# My pantry (root cellar) is shaping up



## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

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I don't know how to upload more than one pic at a time so I'm doing them singly








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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Very nice! I gotta do some rearrangin, I'm runnin low on room, looks like yall got lots a storage there! Makes ya feel all warm an fuzzy when ya look at them shelves a fillin up don't it.


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

I'm trying to delete where I copied the pic twice! Wow, I'm not real good at this........


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## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

Well done!

I love looking at other peoples preps and how they arrange things.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Way to go Ms Nelda, looking good!

I'm going to have to build me one of those "Tornado Shelters", never know when a storm will hit!


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Merged and removed double post.


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

I have root cellar envy. I want one. I want one a lot. I want one badly. Can't have one in our part of Texas. Bummer.


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

It's beautiful Neldarez!!! Love it...need more butter, lol.
Wish I had a root cellar, best I can hope for is a space in the basement. Right now I'm using a small room that is the area for our future steps down into the basement. I really would like a root cellar separate from the house. Oh well, I can hope for one like you have.


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## Gravlore (Dec 10, 2011)

What are the dimensions? How deep underground? How did you do the build for your cellar?


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

UncleJoe said:


> Merged and removed double post.


you're awesome! thanks so much.....posting pics is such a big job...ty

Dang, that is so cool what you did, I don't know how to merge stuff like that...do you just cut and paste? Thanks, looks much better.


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## semperscott (Nov 7, 2010)

Looks great! Easy to see you have been busy!


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Country Living said:


> Can't have one in our part of Texas. Bummer.


That is a bummer ... can I ask why you can't have one. (many a reasons come to mind but thought I would ask. Thanks)


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

Gravlore said:


> What are the dimensions? How deep underground? How did you do the build for your cellar?


I'll ask DH tomorrow about the specifics....we did this 14 yrs. ago....just cleaned it all up and did some repairs last year and started using it again. I know it's 8 x 20. This is a used container and had actually been at sea so we have fought smells that have been in it. This last year I painted all of the wood in it with deck paint,, that certainly helped a lot. I see today that a little mold is showing up in the back corner again, on the floor, I sprayed with bleach and as soon as it warms up a bit I'll repaint. This is buried under a cover but it still draws dampness. I'll post more facts about it tomorrow. DH goes to bed early and gets up early, I'm the night owl who doesn't get up early....:sssh:
It stays around 40 - 50 down there, we cover the ventilation pipe that he has coming up through the roof when it's terrible cold. We uncovered it today for some circulation. It was comfortable working down there today putting more stuff on the shelves, of course, I wore a coat...



Country Living said:


> I have root cellar envy. I want one. I want one a lot. I want one badly. Can't have one in our part of Texas. Bummer.


Why can't you have one? I don't understand, is it cuz your land is too rocky or something? Our place is almost pure sand.......


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

That's a nice cellar you have there Neldarez. Mighty nice indeed.

You know, when I see so much food put away I get a warm, safe and content feeling and it's completely irrational because I've never suffered hunger from missed meals as a child, like kids from the Depression, and your pictures aren't of MY FOOD yet the feeling still emerges as I look at your pictures. The buckets have no effect on me, but those clear canning jars just scream food.

I kind of get the same feeling when there is a raging storm outside and I'm warm and dry inside the house.



neldarez said:


> Why can't you have one? I don't understand, is it cuz your land is too rocky or something? Our place is almost pure sand.......


I'll take a wild guess and predict that the water table is too high.

Are the shelves secured to the wall to prevent tipping over in an earthquake?


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I am jealous. I know we'll get there with time.


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## Prepper69 (Jan 25, 2013)

OMG I am sooooooo jealous!!!!!!! And sooooo far behind being any kind of prepared for our family  I know it takes time and we only have been doing this for about 2 months now....but dang...that storage looks SWEET!!!!! 

I so need to do something different with ours...just trying to find places that are cool, and dark and I am running out of room  I am trying to talk my husband into buying a small storage building and putting an ac/heater window unit in it....but...would need cash for that  

All in due time....


