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Joined: Aug 2009
So I used to build some pretty spectacular gingerbread houses back on the mainland, where the winter humidity problem was too little, not too much (which kept the gingerbread nice and hard). I'd like to try building one here, but I'm afraid the whole thing will collapse after a few days of damp Puna air. I found a few "high humidity, hard as rock" gingerbread recipes online, but was wondering if anyone here has Puna gingerbread construction experience/expertise to share. My thought was to build a wire mesh skeleton, glue the gingerbread to the skeleton, and then use a nightlight inside to shine through the windows and keep the structure warm and dry. Any other tips from your experience?
Thinking out loud > maybe a candle for a little more heat ?
aloha,
pog
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I haven't found a solution; even my chocolate chips cookies are damp by morning if I don't seal them. Rebaking them does no good.
A battery operated mini fan inside? One of those heating pads people use to develop seedlings, most especially for lilikoi.
Maybe make them not so spectacular so you can make duplicates every few days and feed the latest ones to ME!
There is this product called Damp Rid that I used a lot when I moved to the east side and had a single wall house, especially in the closets.
If you don't know it, it comes in a half gallon milk carton like package as a refill or in smaller cartons that provide the dish. If you buy the large size, you pour the beads into a dish of some sort, or a plastic pint sized empty food container, and the beads suck water out of the air and gradually turn to liquid. Then you dump it out and refill.
It's good stuff in that it works and doesn't require anything to be plugged in nor uses batteries, and it won't catch fire.
I used to get it at Ace Hardware.
"And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody, outside of a small circle of friends ~ Phil Ochs
Posts: 1,163
Threads: 32
Joined: Aug 2009
Kathy, I thought about damp rid...think I'll give that a try. I've also decided that for this first go-round, I'm going to try a minimalist approach -- two small houses using different recipes. My science teachers would be so proud of me...
Rich, I hope you take pictures and post links if you can. The whole project sounds amazing. I used to have energy to do really elaborate time-consuming projects -- in my youth! Not now... so yay for your energy.
"And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody, outside of a small circle of friends ~ Phil Ochs
