Eliminating Cardboard

[zeehag]

baggies fit nicely into baggies of the same size and then stash neatly somewhere......kinda like nuts and screws and anything you donot want to have wet......
i use my old small mayo jars --with lids---screw the lids onto a board to mount somewhere and put nuts bolts screws etc in the mayo jars and screw them intop the mounted tops---mount the board in the overhead .....lol in my boat i can do that in the forepeak--is to be tool and work room...lol.....you folks with houses can do this one--i learned it frommy dad when he had a workshop in our basement when we were kids lol....this also cuts a bit of the garbage thing down...lol....re use the jars.....

[moonchaser]

the bugs eggs are in the flour, etc when you buy it. if you buy it from open bins, common in the caribbean, it helps to sift it before use, gets some of the worms out. good free protein though if left in.
not sure how to remove the rat droppings and hair from the peanut butter. probably could have lived without that info huh!
microwaving or bay leaves seem to help the flour / meal situation. corrugated cardboard is the worst as bugs lay eggs in the openings. naturally the dirtier the warehouse the more bugs. again caribbean seems worse for this.
in my experience tupperware is nice for a while but ours had a short life in the caribbean. seemed to deteriorate more quickly there. been meaning to ask tupperware about that.

[forsailbyowner]

We use containers that our parrot seed comes in. The same containers are found holding planters peanuts in a smaller size. Clear with a yellow top. They are rectangular so they waste less space than round and have good screw on lids. We looked and looked and these worked better than what was sold specifically as food storage containers.

[Pblais]

the bugs eggs are in the flour, etc when you buy it.

It's there when they grind it. Flour everywhere has them. Yes, in the US too. The tropical weather just makes the eggs grow faster than higher latitudes. Irradiation would cure all that but it's not something people are ready to accept.

We have stopped using Tupperware. They make new stuff under the brand name Snap ware or the cheaper yet good Steralite available at WalMart and other discount stores. They have flaps on the lids that snap down and the lid has a removable soft ring that compresses for a nice fit. The containers and lids nest. They are water tight and come in assorted sizes large and small.

I also like US Plastics web site (google to find). They do great mail order and have every type of industrial plastic known to man. Nalgene in all flavors and all sizes too. Good prices. Lots of lab ware stuff and containers for very nasty liquids.

None of this will stop bugs in flour from growing. Microwaves may slow them down but they don't sterilize the flour. Storage of kitchen commodities is a serious operation. The sea and warm climates are not suitable for these to be left in anything other than industrial strength containers. It's why tropical cultures don't grind or process these until they are to be used.

Knowing how to cook is an art form. Aboard ship simple pleasures like eating take on extra special status. Knowing how to store food is a science and you need to expand you abilities and weapons if you choose to eat well aboard. It's a goal we all should strive for (the eating better part). The old salts would have eaten better if they knew how.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Harriet

To reduce the risk of roaches (a/k/a palmetto bugs), I have had reasonably good success in eliminating cardboard from our boat, including the boxes that surround crackers, pudding mix, pasta, etc. But what do you do with zip-lock type baggies if you toss the boxes they come in? So far I have tried putting rubber bands around each size group, but I'm not thrilled with it.

Does anyone out there have a better way of storing baggies outside the box?

Yep, get the gallon freezer bags and put the quart bags inside and label with a sharpie, same with sandwich sized.
You can roll up gallong bags and put them in the bag your newspaper comes in on rainy days. I recently switched over to Glad's 2.4 gallon bags for my gallon bags. I stopped using ziploc and opted for the other style. It seems to last longer and when going to some place like walmart thier freezer bags last longer and are cheaper. Again label with a sharpie. I also stick a paper peel and stick label inside labeled with size in case the outside wears off.

Ziploc also makes a 'big bag' that I use to store a clean dry set of bedsheets in.