Organizing the Food/Beer in Your Fridge

[flyingwil]

FWIW I have never had a bottle of beer, vodka, whatever break in my Waeco fridge/freezer. Sometimes it's full and often times it is not...but never a broken glass container.

X2 Maybe it is because I do not drive a MOG! (although I want to!)

 

[Robthebrit]

As to the original question, I pulled the wiremesh basket and put a divider in it. If helps with small items but in some cases it can stop you getting large items in at all.

Rob

 

[flyingwil]

As to the original question, I pulled the wiremesh basket and put a divider in it. If helps with small items but in some cases it can stop you getting large items in at all.

Rob

I use the small plastic grocery bags and tie thing to the wire basket. works pretty well IMO. For beers leave them in the 6 pack box.

 

[dd113]

I have never had anything break in my 60 qt Norcold. Even when I rolled 3 times and the fridge came off the track and bounced around the inside of the truck. I replace used items with water bottles and/or lay bottles flat and stack on top of them.

I also use rubbermaid containers to hold all the little stuff and mash it all in with the upright bottles.

Side note:
When I rolled the 60 qt broke loose from its homemade slider and rolled around in the back of the wagon as we went over 3 times. It was dark and I lost all electrical so when I stopped, about 60' down hill, I was in total darkenss, injured and disoriented. Jsut as I was about to panic the compressor to the Norcold came on. Cant kill that ****er! That calmed me down enough to cut the belt and try to rescue myself...another story!

 

[KingSlug]

Try this..

But I use broth and other liquids in a food saver bag to cut down on the kilinking. I get the smaller food saver bags, and seal broth, miso soup or other liquid in each bag then insert between cans and bottles. I use the wasted space between bottles and cut down on the kilinking.

I use the food saver for alot of stuff like sealing up guns for the season, first aid gear (into small packs for bee sting, eye, trama/blood loss, etc), food storage and planning.

 

[RoundOut]

You guys need louder trucks if you can hear bottles rattling in the fridge!

******** :hehe:

Does anyone know where I could get sheets of thin, pliable plastic? I could use that to make the same or similar divider system for the bottles.

I have two suggestions you may wish to try. First, most hobby shops carry sheet poly styrene that you could easily use to make a bottle grid, sort of like the inside of some boxes. Another material with which you may choose to make the same type of grid, is a semi-plyable vinyl that is used in home construction under a shower before the tile is laid as a water barrier. This can be purchased at Home Depot or any other building supply store by the yard, but may not sturdy enough for the job, unless when it is refrigerated, it becomes more rigid.

Good luck, though. :littlefriend:

 

[teotwaki]

I'm just worried about bottles breaking and also about figuring out a better way to get to the stuff I want quickly without having to remove 1/2 the contents before I can find it.

The only methods that seem practical at this point are either the small containers that were mentioned or a divider system. Cardboard 6 packs, socks, towels, etc. only solve 1 issue, mainly breaking bottles. Even then, these methods don't seem 100% reliable.

How about those cheap 1/8" thick neoprene bottle socks that you'd use to keep a bottle of beer cold while holding it? Then you could pack 'em in close and they're ready to hold when you pull them out!

or

 

[calamaridog]

First of all, leave the food at home and just pack the :beer: Problem solved

Second of all, use the styrofoam packing stuff you would wrap glasses in when you are moving.

I have to admit, I like Jim's idea best, since it is reuseable...

 

[GeoRoss]

Just sort of an FYI, but the more full you keep your fridge, the less energy it will use to maintain temp. Use filler stuff like water in plastic containers or whatnot to help buffer things in the fridge and keep it tightly packed.

 

[edgear]

My palate does not like the nectar of the god's in an aluminum holding case - no offense to my aluminum beer holding drinking brethren.:sombrero:

I'm with you on that one! But thankfully, Guinness, Boddington's, and a few other decent beers come in cans.
As for the dilemma of clanking (and possibly broken) bottles, I remember seeing this at REI:

And they carry a similar product for wine bottles.

:beer:

 

[Reata Rover]

Great thread Tony. I agree with the ice chest guy somewhat, although I am working towards the dual battery setup to power my new Engle.

Good Day!

 

[goodtimes]

You guys and all your fancy ideas are just nuckin futs. There is a simple solution....when you have extra room in the fridge, FILL IT WITH BEER!

That's right....open space in fridge = room for more beer. Just stuff it with bottles, they will stop moving around, and your problem is solved. As a bonus, you don't run out of cold beer when you have that chance meeting with an old friend along the trail somewhere.

You gotta plan ahead people, PLAN AHEAD!!!

:sombrero:

or should it be:

:friday:



Yea, OK, so now you know the "goodtimes solution to all of mans problems".... cold beer!

 

[DaveInDenver]

My palate does not like the nectar of the god's in an aluminum holding case - no offense to my aluminum beer holding drinking brethren.

In general, I do agree with you. Guinness, Murphy's, Boddington's and Old Speckled Hen are canned options. But, being that Colorado has it's fair share of microbreweries and fun hogs who go places where glass is verboten, we are lucky to have several options for good beer that you can have in the can.

Oskar Blues (from Lyons) - these beers are 100% the real deal.
http://www.oskarblues.com/brew/

New Belgium's (from Ft. Fun) Fat Tire
http://www.newbelgium.com/beers_ft.php
http://www.9news.com/money/article.aspx?storyid=90429

Ska Brewing's (from Durango) ESB
http://www.skabrewing.com/index.cfm?fa=category.display&category_id=9

 

[tdesanto]

Great thread Tony. I agree with the ice chest guy somewhat, although I am working towards the dual battery setup to power my new Engle.

Good Day!

Yeah, but the "ice chest guy" (articulate) finally converted to an Engel as well. :sport_box

Congrats on the new fridge! On the dual batt setup, don't go with dual red tops like you've seen done elsewhere. Make sure to go with dual purpose batteries (odyssey, optima, etc). This will help prevent battery failure if you need to run one down quite a bit (it will happen at some point).

 

[tdesanto]

Two Zone Basket Set

These have helped out tremendously in getting to the stuff at the bottom of the fridge (steaks, seafood, dairy, etc.).

These have solved problem #1 in the initial post. For the bottles rattling against each other, problem #2, I must admit that I've taken the "goodtimes" approach of filling it to the brim with beer and drinks. If it's full, then stuff tends to bounce and shift less. It also helps the fridge run more efficiently.