packs and stays there until initial cool down of the fridge is complete at the new location.

Your trailer; your choice! I don't see it as worth even a very small risk.

You are apparently willing to take a much bigger risk and drive to your destination. Your willingness drive vs. non use of propane is just plain nonsense.

Until I started reading things on this forum I had never heard of anyone not running there propane fridge while driving and I don't know of anyone that turns the fridge off at the gas pump.

Moving stuff from the fridge to a cooler and back again is just plain nonsense. Stuff in fridge is cold so lets move it to a hot cooler then add blue ice packs which are barely one step above cold to cool the cooler and keep the food cold. Why not just put the blue ice packs or better yet some frozen water bottles in the fridge compartment and keep the door closed? If you left the food in the fridge with some ice bottles there would be no initial cool down of the fridge when you got to your new location as the fridge would still be fairly cool.

People have to make small stuff way harder then it needs to be.

[Grit_dog]

lots2seeinmyrv wrote:

Bears Den wrote:
I turn our refrigerator on a couple of days before we leave. The night before we leave, we fill it up with already cold stuff if we are just traveling a few hours from home. Upon leaving, the refrigerator is off and the food stays cold for the few hours we are traveling. If we are traveling a greater distance than we shop when we get to our destination.

x2 I get the fridge cold about two days before the trip. Day before I load it up with ice, food, cream, meat, produce, drinks, everything. Just before we pull out of driveway I turn it off, and we unplug the cord.

It stays cold for a couple hours on the road. We do not run it on propane on the drive. Many do, personal choice. When we get to the campground...first thing we do is plug into the power pedestal and turn the fridge back on. Our ice has never melted and our frozen food has never defrosted on the drive.

Then we do the routine of unhooking the truck and setting up.

Works great if you're only driving a couple hours, it's not 110deg out and you're glamping in a RV park......
Try that same process when you're on the road for 10-16 hours and pull into a spot in the middle of nowhere.
Guess if you put a dedicated charging circuit on the truck/camper you could run DC, but with just convienence power coming from the pigtail you'll kill the batteries doing that too.

[nineoaks2004]

I always travel with my reefer on LP. Just if gassing up, turn it off until away from the pumps. Also you can use dry ice to keep the food frozen solid, just be sure and wrap it with some newspaper or it will freezer burn the food and possibly crack the cooler. I have used the dry ice method when canoe camping, and it keeps food solid for 5-6 days in hot weather. ( a little goes a long way too)

[lots2seeinmyrv]

Bears Den wrote:
I turn our refrigerator on a couple of days before we leave. The night before we leave, we fill it up with already cold stuff if we are just traveling a few hours from home. Upon leaving, the refrigerator is off and the food stays cold for the few hours we are traveling. If we are traveling a greater distance than we shop when we get to our destination.

x2 I get the fridge cold about two days before the trip. Day before I load it up with ice, food, cream, meat, produce, drinks, everything. Just before we pull out of driveway I turn it off, and we unplug the cord.

It stays cold for a couple hours on the road. We do not run it on propane on the drive. Many do, personal choice. When we get to the campground...first thing we do is plug into the power pedestal and turn the fridge back on. Our ice has never melted and our frozen food has never defrosted on the drive.

Then we do the routine of unhooking the truck and setting up.

[jplante4]

This topic comes up 2 or 3 times a year. Just type in "refrigerator on propane" in the search bar above. It's a common concern. The only reason I see to turn off the fridge is if you're at a gas pump, where I shut down the 12 VDC. I don't even bother at diesel only pumps.

Next in the line of most asked questions.... winterizing... blow out the lines, pink stuff or both?

[Allworth]

I'm not sure how you plan to get a 14,000 pound fifth wheel to the next destination without driving; but have at it!

[wing_zealot]

Allworth wrote:
I cannot believe that I am the only one on this forum who is NOT comfortable with the propane on while in motion. I turn it off at the tanks. Every time the trailer turns a wheel.