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

The mold can be a real problem. We have had similar problems with our boats over the winter. You can get desiccant in quantity at marine stores but you will probably get a better price on the net. 

We also would build a small heater. We started with a scrap of plywood, screwed a ceramic light fixture (they are now available in plastic) to the board, then we cut both ends out of a three pound coffee can, painted the inside of the can black, and mounted the can using 3 L-brackets so as to have an inch or so of airspace around the bottom. Put this on the floor near the damp area and plug it in. 

You might want to consider using a paint like KILZ around the problem area.

That is a really sweet setup.


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

Bobbb said:


> Are the shelves secured to the wall to prevent tipping over in an earthquake?


yes.......and each layer is anchored to the one below....DH put the plumbers strap around just in case, we still need to put something, a lip of a sort, on the top shelf. That is a new shelf that we just added...



Caribou said:


> The mold can be a real problem. We have had similar problems with our boats over the winter. You can get desiccant in quantity at marine stores but you will probably get a better price on the net.
> 
> We also would build a small heater. We started with a scrap of plywood, screwed a ceramic light fixture (they are now available in plastic) to the board, then we cut both ends out of a three pound coffee can, painted the inside of the can black, and mounted the can using 3 L-brackets so as to have an inch or so of airspace around the bottom. Put this on the floor near the damp area and plug it in.
> 
> ...


It started drawing some moisture 1 1/2 months ago and DH put the propane heater down there for a couple of days, that sure makes a difference. Our summers are quite hot and really really dry so that is never a problem....It just takes being diligent....we need to stay on top of it and fix anything that goes wrong as soon as we notice. It seems rather funny to see so much food when there is just the 2 of us, but our daughter and grandkids are no way prepared for hard times, they think it's funny if we even mention it, so we don't, we just do what we believe we should do...



Grimm said:


> I am jealous. I know we'll get there with time.


well don't be....you are young and can do anything! I didn't share these pics to make anyone feel bad, gosh, that's the very last thing I would ever do, I really love seeing other folks pics on pantries, etc, so I thought I'd share ours.



Prepper69 said:


> OMG I am sooooooo jealous!!!!!!! And sooooo far behind being any kind of prepared for our family  I know it takes time and we only have been doing this for about 2 months now....but dang...that storage looks SWEET!!!!!
> 
> I so need to do something different with ours...just trying to find places that are cool, and dark and I am running out of room  I am trying to talk my husband into buying a small storage building and putting an ac/heater window unit in it....but...would need cash for that
> 
> All in due time....


I think what you've been doing is awesome.......until I got onto this forum I didn't do squat! It's because of all of you guys that we even have anything put up....I agree with you, it's so hard to find a cool dark spot, we don't have any kind of basement so this is our only alternative...outside sheds don't work because our summers get so hot and in the winter stuff would freeze....... I would actually love to have a room built on the house and just keep the heat off but seems like a bit extreme when I'm in my 60s and DH just turned 70...
We heat almost entirely with wood heat so it can get quite warm and then get chilly.......I can keep it cool in my craft room but in the summer I can't......underground was our best bet with what we had to work with. I love reading your posts and see what you've canned...we are all doing the best we can with what we've got.......:congrat:



Dixie said:


> It's beautiful Neldarez!!! Love it...need more butter, lol.
> Wish I had a root cellar, best I can hope for is a space in the basement. Right now I'm using a small room that is the area for our future steps down into the basement. I really would like a root cellar separate from the house. Oh well, I can hope for one like you have.


I kept thinking...what does she mean about the butter? I went back and looked at the pix and just cracked up! There are 2 rows of butter behind the leg of the shelf...you could only see the 1 jar.........oh my gosh, that was so funny.........:laugh:


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

That. Is. Beautiful. 

I'm so impressed! Way to go, girlfriend! :2thumb:


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## Trinka (Feb 16, 2013)

I am so impressed! That is nice! No basement here or root cellar...we rent here so it's not in the future either. 

