Custom gun rack?
It is Montana.
Enemies of food storage...Light
I was going through our oft used staples that are air "tight" and gone through fairly fast. Usually within 6 months and up to a year. These are all stable ingredients that are meant for the short term but, are good to a year or much more as they are. I topped off the split peas and noticed something glaring...
![Food Spice Ingredient Seasoning Wood]()
We know that oxygen is a prime enemy of dried food storage. It accelerates aging and the rancidity of fats. Nutrition degrades and it facilitates the breakdown of well, everything.
We also know that heat accelerates all breakdowns, structure, nutrition, texture and on and on.
It is also clear that light also has the same effect. We know this and yet, many fail to protect from all three at the same time. It is darn near impossible in actuality in our day to day goods.
This is about the light part...
It is true that light is not of major consequence when we are eating a balanced diet and can make up for any shortfalls elsewhere. But, it does degrade food, even in the short term part of the pantry.
![Food Ingredient Cuisine Plant Food storage containers]()
I added split peas to this container about a month ago and put on top of split peas that are no older than 4 months. The change is obvious. Taste and texture are the same but, we all know that any vitamin that reacts to light is toast. This is from about 3 hours of sunlight a day in the Summer.
So, watch your food.
If you want to store it long term, do it right the first time. Because, even the short term ingredients are wrecked in short order due to one or all three of food storage enemies.
Yes, we are eating them. There is no reason not to. But, what if we were in a position to need those missing vitamins...?
Now, I have all these things, stored in bulk in mylar with O2 absorbers, stored @ 50 degrees F in the Summer and 45ish in Winter. I have this all covered but, I wanted to demonstrate a glaring difference between supermarket fresh and a few months that get sunlight.
Yours,
Shawn.
We know that oxygen is a prime enemy of dried food storage. It accelerates aging and the rancidity of fats. Nutrition degrades and it facilitates the breakdown of well, everything.
We also know that heat accelerates all breakdowns, structure, nutrition, texture and on and on.
It is also clear that light also has the same effect. We know this and yet, many fail to protect from all three at the same time. It is darn near impossible in actuality in our day to day goods.
This is about the light part...
It is true that light is not of major consequence when we are eating a balanced diet and can make up for any shortfalls elsewhere. But, it does degrade food, even in the short term part of the pantry.
I added split peas to this container about a month ago and put on top of split peas that are no older than 4 months. The change is obvious. Taste and texture are the same but, we all know that any vitamin that reacts to light is toast. This is from about 3 hours of sunlight a day in the Summer.
So, watch your food.
If you want to store it long term, do it right the first time. Because, even the short term ingredients are wrecked in short order due to one or all three of food storage enemies.
Yes, we are eating them. There is no reason not to. But, what if we were in a position to need those missing vitamins...?
Now, I have all these things, stored in bulk in mylar with O2 absorbers, stored @ 50 degrees F in the Summer and 45ish in Winter. I have this all covered but, I wanted to demonstrate a glaring difference between supermarket fresh and a few months that get sunlight.
Yours,
Shawn.
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You didn't show the other side of your kitchen so I may be mistaken on this comment, But I do not see a cutting board, knife block, or Utensil rack, all worthy items for one's kitchen countertop.
I tried to balance functionality & aesthetics whiling having an eclectic taste in scenery.
Realize I live alone, and at most only use 2 of the 4 burners, as something will always be cooking at same time in convection toaster oven, Instant Pot, air fryer or slow cooker, so for functionality's sake, the back area of the stove has been turned to counter space. I find this setup to be very convenient for a solo cook. There are 2 knife blocks in this photo 2nd one is in between the GE Immersion Blender and the GE S.S. Coffee maker (3rd knife block is on the other side of the sink, while rest of Cutlery are in drawers). Above the stoves are only a few of my most used Pots & pans, 12 piece Mixing bowls, Bamboo steamers, and most commonly used Utensils hanging from Pot rack. My large pots and Large Woks are above the kitchen cabinets, and rest of pots and pans etc. are in the below cabinets and in the pots n pans storage area in oven cabinets.
I read in one of my Ex's college nutritional books that standing up while eating is good to prevent indigestion, acid reflux, and heartburn (although truth be told I eat standing up due to my back), so I have a Japanese plate setting set there for my Meals, but when preparing my meals, I remove the plate setting & put it on the folding counter behind me as under the plate setting is a hard plastic cutting board of which I place that wooden cutting board near sink on it for all my Food prep, except for meats where I place a soft plastic cutting board for sanitary reasons.
Behind this photo
Top going left to right: Pitcher filled with variety of Utensils, Kitchen Aid Glass Blender. WH Immersion Blender, Krups Juicer, Brass Zippo Lighter, GE 12 cup Food Processor w/accessory package
Bottom going left to right: W.H. mini Food Chopper, Mr Coffee Coffee Grinder, Digital Food Scale, GE Food Chopper (in a bag), Citrus Juicer.
Under this folding table holding my small appliances
Above photo is an unplugged Mini Frig where I store all my flour, Grits, Quinoa, Couscous, Rice types, microwave popcorn, pretty much anything sunlight could ruin or that a mouse/rat would want their fury paws on. & to the right of that is a 6 draw rolling cabinet filled to the brim with additional Cutlery, Kitchen specialty Utensils, silverware, Eggs slicers, variety of peelers, and what nots whosawhatsits and doohickeys.
In the adjacent room are multitier racks where the rest of my small appliances are kept. Pretty much every Small Appliance that you can think of with the exception of a Sous Vide (boring way to cook)
BTW Shawn, those are the antifatigue matts that I was suggesting in a previous post.
I thought of this thread when I finished my last batch of dehydrated carrots. The new ones are super orange and I compared them to another dated 06/2022. The older jar is NOT stored in a dark place. I keep my regular use stuff on a shelf that gets indirect morning sun. I haven’t used the older jar because I’m trying to use up some dehydrated carrot cubes first ( which I don’t prefer). Food for thought.
![Plant Rectangle Cuisine Wood Ingredient]()
![Wood Font Circle Metal Souvenir]()
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