The chance of a propane accident is tiny, but why risk it if it is not absolutely necessary. I watched a TT burn in the median about 10 years ago (after rolling over) and while I know there have been improvements in valves and controls, I'm not risking it.

We usually travel one day and then sit and play tourist for one or two days before moving on. On travel days the critical cold stuff goes in an RTIC (think YETI)cooler with blue ice packs and stays there until initial cool down of the fridge is complete at the new location.

Your trailer; your choice! I don't see it as worth even a very small risk.

You are apparently willing to take a much bigger risk and drive to your destination. Your willingness drive vs. non use of propane is just plain nonsense.

[bukhrn]

RBPerry wrote:
Thanks for your responses, we misunderstood about refrigerator use while traveling, good news, and you all were a great help, this is a big learning process for us.
BB_TX, good idea to pre-cool.
I think husband has a little fear of propane, he has seen some propane fires.

You can't live your life in fear of what "might" happen, or you'll have no life at all.

[DrewE]

brdprey wrote:
so it seems if you know your going that way thru a tunnel a block of dry ice and a minor stop before to shut it off is sufficient.
sweeeeeeeet.

It depends on the tunnel. Some tunnels don't permit propane at all (whether turned on or not) -- the Boston area tunnels are one example of ones where propane is entirely prohibited. In that case, you avoid the tunnel, and don't need to turn off the fridge or propane.

I can't imagine why a block of dry ice would be needed in any event. A freezer isn't going to defrost, nor a fridge greatly rise in temperature, in the time it takes to traverse a tunnel.

[brdprey]

so it seems if you know your going that way thru a tunnel a block of dry ice and a minor stop before to shut it off is sufficient.
sweeeeeeeet.

[Veebyes]

For us one of the joys at the begining of a long trip is loading up with fresh Amish meats, enough for almost 2 months. DW portions & bags everything then into the freezer it goes.

We have a big fridge. Lots of room, even with the icemaker tray.

[Grit_dog]

The concern while re fueling is kind of potentially a concern. The exact right conditions at a gas station "could" light off gasoline fumes from a fridge flame. Very low odds of that unless you spray gas at the side of the camper!
An open propane bottle while driving down the road is not.
There are lng powered vehicles everywhere. All gasoline cars are also extremely flammable in the wrong situation. As well, when a propane bottle starts running out gas unchecked, the check valve closes. So short of punching a hole in the cylinder or knocking the valve off the top they are as safe in use or not while traveling.

And for those that don't get out much, very few car crashes end up in fiery explosions like EVERY one you see on a tv show....

[Old-Biscuit]

Allworth wrote:
Very few traffic crashes happen when you are set up in an RV park. Although I did see one in Louisiana one time!

If that is the concern then you should be worrying about the vehicle fuel tank and all that fuel.
Unlike the RV Propane system......vehicle fuel tank and system has very few safety features

But that is OK. Just was curious why you feared propane usage.

[OLYLEN]

First I don't think I worry while asleep. We travel with the refer packed when we leave the driveway. We have lots of frozen meat to BBQ and some cooked like hamburger per cooked and frozen for what ever the wife or I decide is right for the next meal. The house refer is all but MT when we go as all goes in the RV refer. At home a day or three before travel we set the RV on the drive and load the last items at a slow pace, taking inventory of what staples will need to be added to those that just stay in the RV from previous outings. The refer is turned on from this time on set to auto. I think the odds of a propane problem are about the same as any accident, I fear the fuel on board more than the propane.

LEN

[Dr_Holiday]

We never carry more than a few days of food with us. Most items that are made from scratch I will measure out and put into an appropriate sized ziplock bag then put all of them with the recipe card in a larger ziplock and store it away in the pantry. (dry ingredients only).

When camping we usually end up in the car every other day so on the way back to the camper we will stop at a farmers market, or store and get the needed items to make the next few days meals.

I enjoy doing canning at home so in the spring and fall we will have home made canned soups and stews.