ProfilersFridge Care
This months column is dedicated to all the heads of lettuce, cartons of
milk, and containers of cottage cheese that died an untimely death due
to the malfunctions and mismanagement of the number one scourge of our
rigs...the refrigerator. I doubt there is anyone who has loaded their
fridge and not had the fear that something was not going to look, feel,
or taste the way it had as it went in.
What follows will by no means take care of all the disasters that could
befall foodstuffs placed into the fridge, but hopefully may address a
few areas that can result in lower food loss and less distress when
checking on the contents inside.
Getting Started
#1--Purchase an ‘inside/outside’ thermometer. These can be purchased at
any Radio Shack, Cabela's or Bass Pro. This allows you to monitor what
is going on inside, without having to open the door and let all of your
precious cold enter the rig. 40 degrees is the highest temperature your
fridge should attain and 33 is the low end. Do not despair if the temp
gets into the mid 40’s. If the contents were in good shape when they
went in, they should survive a modest temperature increase for a few
hours.
#2--Plug in to ground power, set the knob to AC and turn the thermostat
all the way up. If it is summertime, close up the rig and turn on the
air conditioning. If you need to get the inside of the box cold real
quick, freeze a couple of gallon water jugs a few of days ahead and
place them in the fridge.
#3--Try to pack the night before. This gives the unit a chance to
recover before you take off the next day. Don’t expect to put warm juice
and sodas in and have the fridge cool them off. Prechill everything
first.
#4--Do not overload!! The flow of air is what helps keep stuff cold.
Place the coldest items on the lowest shelf (cold air drops, warm air
rises). This is a great place for sodas, milk, juice, etc. By the same
reasoning, place the delicate items on the upper shelves. Eggs are a
real bummer to work with if they are frozen, so put them on the top
shelf. Use the door to hold condiments, dressings, butter and the like.
Lettuce seems to be the #1 item to take a hit if it gets too cold, but I
have found that if it is placed in a canvas sack or even wrapped up in a
dish towel, the chances for survival are superb.
#5--When you are ready to hit the road and it is going to be a 100+
degree day, set the thermostat to the midway point and change the
selector to DC or gas. Hattie is not thrilled about the gas selection,
but is aware that not all rigs have a sufficient charging system to keep
up with the energy the fridge will pull from the batteries. The only
thing worse than a warm fridge is a top that will not go up when the
button is pressed.
#6--When you get to your destination, try to find a space so
that the afternoon sun will not be pounding on the fridge side of your
rig. If there is a fridge fan installed and your gauge indicates you are
warmer than you are comfortable with, turn on the fan. You can even turn
the thermostat to a higher setting. The bottom line however, is don’t
open the door!!! The inside of the box will cool down much faster if you
leave it alone as much as possible.
#7--If the temperature keeps going up, double check your power source
and the fuse for the fridge.
Happy HI-LOing, Hatti