Keep your pantry from turning into a black hole
Our family had a walk-in pantry when I was a kid. It was huge. I’ve seen smaller bedrooms. I wish I had a room like that in my home now. I have a floor-to-ceiling pantry, and because of limited space, I need to stay on top of things to keep it neat and organized. A pantry doesn’t have to be a separate room or a full-size cabinet. It can be as simple as a shelving unit or spare closet. It should be a dry place that you can access easily. But there’s more to a working pantry than having food at arm’s reach. You need an organized system not only for convenience and savings but to be prepared for emergencies, too.
CLEAN REGULARLY: Keep shelves clean to prevent food from becoming stale or infested with pests like moths and ants. Periodically remove all items from your pantry. Check for expired items, dented cans, near-empty boxes and spilled food. Vacuum and wipe down shelves with a bleach-and-water solution, with special attention to corners and crevices.
GROUPING: Keep similar items together so you can see what you have. Breakfast foods, canned goods and baking supplies can be grouped together. Removing bulky packaging and placing dry goods into stackable, square airtight containers makes the most of your pantry space. Another option is using clear glass containers. These are great for rice, dry beans, cookies and crackers. They’re attractive, and you can easily see what’s inside. Some are expensive, but you can reuse glass jars, such as pickle jars.
If you have the space, assign shelves for each food category, and have items you use more frequently near the front and at eye level. Put the older food up front, too. Reserve higher shelves for rarely used items. If you have young children, keep heavy, breakable and spillable containers out of reach. Leave cleaning products out of the food pantry, too.
STORAGE TOOLS: Consider investing in pantry organizers such as undershelf baskets, stepped shelving, door organizers and gravity feed racks for canned goods. Or you can make your own organizers. Try baskets or baby-wipe containers to hold packets or a shoebox to organize spices.
KEEP INVENTORY: Keep a master list of what you have in your pantry and a shopping list of what you need. This helps you plan your meals. To begin stocking your pantry for more than what you’ll use in a week, look to meals you make regularly and your recent grocery lists. Wait for sales, and start out buying a few of an item. The idea is not to completely deplete yourself of foods you use often. Purchase a few at a time when they’re on sale to save money.
You can use an easy “slash system” for your inventory list — a slash for what you have and an “X” when it’s gone. Consider laminating or using a sheet protector or dry erase board for your inventory list, and set aside a few extra dollars each shopping trip so you’re not only replenishing but adding a surplus to your pantry.
Visit Recipe Matcher (www.recipematcher.com) and Cooking by Numbers (www.cookingbynumbers.com) for ideas on how to plan meals around what’s in your pantry.
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Excellent tips – and I thought my little space was pretty organized. Now I see where I can do better.
Thanks!
All good ideas – I need to keep an inventory list and get better at rotating stuff. My “pantry” is a 4 shelf utility bookcase in a shower we don’t use!
Manuela
Thanks for the website links…recipematcher.com is going to be a big help!! I’ve been looking for something like that to help me clear some things out!
I copied this food storage guide and keep it in my cookbook for
reference.
Baking powder: Store in airtight tins in a cool, dry place and
replace every 6 months.
Baking soda: Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place
for about 6 months.
Beans: Once a package is opened, dry beans should not be
refrigerated but stored in an airtight container in a cold, dry,
dark place. They will keep for about 1 year.
Brown Sugar: Store in a tightly covered container for up to 4
months.
Chocolate: Store chocolate for no longer than 1 year. It should
be kept in a cool, dry place with a temperature range of 60 to
75F. If the storage temperature exceeds 75F some of the cocoa
butter may separate and rise to the surface, causing a whitish
color to the chocolate called “bloom”.
Dried Fruit: Store unopened packages of dried fruit in a cool,
dry place or in the refrigerator. Store opened packages in an
airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer for 6 to 8
months.
Flour: Store in a clean, tightly covered container for up to 1
year.
Garlic: Should be stored in a dry, airy place away from light.
Granulated sugar: Should be stored in a tightly covered container
for up to two years.
Nuts: For optimum freshness and shelf life, nuts should be
stored, preferably unshelled, in a tightly covered container in
the refrigerator or freezer and shelled as needed. (the shell
and the cool temperature keep the nut from turning rancid.)
Potatoes and other root vegetables: Keep in a dark, cool place,
preferably a cellar. Store them in a dark brown paper bag.
Shredded coconut: Store in a cool, dry place in an airtight
container. Don’t store in the refrigerator.
Yeast: Store in the freezer of refrigerator in a closed plastic
bag.
Yuska
Your column is outstanding! I enjoy reading it often.
My hint:
When you buy new items for the pantry, use a felt tip marker to mark the tops (or fronts) of all items. The expiration date is given on lots of items and that is what I put in LARGE numbers as a felt tip label. Then it is much easier to rotate your food items.
(For items with no expiration date given, put felt tip labels on for the date purchased.)The felt tip marking only takes a few minutes and it is kind of fun to rearrange all the items.(This has greatly reduced the throw it in the pantry and never see it again syndrome.)
Keep the column and the hints coming.
David R
Sedro Woolley, WA
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