a/c vs. un a/c food storage

[xtreme_right]

I'm wanting to expand my food storage and have some questions. What types of foods are safe to store in unairconditioned areas for long perionds of time? I've just about run out of room inside the house and want to put what I can in the garage and a storage shed. I need to take into consideration the extreme Texas heat. I'm guessing buckets of wheat and sugar would be fine in the heat. How much would it hurt the shelf life of things like coffee, rice, pasta and oatmeal? Or do I even need to worry about putting dry items in the heat? Is it just canned goods I need to worry about? I down-sized my food storage after y2k because it was overtaking the house. In a way I wish I didn't get rid of so many buckets, but then again I don't want a wall of buckets that makes it obvious to everyone how much food I have stored. I'm more at the point now where i'm wanting to spread it out around the house in smaller containers so it's not so obvious. I'm wishing now that I had been buying soda in 2 liter containers to reuse. Those seem to be a good size to stick in small places here and there.

Also, I have toilet paper squirreled away around the house but have no more space inside for it. I don't have nearly enough though. I keep thinking I should put it in the storage shed, but am afraid mice would get into it.

xr

 

[A.T.Hagan]

White sugar
Salt
White rice
Wheat berries
Whole corn
Dry beans (not soybeans or peanuts)
White flour pasta

These will take high temperatures (in decreasing order as you go down the list) so you could store them in that area.

Foods that you do not want to store in the heat are:

Anything with an appreciable fat content.
Anything that is highly colored or that you will be relying on for vitamins A & C.
Anything with an appreciable moisture content.
Anything that relies on essential oils for flavor.

Those will go over on your fairly fast.

.....Alan.

 

[Cimbri]

IT BURSTED ALL OVER THE GARAGE: what a mess!

My in-laws, years ago, in AZ, had garage full of supplies
of every kind. When the temperature hit around 100
degrees all the cans and bottles bursted.

Good luck!

 

[ohioguy41]

I left cans in an area that got too warm also. What a mess!

I've left some canned good in the garage over the winter, does that hurt anything. I was surprised when I checked them out recently, there was a slight bit of rust around the rim of some of the cans. Any experience with cold.

I've had TP in the garage for years, no mice problems here.