Susan’s shows YOU how to create extra food storage - out of thin air! If you do not have 'spare' closets, I'll share what I did with you in this episode!
It took me about three hours to add this space inside my home - and well worth the effort to store all my newly dehydrated fruits and vegetables!
See how easy it is to dehydrate food, whatever the reason or the season!
Visit Easy Food Dehydrating for all things dehydrating!
As a "Thank You" for listening, please pick up a copy of "How to Grow and Dehydrate Herbs" on Susan's website at Dehydrate Herbs free eBook.
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00:07
Hello and welcome to Easy Food Dehydrating, the show that teaches you how to safely dehydrate and store fresh (or frozen) fruits and vegetables, along with cooked meats. I’m your host, Susan Gast.
00:24
In today’s episode, I’ll discuss how to create storage space where none existed! Perfect for lidded bins, and buckets. Canned goods too.
00:36
Hi there. Susan here. And today's episode is all about creating food storage out of thin air. So - you've been so busy creating all your dehydrated fruits and vegetables, and now you're panicking because you've looked in all your cupboards and there's no space. Where do you put it all?
00:58
Well, you don't want to stick the buckets in your living room so everyone can see it. Or worse, the kids start playing on them, or the dog cocks his leg on it. That would be awful, wouldn't it? But your dog's probably better trained than that, right?
01:12
But here is a great starting point, now, for our dehydrated food storage wall. And this is how you can create it out of thin air.
01:22
I had a wall at the back of my living room, and all it had was a picture on it. And then there were two leather chairs in front of it. Bring the chairs away from the wall, take the picture off the wall, go hang it somewhere else, and then you've got a good run of space. And for me, it was a good eight feet of wall space. All right?
01:45
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02:32
And I next needed to order some closet organizers. Some people, you know, put closet organizers out in the garage. If it's an air conditioned garage, that is, if you're that fortunate. Failing that, you can try and find an underused closet. But good luck with that. So that's why I came up with finding a wall I could take over.
02:57
You can go visit your local hardware store or do what I do and what millions of other people do - go to Amazon. But having said that, my poor obedient husband decided, "okay, I'll volunteer. I'll go to the local hardware store." And he actually came back with two closet organizers that span 5ft to 8ft. And it came with two - no, it didn't come with it... I think he bought an extra two 48-inch wire shelves. Right? And then I forgot I needed some extra shelf supporting clips. So off he went back to the store. It's only a 15 minutes trip, [laughs] but if you don't have such a helpful hubby or wife, then by all means shop online and have it delivered.
03:47
ClosetMaid systems at Amazon.com are pretty good. It's not that hard to put together the systems - just get a spirit level to make the marks on the wall and follow the instructions that are included in the closet's shipping boxes. From start to finish, it took me 3 hours to do the entire job.
04:08
It was done, and the uprights were there, and the buckets were on the shelves. And I didn't like the look of it. I thought, "I'm sure... I AM SURE I've got some curtains that I've fallen out with, and they're probably upstairs in the attic." Well, guess what? I found them. So I sewed them to a rod. And then I wired it up to the top of the uprights.
04:36
I need to point out here - here's a tip. When you are adding your uprights and you need to drill the holes in them for the exact height of your shelves for the distance between them, get a nail and pop a nail hole to make a dint or a dent or a little divot, whatever you want to call it, in that upright. Why? Oh, I'll tell you what, it makes it 1000% easier to start drilling your hole with that little tiny drill bit. And you need a metal drill bit, don't forget, not (a) wood (drill bit). It won't last two minutes.
05:11
Another tip here, please measure your bins and buckets and make sure you leave enough height between them so you can pull the bucket out. Because these shelves are like an L-shape, aren't they? At the front, they come down two inches roughly, because normal people would hang clothes on that lower part. But we're not normal. We're going to store our dehydrated food goodies on these shelves. So, again, make sure you measure enough clearance. Give it at least an inch and a half above the bucket lid so you can actually get the dang bucket out.
05:46
Also, here's another tip. If you want to store your bins, if you get those lidded bins and you want to store them sideways, you don't need such deep shelving. However, if you don't mind having very deep shelving, you can be able to store those bins sideways, if you will, meaning you're looking at the narrow-end facing you. It's not that easy to get deep closets, but, you know, have a look around and see what you need to do.
06:15
So I was talking about the curtains and I managed to find them, and because I had sewed them to the rod, I couldn't pull them back like you would a regular curtain. No, that would be too easy, wouldn't it? So instead, I've got to mess about moving the curtain. I get under the curtain and what have you, it messes your hair up, but who cares, right? And then I just let the curtain fall back in the middle. It does the job.
06:40
One point I made, even though we only have eight foot ceilings: make sure you don't have too many shelves going too high to where you can't even reach them. And again, if you've got that curtain at the top, you'll find it difficult to get the dang buckets out if you've got the curtain right there.
06:58
Alrighty, then, what does it cost to build it? Well, costs about $130, but of course, that was years ago. So do your due diligence and do some searching on the net. And that's about it, folks. I've given you the tips.
- Make sure you leave enough space between the shelves because it's completely adjustable, right? It's completely custom.
- Use a nail to make a divot in the upright before you use your drill bit. You're not trying to make a hole through it, but just make a little dent in it, okay? That tip's worth $1,000 to me. [laughs] You know, but what do I know, right?
07:42
And, folks, that is it. That is how you create storage for your food out of thin air. And if you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone that you think might enjoy it. I'd appreciate that, and I'll see you next time. Have a great day.
08:03
Closing:
Thanks for listening to the Easy Food Dehydrating podcast. Visit EasyFoodDehydrating.com for much more information on how to dehydrate food and the best way to safely store it.