......And you save what you can....and then vow to only grind wheat from now on. (We lost about 100lbs of flour.) Because who needs white flour, anyway? Right?
I have never seen moldy flour. Ewwww. I thought it was wet in the NW... but also remember that we don't have basements. Was your flour in the basement?
May I introduce to you plastic buckets with air tight lids? This link has a picture of some other great suggestions. I think its a good investment if you're going to store anything in a NE basement. (Oh what I would do for a basement.)http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/search/label/product%20review
I knew this was a real possibility the first summer we moved here, and I smelled the musty lifeforms in the basement air. So I pulled a dehumidifier off the side of the road the first chance I got (and we pulled in 2 gallons of water per day that first summer!) Last summer I got a dozen second-hand buckets from a guy who has a friend in the ice cream business for cheap. Then we picked up some regular and some Gamma Seal lids at Emergency Essentials when we were in Utah for my brother's wedding.
Only... in our vigor to grow our food storage, I found we had more bags of wheat/rice/flour/sugar than could fit in my buckets, so the remainder was left to be used. (Why didn't I just get more buckets? Hmm?)
So we had 2x20lb of rice and 3x25lb of flour "vulnerable". But we cook alot, right? Not right enough. The week I was in Chicago and Jen was in Maine, the humidity was 100% and the dehumidifier was off, which accelerated this problem.
The end to the long story: The rice is in plastic bags for now, safe, and the paper was NOT gas impermeable, and we probably only saved 40 of the 75 pounds of flour. Not quite as bad as Jen estimated, but definitely better to throw away some flour than to have some sick moldy after-taste to a fresh-from-the-oven loaf of bread.
I am glad I am not the only one that didn't know flour could mold! wow. Still, I think your basement is AMAZING. It just has its...limitations. I hope the bucket plan works. I have been thinking I really need to move our powdered milk in the house from the garage. We already moved the oil into the laundry room cupboard. I hadn't known it really wanted to live in the dark. Still learning...not dead yet.
Wow, I had no idea, either! That's crazy. But I can second the east coast humidity! I was gonna say "hello, can it!" :) But glad Joe "editorialized"- I can understand just not getting enough supplies!
My mom is the food storage guru in our ward and rented the canner and people have been over canning like crazy. If only you weren't so far away!
....your flour molds.....
Yuck! And may I highly recommend a wheat grinder? I just got a new one (blessed lifetime warrenties) and am so glad to have a grinder again.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen moldy flour. Ewwww. I thought it was wet in the NW... but also remember that we don't have basements. Was your flour in the basement?
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't know that was possible!
ReplyDeleteMay I introduce to you plastic buckets with air tight lids? This link has a picture of some other great suggestions. I think its a good investment if you're going to store anything in a NE basement. (Oh what I would do for a basement.)http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/search/label/product%20review
ReplyDeletewow.wow.wow.
ReplyDeleteHOW AWFUL!
No more flour for Boston basements!!
Do you already have a grinder or are you in the market for one?
It is one of our top wish list items...
If I might add my editorial:
ReplyDeleteI knew this was a real possibility the first summer we moved here, and I smelled the musty lifeforms in the basement air. So I pulled a dehumidifier off the side of the road the first chance I got (and we pulled in 2 gallons of water per day that first summer!) Last summer I got a dozen second-hand buckets from a guy who has a friend in the ice cream business for cheap. Then we picked up some regular and some Gamma Seal lids at Emergency Essentials when we were in Utah for my brother's wedding.
Only... in our vigor to grow our food storage, I found we had more bags of wheat/rice/flour/sugar than could fit in my buckets, so the remainder was left to be used. (Why didn't I just get more buckets? Hmm?)
So we had 2x20lb of rice and 3x25lb of flour "vulnerable". But we cook alot, right? Not right enough. The week I was in Chicago and Jen was in Maine, the humidity was 100% and the dehumidifier was off, which accelerated this problem.
The end to the long story: The rice is in plastic bags for now, safe, and the paper was NOT gas impermeable, and we probably only saved 40 of the 75 pounds of flour. Not quite as bad as Jen estimated, but definitely better to throw away some flour than to have some sick moldy after-taste to a fresh-from-the-oven loaf of bread.
I am glad I am not the only one that didn't know flour could mold! wow.
ReplyDeleteStill, I think your basement is AMAZING. It just has its...limitations. I hope the bucket plan works. I have been thinking I really need to move our powdered milk in the house from the garage. We already moved the oil into the laundry room cupboard. I hadn't known it really wanted to live in the dark. Still learning...not dead yet.
Wow, I had no idea, either! That's crazy. But I can second the east coast humidity! I was gonna say "hello, can it!" :) But glad Joe "editorialized"- I can understand just not getting enough supplies!
ReplyDeleteMy mom is the food storage guru in our ward and rented the canner and people have been over canning like crazy. If only you weren't so far away!