Travelling Food

[nightscotsman]

For those really serious about on-the-go dining - the titanium spork.

$9.49 here.

[mb7o]

Used a costco special thermoelectric cooler on a long roadtrip. (Seattle->Alaska and back). Cooler is the right word, it probably kept things 10-20 degrees below ambient. It's supposed to keep things 30 degrees below ambient. Still useful, since we never had to buy ice; we mostly kept refrigeratied things cool, bought things cool, and used them up pretty quickly. I've never been too afraid of letting things get a little warm for a few hours, which was the limit for fresh meat, etc.

[Fat Guy]

I guess I can see the utility of such a device, but a really good Coleman or Igloo insulated cooler and some ice probably does a much better job. In all the months we've spent on the road, I can't think of a single instance in which we were reduced to buying ice. Every motel in America has an ice machine where you can top off your supply (even though they all post signs telling you not to fill your cooler) and if you have a good cooler and you only place cool things in it to begin with you can get several days of cooling out of one batch of ice (assuming moderate weather). The Coleman Marine Cooler specs, for example, state: "Keeps ice up to 3 days at temperatures up to 100°," and I've found that to be accurate.

[foodgeek]

I tend to bring fresh fruit on roadtrips such as apples pears, etc... Also, dried fruit, nuts, trailmix. And I bring a lot of (drinking) water. :) This supplements the sandwiches. :)

[fredlet]

Yep, i can vouch for the 12 V coolers for the road. You can save tons by shopping at supermarkets along the way (and also load up on local goodies along the way:texas shaped chipped, REAL salsa from Austin, Shiner Bock, etc.)

I'd also recommend getting one of those rechargeable battery jumpers with the 12V plug-it lets you keep running the 12V frig even when you are in the desert away from power. Most of the frig's also come with (or have available for purchase) a 110 AC adaptor for the wall socket.

One more tip... never eat sushi from a truck stop.

[Fat Guy]

It is, however, entirely acceptable to eat sushi from an Airstream trailer, wouldn't you say Fred?

[Jason Perlow]

Fred don't do Airstreams anymore. She has evolved.