We own property 20 minutes away...had a house with basement, till....it burnt..son was living there and now he lives here...so I'm really happy/blessed we were already living here at the time...BUT I sure do miss that basement..


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

neldarez said:


> [/URL][/IMG]
> 
> I don't know how to upload more than one pic at a time so I'm doing them singly
> 
> ...


That is awesome.:congrat:

One has to be a canner to appreciate what is on there too.

Thanks for the pics it too gives me some ideas on how to setup my next one.


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## boomer (Jul 13, 2011)

One of our neighbours has an above ground level root celar in the middle of the garden. It is a room with a bit of a tunnel to the doorway (facing east). Whomever built it simply pilled a bunch of dirt on top and seeded it to grass. Works well.


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## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

I've been planning on researching the whole root cellar thing as we have no cool dry storage in the house. Had actually planned on burying two sea containers somehow. Unfortunately I cannot see the photo at the start of this thread. I cruise the forum on my phone so maybe if I dust off the laptop I can see it. Anyway thanks for getting me thinking about this more. I'm sure the misses can't wait to have a 20x20 hole in the yard lol.


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

Gravlore said:


> What are the dimensions? How deep underground? How did you do the build for your cellar?


container is 8x20 x 8.

DH dug down about 14 ft....layed railroad ties (3) in bottom of hole and had 2 wreckers come and lift it into the hole for us. DH dug the hole out with our little kabota tractor....
After placing the container, it has about 3ft. of earth over the top. We add more dirt periodically.....( our idea of dirt is sand)
We are going to go out and take a couple of more pics and post them, it will make this a lot more clear...


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

neldarez said:


> I'm trying to delete where I copied the pic twice! Wow, I'm not real good at this........


Don't delete any picture! It is beautiful!!

Who cares about computer stuff you have a lovely pantry....:congrat::flower:


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

neldarez said:


> I'll ask DH tomorrow about the specifics....we did this 14 yrs. ago....just cleaned it all up and did some repairs last year and started using it again. I know it's 8 x 20. This is a used container and had actually been at sea so we have fought smells that have been in it. This last year I painted all of the wood in it with deck paint,, that certainly helped a lot. I see today that a little mold is showing up in the back corner again, on the floor, I sprayed with bleach and as soon as it warms up a bit I'll repaint. This is buried under a cover but it still draws dampness. I'll post more facts about it tomorrow. DH goes to bed early and gets up early, I'm the night owl who doesn't get up early....:sssh:
> It stays around 40 - 50 down there, we cover the ventilation pipe that he has coming up through the roof when it's terrible cold. We uncovered it today for some circulation. It was comfortable working down there today putting more stuff on the shelves, of course, I wore a coat...


Hey darlin, yall can get a mold an mildew additive fer paint. Double the dose an paint after ya clean er up with the bleach. Will help a bunch. Used it in a concrete block motel I worked at, ya wouldn't wanna see what it looked like behind that there vinyl wallpaper!:eyebulge:

Put yall a humidity gauge down there an see what ya got in that department. Could be condensation buildin up on the metal to.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

I can only say---:congrat::congrat::congrat:


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## Startingout-Blair (Aug 28, 2012)

Looks great! I live in what used to be my grandparents' old house. There is a basement that we still use to store canned goods, potatoes, etc, but the steps are too steep and dangerous for me anymore.


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

Startingout-Blair said:


> Looks great! I live in what used to be my grandparents' old house. There is a basement that we still use to store canned goods, potatoes, etc, but the steps are too steep and dangerous for me anymore.


that's too bad...I would love to have a basement myself, I still can get up and down stairs ok but if I couldn't, I would probably ask my grand kids to get me stuff, if I ever saw them that is! You know how busy young people are now days..........


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Startingout-Blair said:


> Looks great! I live in what used to be my grandparents' old house. There is a basement that we still use to store canned goods, potatoes, etc, but the steps are too steep and dangerous for me anymore.


