planning a larder

[JulieSherris]

Ann, if you do put one in, whatever way you ventilate/insulate, also have a think about at least one of the shelves......

My Nan & my Mum both had walk-ins, but the 'daily' shelf at about waist height were made from paving slabs.
Even in the height of summer the butter in the butter dish would still keep cool & fresh on the slab - in fact when I think back now, there was a lot of foods stored on those slabs that we usually have to keep in the fridge nowadays - perfect for bread, eggs, tomatoes, oh, and the fruit bowl!

[Odsox]

I totally agree Julie (nice to see you)
We have exactly the same except ours is a marble slab, salvaged years ago when marble topped washstands were considered old fashioned and could be bought dirt cheap.
I can't honestly see what the problem is Ann, if you can fit one into your scheme then do it, I guarantee you won't regret it.
Where else can you keep your potatoes dark and cool, onions and carrots that go black in the fridge and the same goes for bananas. Where else will you keep your wine, sloe gin, bread, cake, Christmas turkey, ham, butter, cheese, left overs, eggs, salami, squash, tomatoes, apples, bottled fruit, jam, or even just cooling food before putting in the fridge or freezer and all that just a couple of steps from the kitchen.
I know I wouldn't be without mine, but you probably guessed that anyway.

[JulieSherris]

Ooo!! I just remembered..... back in the 'good old days' when real wood was used for shelving & not flimsy melamine or mdf, Nan had the 2 lowest shelves slightly staggered out..... she was only 4ft 10, bless her, but using the 2 lower shelves meant she could climb up & reach the top shelves without a step stool! (Which they probably didn't have then anyway!)

Nice to see you too Tony - how is it in the sunny south m'dear?

[Green Aura]

We had a walk-in pantry, as you say Julie with a big stone slab at the end. The other thing was a meat/cheese safe which was built on to the shelf above the stone slab, which was set at right angles to the slab. I don't know if the position was important - would the stone help keep stuff in there cool?

Anyway the safe was just a cupboard essentially with a shelf in the middle, but the doors were just frames covered with fine mesh. I've got a little version for my pantry but thus far I've only used it for storing the christmas cake while I was sousing it!

[Thurston Garden]

Ann I am joining this thread quite late but...

I really do miss my walk in pantry which I had at Thurston Towers - being an old gate lodge I think the pantry was original (albeit east facing) to the house which I think was built about 1850. It was about 4ft square with a small opaque window in it which had a hinged top part that I opened in the summer. There was a wire insect mesh on the outside of the window. This was the only vent in the pantry and it was always nice and cool although I never had a thermometer in it... I think the 2ft thick stone walls were the key to keeping it cool. The downside was the door leading from the kitchen to it was not well sealed and with the vent open on a windy day there was a right draught - sometimes enough to blow the door open! As Julie says, a cold shelf is a great thing. Mine never had one but I was lucky to get an old granite worktop off freecycle which I cut to fit - it was fab for keeping beer cool!

I certainly want to incorporate a pantry into my straw bale house. I think the house is going to be raised up off the ground (on stilts/telegraph poles?) so think I will have an underfloor vent and another in the upper wall or ceiling. Both vents need to be closeable I think. An external door as mentioned previously is a good idea, although expensive!

[Annpan]

Thanks all... OH is still not convinced but I am winning the argument. (since I am the person who is in the house all day, does all the cooking, all the preserving, all the growing, all the wine making..... really, I don't think he should have a say at all...)

Cold shelf is noted and I think we have decided to just go with one vent, and of course a nice heavy door.... in fact, thinking about getting an old victorian internal door (pretty easy to get hold of in Glasgow - trying to use recalimed either way) and fixing insulation on to the inside of it and some draft proof tape type stuff round the frame....

I love the staggered shelves/steps idea. Though I have memories of my Dad's wine being kept on the top shelves of our pantry when I was little (big tenement house) and folks having to fetch the big ladders to get to it.... you knew it was a special occasion if the big ladders were needed.

On the matter of external doors... our old ones that we are having/ have had removed had no insulative value BTW... flimsy pieces of rubbish.... I'd much rather have a solid interior door than a flimsy external one.... just saying...