Here I am, a single man in China, faced with the thorny problem of how to keep my butter, milk and cheese for more than a couple of days, when I don't have a fridge!
Do you know how to do it?
Well, in the past I've had some experience involving the use of a Coolgardie Safe. Now, anyone who's anyone would know that this is an evaporative cooler that relies on firm scientific principles to keep dairy products in reasonably usable condition in 30+ degree heat for more than a couple of days!
[I see I've lost a few of you already - the term, science tends to do that! he he...]
Ok. So in a nutshell, heres my situation. I recently spent about a month in Beijing during a lovely constant weather temp of around 30 deg. C to 38 deg. C
I was on the 5th floor, had no fridge and no way of keeping my dairy products in any other way. Even eggs became useless after 3-5 days!
So what to do? I made a Coolgardie Safe!
Ok, so what's a Coolgardie Safe? Well, older Australian's will know. Yonger Australian's may know of it's reputation but not have any experience of it. fortunately, in my youth I had the chance to play with a couple, although I never really could work out how they worked - I now the theory but never really had the need to make it work in practice, well, until recently.
A Coolgardie Safe consists of a tray of water with a mesh box immersed in it and a cloth covering to wick the water up and through evaporation, create a low temperature environment within the mesh box. Often a terracotta brick is used to add thermal mass and to keep the cooled products out of the water.
Now, here's my problem. I'm in the middle of China. Everything I take for granted, doesn't exist, or is and adventure worthy of a Greek Epic in order to reach a satisfactory conclusion. e.g where do you get a metal mesh box from? Or just some mesh t make a box? What about the tray, or the brick or shelves if it's large, or even the fabric to cover the safe? Simple issues with non-simple solutions.
Here's what I did.
I bought a rectangular plastic tray, about 1 " deep. I also bought a plastic mesh basket which fitted comfortably into the tray when placed upside down. then I bought two packets of dish cloths and cut and stitched the clothes together to create a cover for the mesh basket. Lastly, I found a flattish brick on the street, washed it, doused it in boiling water and then placed it inside the assembly. Once fully assembled, I poured water into te tray and allowed it to sit on a window ledge in the breeze.
;-)
I hope you are able to use this idea and find it informative. All the best. this has been a 'Survive China' announcement!
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