If you can swing it you might consider a stair chair or lift of some kind.


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## majmill (Jun 6, 2012)

Read your thread and got inspired to organize what few preps I have. I am realitively new to prepping. I cleaned out a cupboard and collected, from here, there and everywhere all the items bought so far. Took the time to date them all. Some things I vacuum packed in freezer bags using the straw method.

During the process I discovered that I have been a prepper for some time. Years and years ago I read ALAS BABYLON by PAT FRANK (?). In the book he tells how, after the Doctor got beat up by a gang, he remembered a emergency packet he had prepared and hidden in a chest. Well I thought, at the time that was a neat idea and have been carting said packet ( instant coffee {addicted to the stuff}, hard candies, bullion cubes and hot chocolate) around for many years. Actually found it in the back of my clothes closet! The items it contains are in need of serious updating.

The other idea that I will incorporate into prepping is my Easter Routine. I still make Easter (love all holidays) Baskets for my family, kids and grandkids
who are now in their late teens and early twenties. What I do is buy candy, at greatly reduced prices after the holiday and keep it till the next year for the baskets. I feel candy(I'm addicted) should be part of prepping. Everyone needs a lift from time to time, plus a varied taste in any diet.

Thanks to you all for the great ideas I've read about in this forum!


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

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Waxed my 1st cheese today, it worked!


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## majmill (Jun 6, 2012)

neldarez said:


> [/URL][/IMG]
> 
> Waxed my 1st cheese today, it worked!


Wow! I'm impressed. What kind of cheese and how did you do it?


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

neldarez said:


> [/URL][/IMG]
> 
> Waxed my 1st cheese today, it worked!


Once it is waxed do you just put it on the shelf as is or do you put them in a container or wrap them in waxpaper?


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

Nelda, can you please give the entire specifics on the process?

I bought X at...



I have waxed cheese! YAY!!!


I'm a big cheese lover, in fact today I canned 2 coffee cans of nacho cheese into half pints so they are manageable non spoil portions.

I WANT to do this


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Dakine said:


> Nelda, can you please give the entire specifics on the process?
> 
> I bought X at...
> 
> ...


Here is a video for you. Do a YouTube search and you will find several others.


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

I bought really good cheese wax....put cubes of it into pan designated just for cheese....put into another pan ( in place of dble. boiler) and turn heat on low. Wax melted really nice. I used med. cheddar...it will sharpen as it sits over time so you probably don't want to do sharp....I also had bought the bristle brush for the wax and I had it on hand. I took the cheese from fridge and while it was still cool, I cut into usable hunks and dipped one side into the wax...then I sat the undipped end on the wax paper and moved on to the next piece. After I had dipped all of the ends, I then used my brush to cover the middle sections where I didn't meet with the dipping. I did about 3-4 layers all total. I used my brush wherever there was a speck not covered. Then I wrote it down on a label and put it on the cheese and then brushed a coating of wax over it. This will be put in the cool pantry, I'm going to hang them in a mesh bag. You can also put them right on the shelf, not covered in plastic or anything like that because they could sweat. This will last for a very long time and when you go to use it, peel off the wax, wash with mild soap and throw back into your wax pan...How cool is this! Next I'm going to do pepperjack...


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

Grimm said:


> Once it is waxed do you just put it on the shelf as is or do you put them in a container or wrap them in waxpaper?


Just put them on the shelf or hang in mesh bag with air around, don't seal in container. At least that's what I've learned from reading..I did mine in rather small chunks cuz we don't use a big amount at a time, this is a real saver for us cuz our cheese always molds before we get it used. I'm really pleased with this!


