Storing food in a damp basment

[PAMedic=F|A=]

I have the Vremi 4500sqft dehumidifier from Amazon. Its been running continuously since last August. Basement got to 30% humidity in a day and stayed there. So worth the money.

Glad to hear you’re happy with it.

The one we had already just wasn’t keeping up, and although the humidity never went above 60% I actually thought it had died, before I checked and realized it was still pulling water out.

So I got one of those, and plugged it in today . I don’t know what the other one is, came with The house, but it is about the same size. Moved it over to the old part of the house, which gets less water infiltration. Figure I’ll run both for a while. It has been stupidly wet here.

[JenniferG]

You need to figure out your square footage to get the right dehumidifier.

Here's how to figure out what size you need.

http://www.dehumidifierbuyersguide.c...-removal-rate/

Moisture Removal Rate

Test Procedure

To test moisture removal rate we placed each dehumidifier in a sealed 50 sq ft room. We then adjusted the humidity in the room to about 92-94% at a temperatures ranging from about 80° F to 85° F. At this temperature and humidity level the dehumidifier was set to high fan speed and its lowest humidistat setting (in most cases this was 35% or 30%) and was then given a “rolling start” to start dehumidifying from the 92-94% level down past 40% relative humidity.

For the first test we started the timer when the dehumidifier achieved a room humidity level of 90% and stopped the timer when it reached 40%. For the second test we started the timer at 80% relative humidity and stopped it at 50% relative humidity. We then repeated this process at least 3 times for each dehumidifier we tested.

[Bang]

Alaska bush dwellers smoke fish and meat, which is a way of removing moisture content. They say it lasts indefinitely.

[Berncly]

Alaska bush dwellers smoke fish and meat, which is a way of removing moisture content. They say it lasts indefinitely.

I don't think anything lasts indefinitely in warm damp conditions (except maybe Roman hydraulic concrete).
Jerky works great in Alaska, I'm not sure it would work so great in the Amazon.

[markshere2]

So over the last few months I slowly started gathering food and basic supplies. Needless to say, the Beer Flu has made me want to expand on what I have should a real emergency arise. Currently my food storage is in a dry closet in some retail store totes just so it's all together. Tuna, canned chicken, vacuum sealed rice, stuff like that. But I would also like to add in sealed veggies, Spam, beans, so on. The problem being I am pretty much out of room so it's time to move it and the basement is my best bet. But, it's unfinished and tends to be quite damp. I'll combat the moisture as best I can with absorbers but what's a good storage setup? I was originally thinking cabinet with a simple lock but most of the ones I see in stores are pretty cheap. Fiberboard that splinters and the like. I see plastic cabinets but I'm unsure how well they will hold up over time. And I don't want to spend dumb money on a heavy as hell metal cabinet. I could also get a rolling rack style shelf and just support it on cinder blocks (which I'll do either way in case the basement floods) but the 2 cats would probably have a field day climbing on it. Suggestions?

I put cans and any food that could be hurt by freezing in a 5 gal bucket.
Wally world sells them for about $5 including the lid.
I write a number on the Bucket and create an index document that tells me I have tuna and chocolate chips in bucket #17.
I used Excel for a spreadsheet.

Works a treat.

Dry goods that can tolerate freezing are stored in totes in the barn.

[bugout]

gamma lids on food grade contractor 5gal buckets with dessicant packs pre-sized for 5gal buckets solved my dry storage of food and ammo concerns...

[Daycrawler]

So it sounds like any decent size dehumidifier is a go. With a drain hose into the sump.

Now what about the actual storage? Would you go wooden, plastic, or metal construction? Cabinet? Shelves on caster wheels? However it comes together it will be supported on blocks so it's off the floor.

I agree with the humidity solution. So onto storage. Get some on the plastic bins that look like foot lockers. They are stackable, have two handle and not too expensive. The other thing you can do is wait for someone to remodel a kitchen and get some free cabinets. They are great for easy access to things you may want to rotate in and out. Use the bins for the long term stuff.

[RenoV8]

Buy some marine grade mdf and build shelves with it. Make sure to support it every couple of feet with metal brackets from HD or Lowes. Store any perishables or items that are in paper or boxes, out of the original wrapping. Canning jars are great for items like salt and sugar. We store our excess tea bags in canning jars.

Moist basements are killers for storing anything. I have installed some commercial type dehumidifiers. Expensive but do the job well and will actually help keep your house cooler in summer by removing excess water from the air, making it dryer and air conditioning feeling cooler at a higher temp setting.

[streaker69]

Buy some marine grade mdf and build shelves with it. Make sure to support it every couple of feet with metal brackets from HD or Lowes. Store any perishables or items that are in paper or boxes, out of the original wrapping. Canning jars are great for items like salt and sugar. We store our excess tea bags in canning jars.

Moist basements are killers for storing anything. I have installed some commercial type dehumidifiers. Expensive but do the job well and will actually help keep your house cooler in summer by removing excess water from the air, making it dryer and air conditioning feeling cooler at a higher temp setting.

For the past few years I've been buying bulk black tea from the restaurant supply store. A case costs around $22, but I get BIG teabags in it. Ones that are meant for the big tea makers in restaurants. I fill a 1/2 gallon mason jar with tea by cutting open the bags. When I make ice tea, I steep 3 table spoons for 1 gallon of tea. From that mason jar, I can make about 70 gallons of tea.

[RenoV8]

For the past few years I've been buying bulk black tea from the restaurant supply store. A case costs around $22, but I get BIG teabags in it. Ones that are meant for the big tea makers in restaurants. I fill a 1/2 gallon mason jar with tea by cutting open the bags. When I make ice tea, I steep 3 table spoons for 1 gallon of tea. From that mason jar, I can make about 70 gallons of tea.

Good idea to buy in bulk. My wife usually buys her brand when its buy one get one free...she then buys two...lol

Do you ever put the tea in a large glass pitcher and let it sit in the sun for a few hours? My father used to do this during the Summer and we would drink it with a little lemon aid. For some reason the tea always tasted better than boiling water for it.

Canning jars, mason jars...whatever you call them...great for storage. Store bought goods in glass jars are always a good reuse app. I have been doing it for years. I tend to run out of jars when we can tomatoes...every year I can more.