Internal fridge drawers

[Matt Hixson]

Our ARB packing technique could best be described as "pile it into the fridge." We end up with things buried deep in the bottom of the fridge, bags leaking, things thawing, and in general it kindof turns into a mess by the end of the trip. What I think I need is a system of watertight vertical drawers in which to store things inside the fridge. I imagine this would be somewhat like a hanging file folder setup where you could pull one of the drawer/containers out entirely, set it on a table to open it up, and slide it back into a different spot if it made sense to do so.
Does something like this already exist?
Do you already have a convenient organization technique in your fridge?
Thanks for any ideas.

 

[Corbet]

I've used a series of stackable Tupperware type containers to organize the inside of my Engel. While it worked great I did not like loosing that extra space. I'm back to the pile method but do have two hanging baskets at the top as a happy medium.

 

[gobi_recon]

I bought a vacuum sealer and started to save space where ever i can

 

[Winterpeg]

Yes, a vacuum sealer rocks! We got one of those FoodSaver varieties and also got an Xcalibur dehydrator for veggies.
We also use a lot of ziploc bags. For instance we put the hotdogs in a ziploc prior to even using them so then we don't have to hunt around for a ziploc when we do open up the hotdogs.

So with the FoodSaver vacuum sealing things relatively flat we are able to stack it in there nicely.

A key thing to preserve power is also knowing where things are in the fridge. If I don't remember exactly where the item is I want to get out of the fridge I ask the wife... she has an uncanny memory for stuff like that and is able to tell me exactly where it's located (front/back/top/bottom/mid-way down, etc).

And I'm pretty sure there has been a discussion on the dehydrated hash browns... but it's worthy of an extra mention ;)

My wife just reminded me about us precooking some stuff. We precook high grease things like hamburger, bacon, breakfast sausages, etc. We then freeze them.

 

[CDN Offroader]

+1 to the vacuum packs, you can also precook meals, vac pack and then put them in boiling water for 10-15 mins to reheat. I usually boil the water, turn off the stove, put the bags in and then crack a drink. Once that is done, meal should be ready, (optional) crack open another drink...

 

[Mike W]

I just plan to use ziplock bags and try to minimize the mess. I have also been trying to figure out the right temp. I have it pretty close to freezing.

 

[Winterpeg]

-4 celcius seems to be my sweet spot with my fridge. The stuff on the bottom is frozen rock solid and the beer at the very top is ice cold perfection.
Take a beer out, put a beer in. Beauty in it's simplicity. Lol.

I had it set at -12 for some reason one time and my solar panels and 2 deep cycle grp 31 blue top Optimas could not keep up.

 

[Road]

All great info. Taking delivery of an ARB 50qt soon and will use a lot of ideas in this thread. I recall seeing some tall, thin, and wide see-through containers meant for household fridge shelves, for iced-tea and juice and such, that ought to be great in top-opening fridges for organization. Going to keep my eye out for some, now.

 

[Corbet]

The temp setting is simply 0-5 on my old Engel. Anything past 1.5 equals frozen solid. You want it as close to but not freezing as possible IMO.

Also I always abide by what I call "the rule of 3". For each person in the vehicle there should be 3 beers in the fridge. I keep mine at the bottom where it's coldest. Then always replace each beer as consumed and your sure to always have cold beer. Unless of course you revert to college frat party drinking tactics. For that switch to the hard stuff. Takes less space. Canned beer is preferred. It takes less space and creates less trash to haul out.

 

[4xFar Adventures]

I too will put anything that can't be resealed into Ziplock bags before leaving. The freezer bags are thicker and hold up to more abuse. Sometimes things need to be double bagged. Anything granular, try to not pour out of a Ziplock bag. The stuff (sugar, ground coffee, dog food, etc.) gets into the seal and the bag never fully closes. Carry a box of bags for extra stuff.

Wow, didn't know this was going to be a baggie post!

 

[000]

I pack the baskets of my edgestar fridge with vacuumed sealed food with the food saver for wet stuf like meat or pe cooked food and squishable stuff like tomatoes in Tupperware and loose stuff like candy bars or other small things in ziplock bags. I do this in the kitchen before I put the baskets in the fridge, and try to pack in the order I plan on using it with a carton of eggs on top


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[Hafaday]

ARB guys..

For the ones that have cooling issues. Have you checked the temp inside the fridge as to the display? If off, you can go thru the menu to help correct it (this is not in the manual). I was off as much as 7 to 9 degs. warmer than the set temp. I did the adjustment with a milk jug (7/8ths full and a digital thermometer in the jug of water).

Turn on and set a temp you want. give it a couple hrs to equalize. Put in the water jug or what have you, and let it set (equalize) for another couple hrs. Check temp of water in the jug and see what it is. then go from there. Oh yeah.. You can cheat and add the jug at start up of the fridge. this will cut down the few additional hrs.

1) Press and hold BOTH + and - temp setting buttons and HOLD for about 5 secs until AOF appears on the display, then release
2) Using the + or - button, add or remove degrees to the setting. For me I was running warmer so I added (+) degrees to the reading to match the internal temp (Maxed it out at A08 for the heck of it).
3) After adding degrees, release the button and the fridge will blink to acknowledge/accept the new setting and begin to adjust accordingly.

After doing this calibration. Internal temps are with in a degree or 2 of what I set the thermostat at. Now the the display will fluctuate a little as to what the inside is (temp rise and fall during use), but now it's a heck of a lot better.

Some know this, some don't.. just trying to help out.

~Bill

 

[Homeguy]

I've also found out that it's pretty warm outside you can keep the settings at -4C and nothing will freeze. I just make sure the items I want the coldest are at the bottom.


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