Silica gel and food storage

[Moony]

"Water vapor can pass through Tyvek (highly breathable), but not liquid water"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyvek

So a bit like Gore-tex, but a bit tougher and a bit more crinkly so not ideal for clothing...
It'll suck the moisture out of your food and not split and spill silica all over your yummy wheat put it that way

[the-gnole]

Hmmm, so if it is in a vacuum packed mylar bag of rice it will be no good, as there isn't any water vapour in there surely, if there was moisture it is highly likely to work its way to the bottom of the bag, and form a pool of water, which tyvek won't let through.

Not very easy to work out which is going to be best,

[Chef]

I had a similar problem to Prepper_Ed living in a basement flat I suffer from damp too, apart from having a dehumidifier going 24/7 during the winter I also have a box of silica gel bags that my Dad got for me online somewhere, they're about 250g each and hold ALOT of moisture before needing to be dried out in the oven.

I use em in my pasta buckets, cereal containers and food cupboards, just have to keep an eye on the ones that are laying in the cupboards as they do tend to get full quite often in this place. Just one of the joys of living in a basement hovel at the seaside I guess, awesome in the summer though, nice and cool.

Might sound odd, but also got one laid in the bottom of my PC case too incase any damp gets in when I'm away and the comp is turned off for extended periods.

Dead cheap too, have a look on Ebay as said previously.

S

[the-gnole]

The problem with drying silica gel in the oven is that you put the water they hold back into the atmosphere you have just absorbed it from

You need to take them outdoors to dry them, at least then the moisture is going into the wild

[Chef]

Works fine for me, the walls don't get damp when I bake a cake either...

C

[the-gnole]

Do you haev an extract hood to outside chef? as that is the best way to draw the now vaporised moisture out of the building rather than it going back into the building where it is realistically going to get absorbed into the silica gel again.

Not usually vast amounts of moisture to be baked out of a cake is there?

[Chef]

Indeed I do have an extractor, but even so when boiling pots for veg/pasta etc., the kitchen gets steamy for a bit but the issue in my place is the damp 'in' the walls, so even after a good Sunday lunch the inside of the cupboards are still fine but over time the water leeches out of the walls and causes the mould, drying the silica packs in the oven wouldn't cause enough moisture to make any difference to the cupboards and the containers are sealed but when you live in a damp place it permeates even the driest of places given time.

Trouble is the kitchen is an extension and a budget one at that I reckon, my landlord is tighter than... well he don't spend alot on maintenence or repairs put it that way.

But hey, like I said it's great in the summer and the beach is 4 mins up the road on foot (don't drive).

You'd be surprised how much liquid can be in a cake btw.

C

[the-gnole]

Usually no more than you put in, especially those very nice christmas cakes that end up with lots of Brandy

Trouble is the kitchen is an extension and a budget one at that I reckon, my landlord is tighter than... well he don't spend alot on maintenence or repairs put it that way.

By the sounds of it the landlord must be a duck

Oh the joys of not having a landlord

[Chef]

Oh he came round and drilled loads of holes to put his "stuffing expensive this is" injectable damp proof course in (as it hasn't got one, at least not above ground lol), but it didn't do a thing, it's just shoddily built.

Keep threatening with charges for keeping a dehumidifier going all winter, makes him smile.

C

[chefsam]

MSK have a 1kg at 19.99 if im not mistaken food safe and reusable.

however i would recommend dry ice as a storage product its cheaper and if left undisturbed it will last 10 years in a sealed container

you can get 1kg for approx £10 you can break that down into 2kg blocks this would contain 30kg of rice easily.

hope this helps