A cool dry place. A root cellar in your kitchen.

I don't know about you, but it's hot and muggy here. I keep looking at items that want to be stored in 'a cool dry place'. I wish I could say that my apartment qualified, but, unfortunately, it doesn't some days. I turn the AC off while I am at work to save some money on the electric bill. The temp climbs up into the high 80s. Not exactly cool. It isn't exactly dry either.

I brought my small dorm room fridge down from WI and wasn't sure what to do with it. I figured it out. I think I am going to build a cool dry place.

I am going to build an insulated pantry. It will look like a normal pantry on the outside. But the inside will be insulated with foam insulation. I will also use one of those water rid buckets or large amounts of silica gel to keep everything dry. I am thinking that the small refrigerator and a good amount of insulation should enable me to bring the temp down to 50 degrees or so. You know, normal root cellar or basement temperatures.

On the bottom shelf I will put the dissecant as well as anything that isn't food stuff compatible, like batteries, etc. The shelf above that I will store my negatives in their fireproof box as well as anything else that won't bother food as a buffer between the stuff I don't want to eat and the stuff I do.

On the upper shelves I will keep things like my flours, spices, oils, potatoes and onions. You know food stuffs that don't really need to be in the fridge, but ought to be kept cool.

I suppose the veggies will need to be in their own little moisture cubby so they can stay a bit more damp then the rest of the unit. Just like the crisper in the fridge.

Hrmm.. I wonder if I can make an easy access panel for my spices. I am seeing something like the butter drawer in your fridge, only pointed out, into the room through the door. This could keep the spices cooler than sitting in a cupboard, and help decorate the cabinet. I wonder if I could get some UV filtering glass for the spice doors....

Just thinking out loud... I suppose I could make this a bit smaller, like a table top unit for keeping my veggies and such. A counter top root cellar. I bet that is a marketable product right there. A 50 degree refrigerator for storing your veggies.

A little market research. I am seeing these little wine coolers. These look about perfect for what I am looking for for a root cellar. I could probably tint the front glass with window tinting to block most of the light.

What do you think? Is something like this useful for you?