Knowing Your Refrigerator is Keeping its Cool

When we were young we were taught that two things “nice folks” didn’t talk about were religion and politics. Apparently this was to keep the peace with ones’ neighbors. If you want a third “don’t talk about it” list is, “Keeping the gas turned on to run the refrigerator while the RV is rolling down the road.”

Might as well get it out in the open: We will talk about religion, don’t have much use for politics, and rarely keep the gas turned on to keep the reefer cool while on the road.

The latter begs the question: Does your refrigerator stay cool enough for the food to be safe? The answer is roughly: How cool is cool enough? The consensus among food safety authorities is that perishable foods should be kept at 40 degrees (F) or less to be “safe.” Will your RV refrigerator keep things that cool with the gas turned off? That of course, depends on a lot of factors. The individual refrigerator’s insulation pack; the quality of the door seal; the ambient temperature; how cold was the ‘fridge when you turned it off . . . on and on it goes.

Here’s a tip: A remote reporting thermometer can answer these questions. Stick the “transmitter” inside the refrigerator and you’ll never need to open the door (and let our precious chill) to find the answer. There are a couple of different types. At nearly any auto parts store you can pick up a “car dashboard thermometer” with outside temperature sensor. The sensor is usually a small disk, with wires that attach to the reporting unit. Stick the sensor in the reefer, run the wires out the door (under the gasket) and stick the display unit where you can read it easily.

We’ve also had success using our wireless thermometer system to get even more distant reports. We stick the “outside” sensor/transmitter in the reefer and put the receiver where it’s handy. If it transmits far enough (despite being buried in a refrigerator) you  might even be able to read your ‘frige temp from the driver’s seat.

With the system in place, it’s easy to check to see if your reefer is keeping its cool.

The “better half” of this writing team likes to keep her refrigerator as cool as possible. She often tells me that having a few ice crystals on the milk is OK by her. By keeping the “normal” range of temperatures in our rolling reefer down at the basement level, we find it takes a bit longer for things to reach the upper “danger” level, and thus we usually don’t have any trouble keeping the ‘fridge turned off during “road hours.”

Not sticking “warm” stuff inside the cooler helps a lot, too. Buy COLD soda where possible; use ice water to chill off the leftovers before sticking them in the ‘fridge, especially if you’ll soon be requiring your RV reefer to go without gas. When shopping, reach to the BACK of the stack on the cooler unit, farthest away from the customer door–the theory is the farther back in the unit (or at the bottom of the stack) the cooler the item is. When we make a big shopping expedition away from the RV, we often use a 12-volt powered “cooler unit” to bring home the groceries, thus taking the strain off the RV refrigerator.

Wondering about how long you can keep stuff in your ‘fridge? There are some great food storage guidelines available at www.foodsafety.gov — click on “Consumer Advice.”

photo: No, that’s not either of us, but the credit goes to ooOJasonOoo on flickr.com