Hello,
This year I had a bumper crop and many varieties of apples. More than ever.
I stored a ton in my root cellar but they did not last very long. My root cellar was about 55f in the fall only only down to about 50f now. My root cellar does not have a vent to let cold air in but it really hasn’t been that cold out anyway. Wondering if I should get a couple chest freezers and put a thermostat on them?
I would love to here what everyone else does. It seems like it’s a colder the better situation with apples.
I am expecting to have even more next year as I have a lot more trees that are likely to come into bearing.
Also, pictures would be nice. Thanks
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Congratulations on your successful harvests.
The old fashioned idea of a cellar, a hole in the ground that can be kept at ‘cave’ temperatures, might be an option. Takes a sharp shovel and some determinaton, obviously.
I already have that. It only gets down to 50 degrees in there.
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I put a refrigerator in my unheated, garage but it’s not “garage rated” which means not enough insulation so it shuts off when ambient temps go lower than thermostat setting. Result is: I have to re-set the thermostat almost every day, a pain. Am still searching for an all refrigerator (no freezer section) that’s super insulated. Anyone have such a beast?
Also want a thermostat that reads actual degrees vs current 1 through 9 setting.
My guess is a chest freezer with an add on thermostat would be best.
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Apples at 32F should give longest storage so refrigeration is best. If a root cellar is used, a hose with a temperature controlled fan that will pump in outside air could help.
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I used an up right refrigerator for my apples. I bagged min in grocery sacks to hold in moisture somewhat so they didn’t desiccate. I double bagged those that I was keeping more than 7 months.
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Pretty sure this topic has been covered pretty well but fwiw:
I use tightly sealed bread bags in vertical fridges kept near 32 F and it’s OK if it drops a bit below -the apples have enough sugar to give them some freeze protection.
A chest freezer, not frost free, with a thermostat like @ribs1 suggested is ideal.
Controlled atmosphere is not really practical for the small guy.
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I have no experience with it, but ethylene receptor blockers may be an option for you: Hazel Technologies, Inc. – hazeltechnologies
That’s what I do - INKBIRD 308 wifi Thermostat. I also use it to keep my dormant garage figs above 25 F in winter and turn on/of my greenhouse fan in summer.
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Interesting. Looks like a $160 outlay for 20 packets, one of which should do for a chest freezer full of fruit. Storage life appears to be one year, so you’d want to find 18-19 people to partner with. Might be doable.
https://www.buyhazel100.com/products/hazel-100™
I don’t know how well it would work with upright fridges that let air in and out every time they’re opened.
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I was thinking about going the chest freezer route because I think they are the most energy efficient, keeping most of the cold air in when the door is open. the problem with this is organization and storing some varieties on top of others. An upright fridge would probably be better.
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I use a standard fridge, not out of any plan but because we replaced our main fridge and I had a free spare.
I also have a root cellar with no vent. One of these days my fridge is not going to be big enough and my plan is to install some ductwork from the root cellar to the outside and circulate in cold air when the room is too warm (they sell thermometers that do that). It’s not ideal but my guess is I should be able to keep it below 40F from December through early March more or less with only a fan, no A/C unit. It would run during the cold nights, get it down to maybe 28F, then warm slowly throughout the day.
PS here is some random plan for such a setup. You need both an inside and outside thermometer so you don’t pipe warm outside air in when it’s too warm inside. The fan only goes on when the inside is too warm and the outside is colder than the inside.
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Thanks Scott,
Good idea.
John S
PDX OR
I thought about that, but it’s too warm out even today on 12/17. There’s no way I could get my root cellar much colder than 50 right now. My idea is to put a couple fridges or chest freezer’s (with external thermostat) in the root cellar. since it’s already 50 in the root cellar, it shouldn’t take much energy for the fridges to cool to 35 or below.
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It’s not how warm it gets in the day, it’s how cool it gets at night. You should be able to get it close to the daily low by circulating from say 3-7 AM. I’m in a warmer zone and the average low is around 35 now so I should be able to keep apples below 40 in December, and colder in Jan/Feb. It’s definitely not as good as an actual fridge but the upsides are the size and the cost to power it.
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I posted a description of my cold room four years ago. This is an el Niño year, and outside temps have not been low enough to use to cool it very much.
There are pix in this thread:
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