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

neldarez said:


> I bought really good cheese wax....put cubes of it into pan designated just for cheese....put into another pan ( in place of dble. boiler) and turn heat on low. Wax melted really nice. I used med. cheddar...it will sharpen as it sits over time so you probably don't want to do sharp....I also had bought the bristle brush for the wax and I had it on hand. I took the cheese from fridge and while it was still cool, I cut into usable hunks and dipped one side into the wax...then I sat the undipped end on the wax paper and moved on to the next piece. After I had dipped all of the ends, I then used my brush to cover the middle sections where I didn't meet with the dipping. I did about 3-4 layers all total. I used my brush wherever there was a speck not covered. Then I wrote it down on a label and put it on the cheese and then brushed a coating of wax over it. This will be put in the cool pantry, I'm going to hang them in a mesh bag. You can also put them right on the shelf, not covered in plastic or anything like that because they could sweat. This will last for a very long time and when you go to use it, peel off the wax, wash with mild soap and throw back into your wax pan...How cool is this! Next I'm going to do pepperjack...


Where did you get your wax?


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## Trinka (Feb 16, 2013)

Can you use any hard cheese? I mean does it have to already be packaged kinda like the pics? Or are you using reg. wrapped cheeses?

Would love to do some mild colby and colbyjack....mild cheddar..


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## Trinka (Feb 16, 2013)

Dakine said:


> Nelda, can you please give the entire specifics on the process?
> 
> I bought X at...
> 
> ...


Where do you find cans of nacho cheese?


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## Boomy (Mar 17, 2012)

Trinka said:


> Where do you find cans of nacho cheese?


Sam's......


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## boomer (Jul 13, 2011)

I tried this a couple of years ago with pure bee's wax because bee's wax is what I already had in the house. (I was experimenting with making candles for air freshning, heat and light). We ate the cheese over about a 6 month period and it remained mold free. We eat enough cheese that I will be quite some time working up to any amount in storage.


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## Trinka (Feb 16, 2013)

Boomy said:


> Sam's......


Hmmm.....Thanks......I don't have a Sam's membership, I wonder if I might find it at Wal-Mart?

I tried some local store brand little bit ago, Yuck is all I can say....

We love Nacho cheese on all kids of stuff......


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

I got them at Food4Less which is a Kroger brand. Any other Kroger store would possibly have the same product.

I didnt pay a lot of attention, I think that both the cans of cheese and the sliced jalapenos were $5.98 per can.


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## Trinka (Feb 16, 2013)

Dakine said:


> I got them at Food4Less which is a Kroger brand. Any other Kroger store would possibly have the same product.
> 
> I didnt pay a lot of attention, I think that both the cans of cheese and the sliced jalapenos were $5.98 per can.


Ah! Then there is hope! We have Kroger here....what I tried was a small $store can....as I said...yuck...I will do some hunting now when I'm out and about..

Thanks!
ETA: That's not a bad price either for the larger cans.....I gave over $2 for a small can..


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

Trinka said:


> Ah! Then there is hope! We have Kroger here....what I tried was a small $store can....as I said...yuck...I will do some hunting now when I'm out and about..
> 
> Thanks!
> ETA: That's not a bad price either for the larger cans.....I gave over $2 for a small can..


yep, I wish I'd thought of this sooner! I still have the receipt, $5.98 is the right price for both. I use peppers a lot when I cook so I'm going to be doing a lot more of this. Those little cans of diced up peppers are over $1 apiece now, and this $6 can gave me 12 half pints!

The cheese was even a little more, that filled 14 half pints per coffee can.


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## Trinka (Feb 16, 2013)

Dakine said:


> yep, I wish I'd thought of this sooner! I still have the receipt, $5.98 is the right price for both. I use peppers a lot when I cook so I'm going to be doing a lot more of this. Those little cans of diced up peppers are over $1 apiece now, and this $6 can gave me 12 half pints!
> 
> The cheese was even a little more, that filled 14 half pints per coffee can.


Oh! I'm gonna have to go on the hunt for 1/2 pint jars too then! 

We buy nacho cheese now from our local deli...just for eating....I forget the price off the top of my head...comes in 1/2 pound tubs..


