Curious what food will last over the winter stored in an unheated building near Ely. We usually just clear everything out and give some of it to friends and unopened things to the Ely Food Shelf. We can't take it all home because that is California and don't want to add to luggage on the plane.

This year I'm considering trying to store some stuff like olive oil, soy sauce, pasta sauce, pasta, rice, wine, spices, and I'm not sure what else.

I am not worried about animals. I would store it in a blue barrel, with odor proof bags, to make doubly sure, animals aren't attracted to it. And this will be in our storage space and not the main cabin.

My concern is whether things will still be good next year, after the thaw. Any experience from other northwoods cabin owners?

Just found this info from The cottage handbook. But I'm still very interested in experience of people from the forum.

At our lake cottage I winter over the rice, noodles, pasta, flour, cornstarch, spices, coffee, baking soda, vinegar, soy sauce, soybean oil, (not olive oil usually, as I find that tends to get rancid with age), parmesan cheese, some packaged goods like hot chocolate mix, cocoa, nuts, powdered milk, (baking supplies), sugar. Have never left wine.

I check the expiration date on items and don't usually keep things a long time after the date, but if they have been frozen all winter, I figure it lengthens that date for a few months, too.

Thanks for your experience.

It does sound like wine won't work. I think we bought a few bottles too many in July, then some friends didn't drink the bottle we left for them, and so we're either going to be wasted during our fall trip, or make some of our local friends happy. Probably that last one.

Came up with a wine experiment. The issue with wine is that it expands as it freezes, driving corks out or breaking bottles. So, I bought a few 1 liter wine bladders. That way I can put in a 750 ml bottles worth of wine, seal out the air, and have space for expansion. Then we'll see next summer if the wine is still worth drinking.

Problem was caused by a good sale at Super One.

In the last week I made rice twice from a box that has been in the cabinet for at least three years. It was perfect. I am amazed. I suppose the pasta is still good also. Just need some good sauce. Let's just say I'm expanding my horizons. I did throw out the green beans in the freezer that had the same storage time. Probably were still good too. Cheers.

leaving food in the cabin over winter is a mistake my family wont make again.
A couple years ago, a racoon, or two broke in through an unlatched window. They got into a bottle of syrup, and spilled it everywhere. They got into a bag if sugar, which mixed nicely with the syrup. they then hit up the oven, which was full of charred remains of pizzas past. and spread black footprints, all over the counter tops, and in to the bathroom.
later, a couple of mice interested in the syrup, got stuck and froze to death. I used a spatula to pry them off the counter. I found this all on a -20F day, when i stopped by to check on things.

The new cabin rule is, nothing gets left over the winter.

Valid point, clearly made. Food will be in a blue barrel in a storage unit and not the cabin itself.

Of course, given enough time I'm sure a raccoon could figure out a blue barrel. Maybe I can find a way to lock it.

I'd think the dry goods would be just fine stashed away in a blue barrel. They'll freeze which should extend shelf life. The little critters might find their way to the barrel, just make an extra effort to lock down the lid and barrel itself.

Liquids are probably more trouble than they are worth. You could try to move the wine to the flexible bladders but I don't think its a certainty that the wine will be good when you get back to it. Also what do the bladders cost? I'd probably pick the best of the bottles and bring them home with you and then anything else I'd drink before you leave or pass along as gifts. Let me know if you need my address.

Thanks for the tips. I definitely count the wine as an experiment. I got inexpensive bladders, 3 for $15. These are not as good as the Platypus ones but then I'm not taking them camping. Maybe a daytrip, though!

I have a cabin in the Superior NF and routinely leave certain food over the winter. However, its all dried food and is also stored in sealed 5 gallon buckets with screw on lids, so no critters can get into it. I leave rice, beans, pasta, tea, cocoa, oatmeal, ramen noodles, unopened packets of crackers, etc. I DO NOT leave any items that would expand and burst when frozen, so all canned foods, bottles of cooking oil, syrup, etc. liquid drinks etc. are removed. I've never had a single instance of critters entering the cabin and trying to get at the food.

Bottom line, leave food in a sealed, critter proof container, and leave nothing liquid, or perishable.

Thanks, Misqua. If we do experiment with liquids, we will keep them in a garbage bag, in a plastic bin, inside the blue barrel to contain any mess.

Cotter pin fits the hole in the opening lever and goes through the ring nicely. Just an additional level of protection

Good point. I sure I'll be at the hardware store at some point and can pick some up.

FYI, the food all did well over the winter. I didn't remember to get a cotter pin for the barrel but I did put a long screw through the hole.

The wine was even quite drinkable. I'm not sure it was as good as I remembered but it was still enjoyable. So, I'll take that as a positive experiment. But I still prefer drinking it while we are there and will not adopt this as a general wine storage strategy.

Thanks for all your help.

I’ve been storing my "dry goods" over the winter at my place right on the shelves. I leave nothing that can form ice crystals when frozen. I haven’t had any animal get in for thirteen years now, but I know how the place was built since I did it. I have taken precautions however. I leave a couple of dryer sheets in the cabinets and spray Febreze on all fabrics before I leave.

We have a cabin in northern Wisconsin and store stuff over the winter, too. Most of the time it is fine, but pasta gets nasty. Doesn't seem like it would, but it does. Maybe for one winter it would be okay, but don't let anything do multiple winters. Seriously it was nearly the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten. It crumbles apart, too. Totally gross taste-wise as well as texture-wise.