Storing spices

I like this idea, and plan to try it soon.

http://www.doityourselfrv.com/tiny-kitchen-hacks/

Dcarner wrote:
I just purchased a new to us TT and will be using it as a weekender and a couple long trips a year. My goal is to keep it loaded with clothes and non-perishables. We plan on putting the spices in ziplock bags with silica pouches to keep the moisture out. Will that work? We are wanting to eliminate clumped spices and bugs.

Food in cardboard boxes and food stuffs in ziplock baggies are not going to keep out the bugs and mice. Leaving any food in an RV is just an invitation for bugs and mice and food subjected to moisture, and unregulated high temps, cold temps etc. JMHO.

Put your spices in that baggie and leave it in the cabinet in the house and then just take it with when you hit the road. When I was a weekend camper I left 'no' food what so ever in the RV between trips.

We spend at least one weekend per month in the TT. Usually much more plus week long excursions. A spice rack was my first mod. Got it for less than $15 on Amazon. Holds them securely, and the rack hasn't tried to come loose yet.

Due to potential mouse issues we don't keep any food or bedding material in our rv (think paper towels and toilet paper). We live rurally and have foamed any exterior holes but the last thing I want is to have "company" in my rv or have to cleanup after them and have it smell like a pet shop.

We had mice once (while camping for a few days in Arizona)...they quickly found us. We now carry set traps...got them both in two days and left.
Donna

We keep spices in original containers but have switched to the K-cups as they dont go stale.

Up until a couple years ago, we didn't keep anything food wise in the camper when not in use except salt and pepper (salt had a few grains of rice to keep dry). A couple years ago, we started keeping other spices in the camper and found spices like Garlic and Onion powder would clump over the winter.

This winter we are storing them in plastic storage bags with a couple small desiccant packets and are hoping for the best. I read here that a few people do that with good results.

-Michael

We would be using store bought dried spices. I appreciate the information, I think we will try the trial and error method and see what works. We will pick up new spices in March and pull them out of the rv in October.

Sounds like you are using fresh spices, like fresh grown? If so, baggies or Glad containers that seal.

If using store bought already processed spices, in either the small glass bottles or like McCormics in the metal tin??? then the glass one will seal pretty good. No problem. The metal tins? you may want to put them inside a baggie and seal it.

We leave spices in the camper all summer (until they run out), and have never had any problems with moisture or anything, closed up in their original containers. And it's not uncommon for us to take them out of the camper and bring them back into the house either.

Over the winter, when we are not prepairing meals in the camper, everything comes back into the house. We start out fresh every camping season restocking everything in the pantry. There is absolutely no food items left in the camper at the end of the season, except what we bring in and take out when we sleep in the camper on week-ends in the drive way.

I'd suggest just taking them in the house and using them in the house before your next RV trip. Spices age if you don't use them continuously. This way you don't have two sets of spices. This way you'll always have fresh spices.

I also find normal spice bottles seal acceptably well to generally keep clumping at a minimum, at least with New England weather.

For salt, the usual trick is to put several grains of rice in the salt shaker, and it works quite well. Undoubtedly other things besides rice would work equally as well as a desiccant, but rice has the advantages of being non-toxic, safe for food use, and readily available inexpensively.

If you're keeping non-perishables in the camper, and even if not, I strongly recommend also having some good mousetraps and checking them fairly frequently.