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

I got 2 dozen half-pints at Walmart on Friday for $11.49 each I think, and I already had 2 dozen at the house that I got at Ralph's but they were more there, I think they were $12.50 or more.

I got a good price on wide mouth pints at wallyworld, those were $9.50 I think? And those at Ralphs are $13 Unfortunately they only had 3 and I knew I was going to be canning a lot this weekend so I got all they had, and then I still had to stop at Ralph's to get 2 dozen more regular mouth pints.


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## Trinka (Feb 16, 2013)

Dakine said:


> I got 2 dozen half-pints at Walmart on Friday for $11.49 each I think, and I already had 2 dozen at the house that I got at Ralph's but they were more there, I think they were $12.50 or more.
> 
> I got a good price on wide mouth pints at wallyworld, those were $9.50 I think? And those at Ralphs are $13 Unfortunately they only had 3 and I knew I was going to be canning a lot this weekend so I got all they had, and then I still had to stop at Ralph's to get 2 dozen more regular mouth pints.


That's gonna be the BIG thing for here....I've put the word out I'm on the hunt...will check at Walmart next week when I go to town....Too early in the season here for yard sales, and stuff..it's still freaking COLD here!

The $ store here sells them and our local IGA sells them, pricing sometimes ok, other times not so much, BUT if ya gotta have them ya gotta have them!

I did pick up couple dozen pints last yr as they call it out of season, lol, no such thing for preppers as out of season on canning supplies..

Never heard of Ralphs....


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

Dakine said:


> I got 2 dozen half-pints at Walmart on Friday for $11.49 each I think, and I already had 2 dozen at the house that I got at Ralph's but they were more there, I think they were $12.50 or more.
> 
> I got a good price on wide mouth pints at wallyworld, those were $9.50 I think? And those at Ralphs are $13 Unfortunately they only had 3 and I knew I was going to be canning a lot this weekend so I got all they had, and then I still had to stop at Ralph's to get 2 dozen more regular mouth pints.


Wow those are crazy prices.

1/2 pints are ~$7.50/dozen everyday prices here.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

PackerBacker said:


> Wow those are crazy prices.
> 
> 1/2 pints are ~$7.50/dozen everyday prices here.


That's another one of the benefits of living in kommiefornia. We never saw a tax we didn't like and we're all rich and famous, so this is actually cheap!


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

Grimm said:


> Where did you get your wax?


I bought the wax and the brush from New England Cheesemaking Supply.


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

Trinka said:


> Can you use any hard cheese? I mean does it have to already be packaged kinda like the pics? Or are you using reg. wrapped cheeses?
> 
> Would love to do some mild colby and colbyjack....mild cheddar..


yes, you can use any hard cheese.....I bought a lg. block then divided it up and waxed......lg amounts of cheese get wasted at my house so this still allows me to buy on sale and put away just the right size for us. I removed the cheese from it's original wrapping then waxed. Is that what you were asking?


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## Trinka (Feb 16, 2013)

neldarez said:


> yes, you can use any hard cheese.....I bought a lg. block then divided it up and waxed......lg amounts of cheese get wasted at my house so this still allows me to buy on sale and put away just the right size for us. I removed the cheese from it's original wrapping then waxed. Is that what you were asking?


I think that was what I was asking...I couldn't explain it very well yesterday..

I've seen cheeses in a waxy paper (red) but we buy what's in clear wrapping...I don't know why I couldn't think of the waxy paper yesterday ..

I love buying it on sale too....however we usually eat it up pretty well not much waste....but now I could buy more next time...


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## hdb90 (May 1, 2012)

Great pantry Neldarez. I love to walk into our pantry and just look. There are few things more lovely then a shelf full of jars full of food. We have cases of canned food from the store, but looking at a metal can with a picture doesn't have the same effect. To be able to see the result of all your labor looking back at you just warms the insides. We also buy large amounts of cheese that we put in the freezer. We are going to try our hand at waxing some. Thanks for the post.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

That is just a dang nice looking storage!!! I'm totally jealous.


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