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Food storage in humidity / heat.

1K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Pangea 
#1 ·
My house is overrun with preps. I’d like to store some food items in the garage ( VERY humid and hot). Will items like dried beans, powdered milk, pasta, etc., be damaged if they are first placed in vacuumed sealed bags?

Any help would be most appreciated!
 
#2 ·
My house is overrun with preps. I’d like to store some food items in the garage (humid and hot). Will items like dried beans, powdered milk, pasta, etc., be damaged if they are first placed in vacuumed sealed bags?

Any help would be most appreciated!
Nope. The salt, sugar, and water will be fine in the garage if packaged right but not the rest of the food.

Heat destroys food and fast. Even dry and canned food. It will likely remain safe, but micronutrient levels will plummet.

You are facing the proverbial storage wall most advanced preppers ultimately face.

It's time to get creative about your home space. You have the same walls the food must stay in, but you need more places to put it.

It's likely remodeling time. Do you have skills in this arena?
 
#4 ·
Heat doesn't affect wheat, pasta, white rice, salt or sugar. I have these over 10 years old which have seen 90+ degree temps every year during summer. Still fine. I store powdered whole milk in the same conditions but use it within one year of the use-by date so can't give much info on that. No idea on beans, others will know.
Tinned food from the store is OK out to at least three years but watch out for rust in humid conditions.

Watch out for rats and mice. They go straight through plastic. They don't show up for years and then their numbers explode and they make a real mess. Metal trunks would be the best protection.
 
#6 ·
Heat doesn't affect wheat, pasta, white rice......
Yes, it most certainly does. A lot in fact. Grains are high in essential B vitamins that suffer greatly under heat.

You tasting it later doesn't tell you a thing about micronutrient levels. A food lab would show diminished essential vitamins.

Your mouth isn't a lab. Stored food isn't only about calories and food is expensive.
I’ve already started the remodel. I was hoping some items could go to the garage.
I realize the absurdity of the question, but do you have a spare room for temp storage while you remodel?

As for remodeling it's important to remember where $ spent get the most return at sale time. Kitchen improvements sometimes return almost the entire dollar spent at home sale time. Kitchen pantry space added that perhaps melds into utility and laundry areas is perfect for expansion. If you had a formal dining room, that is the best to steal from. It is rarely missed space if you already have enough kitchen and main den eating space. Losing it rarely detracts from home value as long as you have somewhere there is meal seating for 6. Look at floor plans that have an formal dining room next to the kitchen to create more "blank space" to draw the kitchen, pantry, laundry, and meal seating for 6 from whole cloth. Losing the dining room lets you expand the kitchen to tuck in seating for 6 and to expand the laundry area so it has more storage cabinetry. Great thing about cabinetry in an expanded laundry area is you can buy the affordable generic cabinetry. Ask Bunkerbuster for his updated laundry pictures.

If the spare room is a hopeless idea then consider climate controlled rental storage. I'll bet that it would be allowable in a home improvement loan budget plan with the bank. Are you using a home improvement loan plan?

Sorry about the personal OpSec questions. I'm just hunting around for elbow room to offer ideas. Things that you feel safe to share then please do. This remodel transition is all about find spare spots short term while the work gets done.

One big upside to a generalized kitchen region remodel is little early grief from the missus. It's almost impossible to tell a wife that you intend to remodel her kitchen to make it more useful and get static over it. But beware the devil in the details that she must feel she gets to make a big personalized stamp on it. You two can remodel her kitchen, but no way you get to be the overlord of the project. The upside is she's more focused on appearance rather than placement. Once you force the floorplan you have you have to take her to the home center for her picking of the finished surfaces. If you get the shape then she gets the finish treatment. Luckily she won't be too picky about the mostly hidden laundry and pantry area. The kitchen proper that people see is where she will bleed you. Just suck it up, brother, and give her the damm countertops and cooking range that she wants. Maybe show her a Franke range that has a split gas and induction cooktop. She gets the easy cook surface for regular meals and you get the one big gas burner for your wok and All American canner.
 
#9 ·
Yes, it most certainly does. A lot in fact. Grains are high in essential B vitamins that suffer greatly under heat.

You tasting it later doesn't tell you a thing about micronutrient levels. A food lab would show diminished essential vitamins.

Your mouth isn't a lab. Stored food isn't only about calories and food is expensive.

I realize the absurdity of the question, but do you have a spare room for temp storage while you remodel?

As for remodeling it's important to remember where $ spent get the most return at sale time. Kitchen improvements sometimes return almost the entire dollar spent at home sale time. Kitchen pantry space added that perhaps melds into utility and laundry areas is perfect for expansion. If you had a formal dining room, that is the best to steal from. It is rarely missed space if you already have enough kitchen and main den eating space. Losing it rarely detracts from home value as long as you have somewhere there is meal seating for 6. Look at floor plans that have an formal dining room next to the kitchen to create more "blank space" to draw the kitchen, pantry, laundry, and meal seating for 6 from whole cloth. Losing the dining room lets you expand the kitchen to tuck in seating for 6 and to expand the laundry area so it has more storage cabinetry. Great thing about cabinetry in an expanded laundry area is you can buy the affordable generic cabinetry. Ask Bunkerbuster for his updated laundry pictures.

If the spare room is a hopeless idea then consider climate controlled rental storage. I'll bet that it would be allowable in a home improvement loan budget plan with the bank. Are you using a home improvement loan plan?

Sorry about the personal OpSec questions. I'm just hunting around for elbow room to offer ideas. Things that you feel safe to share then please do. This remodel transition is all about find spare spots short term while the work gets done.

One big upside to a generalized kitchen region remodel is little early grief from the missus. It's almost impossible to tell a wife that you intend to remodel her kitchen to make it more useful and get static over it. But beware the devil in the details that she must feel she gets to make a big personalized stamp on it. You two can remodel her kitchen, but no way you get to be the overlord of the project. The upside is she's more focused on appearance rather than placement. Once you force the floorplan you have you have to take her to the home center for her picking of the finished surfaces. If you get the shape then she gets the finish treatment. Luckily she won't be too picky about the mostly hidden laundry and pantry area. The kitchen proper that people see is where she will bleed you. Just suck it up, brother, and give her the damm countertops and cooking range that she wants. Maybe show her a Franke range that has a split gas and induction cooktop. She gets the easy cook surface for regular meals and you get the one big gas burner for your wok and All American canner.
Our house is 4,500sf, the guest house is 1,600sf (just 2 of us). Total garage space is 5 cars with a 11ft high ceilings. The existing pantry in the main house is large enough to hold a Dodge Ram 3500 mega cab. The problem is ....I’ve over stocked. Using some garage space would be the easiest solution, but I am doing some remodel.
Have you considered using the guest house. ?

Also a simple remodel would be a cloak the controlled garage. You’d only have to cool it in the hot months. Might not be that often where you live and only down to 80 degrees. Even just turning PART of the garage into a climate controlled room and cooling with a window unit or mini split would work.

Another option , what I’m considering as I run out of space , is storing just my bulk grain outside. Yes it will not last as long. But for less than the price of a remodel I can simply replace the grain every 2 or 3 years for the rest of my life.
 
#13 ·
that would be my vote....that is if it isn't already full. that's the problem with homes.. no matter how small or how big, we buy stuff to fill them up. I have looked at my attic many times for alternate storage, just doesn't seem to work out in my mind, even with general mods.

good luck. i hate remodels...like the end product but hate the process
 
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