What have done towards your prep?

[Lightspeed]

(7 June 2017, 20:43)Straight Shooter Wrote: Hi LS .....last year i converted a Luton body into a storeroom , it faces North...i insulated floor , walls and roof ( internally ) like you most 85% is in plastic bins ranging from plastic dust bins ,plastic boxes, plastic pail and clip cover and plastic kegs (thanks TOFF ) these are no problem most all within .....the contents .....are in sealed mylar (by me ) the problem seems to be TINS i have stored on open shelves (timber) .....have been in there again today.....its got to be condensation at least 80% of it....it has a fibreglass roof ...i think that is the culprit ! ....going to insulate it externally then re-roof over the top.....but tin fruit ....may well be to acidic but i will have one last go.....i intend to try this make up a box out of polystyrene place in 12 tins gaffer tape together ( leaving spacer gaps between ) the using filler/fixing form to encase it all...i know is sounds and probably over the top but....sliced peach and fruit cocktail is not going to woop me ....at least if it works ........ oh aye nasty piece of work me .

Hi SS,

Sounds like the tins on open shelves are pulling in humidity from the air. Getting them inside any sealed or semi-sealed boxes will improve things a lot. The problem occurs when the tins are colder than the dew-point of the air around them. In that situation, ventilation just worsens the problem by wafting in moisture laden air. We've learned the hard way to keep a close eye on humidity and dew point throughout the year.

Mary: Indeed tinned fruit is quite acidic and starts eating its way out of tins as soon as they are sealed. Ditto, our fruit stores are all dried. Last year we started drying apples and pears on our loft drying trays and the results have come through the last winter intact and are still very edible once re-hydrated. We're planning to up-output this year...more pears and apples and this time we'll be trying plumbs as well.