Kitchen Storage: Where's Your Best "Cool, Dry Place"?

We're in a bit of a quandary right now. We've got several things (wine and olive oil come to mind first) that need to be stored in a "cool, dry place." How many times do you hear that phrase? But until we get our spiral wine cellar, we're at a loss. There just aren't that many dark, dry, chilly places in a NYC kitchen...

Emma's asked what you store on top of your refrigerator, and we've kept all kinds of things there: serving trays, most recently. But we've found the top of our fridge to actually be quite a warm spot. Warm air rises, and we think the cooling system of the fridge expels excess heat on top. (A very scientific assessment, we believe.)

There are cabinets in our kitchen, sure, but the most spacious are side by side with the oven, so they're not cool at all. And to be honest, a small kitchen heats up pretty quickly and regularly- no cabinets seem entirely safe.

We don't have a lot of wine, but we've stored some in our closet. As for the olive oil, it sits in a shady spot on the counter, which we know isn't ideal, but we're not sure of a better place.

So, apartment dwellers, any offbeat genius ideas? We know you don't all have basements.

And is it even that important? What really needs a special storage area?

(Image: Flickr member Jordon, licensed under Creative Commons)

I actually have a cabinet I've been told is for potatos and onions (it's got a vented front) and I use that if I must or I use the bottom of the shelving unit in my dining area.

posted by Tiamat_the_Red on January 23rd 2009 at 5:33pm
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The 'cool dry place' stuff I have trouble with is onions/potatoes- the onions live in a messy drawer with garlic and assorted bagged/jarred legumes. The potatoes wind up in a baking dish in a dark cupboard.

My biggest challenge is bottles that are just way too tall for any of my kitchen storage! Thankfully there's a built-in shelving/cupboards surrounding my kitchen entry, so they live there- with the cookbooks and 'bar'.

posted by pdx-R on January 23rd 2009 at 5:36pm
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The under-sink cabinet in a powder room/guest bath is a good place, if you have one. Not a bathroom with an oft-used shower, but one that's rarely used or only has a toilet. There's very little humidity and it tends to be cooler there.

You can also put a box in a cool corner, cover it with a piece of fabric, and put something decorative on top. It looks like an objet but really it's cold storage. Not great for stuff you need regularly, but fine to store things that keep for a while and you get at occasionally.

How about under the bed? Esp. if your floor is cold, you'd get dark and cold and you could lay the bottles on their sides.

posted by Fiona2 on January 23rd 2009 at 7:14pm
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during spring and fall, stick it on your fire escape

posted by veganmartha on January 24th 2009 at 2:38am
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I don't have a consistently cool dry place, since the dryer is in our kitchen. But I've never worried about it because I go through olive oil quickly enough that it's not going to go off from poor storage. If you buy in bulk, decant into a small bottle and keep the tin in the fridge.

I don't worry about wine since I only have 2 bottles at a time, and I'm not "storing" it so much as I am about to drink it.

With the exception of the fridge, the only food items I try to make special provisions for are potatoes and flours, particularly whole grain. Flours get sealed in zip bags and whole grains go in the fridge. Potatoes go in a dark place. I'm lucky to have a large pantry in this rental.

posted by renata on January 24th 2009 at 10:36am
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Since my heat has been off and on over the last week and a half, everything is cool and dry right now.

That said, I have a kitchenette to which I added an Ikea kitchen island. The island is far enough from the kitchen that the cabinets stay cool and dry.

A million years ago, when I was in college, I lived in a huge Victorian house which had an uninsulated large closet sized pantry right off the kitchen. I miss that place. It also had a little 6 inch wide by 3-4 ft high cabinet built into a wall near the dining room especially designed for the extra leaf for the dining room table.

posted by sciencegeek on January 24th 2009 at 1:13pm
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I just googled "kitchen cool dry place" and it brought me here. I'm glad to see I am not the only one without a "cool dry place" in my tiny apt-kitchen. I have a pantry, but although it's dark and dry, I don't consider it cool. And my produce proofs it. Anyone else have any further suggestions?

posted by gnomette on March 4th 2009 at 2:48pm
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