What is a pantry
Technically, a pantry is a small room or cupboard in which food, dishes, and utensils are kept. Pantry staples are the items you use again and again when creating meals for you or your family. Staples are generally shelf stable for longer periods, but when I consider pantry staples, I also consider food that can be stored in a refrigerator or freezer in addition to those that can be stored in a pantry. It’s great if you have a small room or cupboard that can be dedicated to this type of storage, but almost any space will work. Bottomline is that setting up your pantry saves money and makes cooking easier
Dry goods storage requirements
The ideal requirements are a space that is cool, dry, and well ventilated with temperatures between 50 and 70 degrees. Humidity ideally should be 15% or less. Direct sunlight should be avoided. And foods should be kept 4-6’ off the floor, and 18” away from outer walls, and 2’ from the ceiling. Proper ventilation should be maintained, and items should be rotated, meaning you should date adopt a FIFO (first-in-first-out) system.
Most people keep the temperature in their homes between 64-75 degrees. Therefore, temperature is not an issue as most spaces in your home or basement will be between 50 and 70 degrees. If you are planning on storing food in a garage, cellar or outbuilding you will have to consider fluctuations in temperature. Generally avoid storage in these locations during certain times of the year.
Avoiding direct sunlight and food placement away from floors, walls, and ceilings, is generally easy to manage. These suggestions are intended to help maintain a consistent temperature and avoid infestations of insects or vermin.
First in, first out
FIFO can be easily accomplished by always placing new items in the back and pulling items from the front for use. It is helpful to keep a list of items in the pantry. A list can incorporate tracking of ‘use by’ or ‘sell by’ dates. Speaking of these dates, there is quite a bit of confusion and controversy. The expiration date on consumer goods are actually related to quality rather than safety. Foods can generally be consumed safely for some time after those dates, depending on the item. A good rule of thumb is if the packaging is still intact (no dents, bulges, or ruptures), there are no signs of mold, and it smells ok, it is probably still safe to eat. The exception to this rule is infant formula, which should always be disposed of by the expiration date, and even sooner if it hadn’t been stored properly.
Humidity is the most difficult aspect to control as humidity in homes is generally between 30-50%. If you are storing food items in a separate room, consider using a dehumidifier. If your storage is inside the house but in an area where a dehumidifier is not an option, make sure food is stored in original packaging or airtight containers.
Why develop a pantry
Having a well-managed pantry makes sense on many levels. I’ve been in the situation where I’ve either decided to make a particular dish, only to discover that I’m missing a key ingredient, or, I’m at the grocery store and I buy the key ingredient, only to discover that I already have three cans at home. The worst case was when I knew I had something at home so didn’t buy it when I was at the grocery store, then couldn’t find it so went back to the store, bought it agan, then came across the item when I went to put away the new purchased backstock.
Having a dedicated space saves time and money. You’ll save time, because you don’t have to search for something or trek out to get something you’re missing (or can’t find!). You’ll save money because you won’t be buying what you don’t need or throwing out what you didn’t use. You can also plan ahead to take advantage of sales or bulk buying – if you have the space and will use the item. On a national scale, it is estimated the up to 40% of all food produced goes uneaten, and about 95% of discarded food ends up in landfills.
What to keep in your pantry
As mentioned above, you should keep items you use again and again in your pantry. The best way to determine a list of pantry staples is to consider what you like to cook and what your family likes to eat. Hopefully, there is quite a lot of overlap between those two criteria. However, your family may like to eat something that you don’t particularly like to cook. Perhaps there are too many steps. Or, special equipment that you need to drag out of storage. Maybe it takes too long to make. Or conversely, you like to make something that makes your family groan ‘not again!’. Once you come up with these lists, find consistencies and make these recipes part of your normal rotation. The ingredients required for these recipes will be staples in your pantry.
Pay attention to what you normally purchase at the store. Perhaps more importantly, what are you tossing out in the garbage each week. Are you buying things you want your family to eat, but they aren’t? Or are you simply not using all that you’ve purchased. If not, why not? As you develop your pantry, you may also find that you’re developing a list of core recipes which can become staples in menu planning.
How much to keep
This will depend on how much you will use, how much space you have, and how you are going to store it. Buying in bulk doesn’t save much if you end up throwing it away. You can always store things in the manner they were stored at the grocery. But, that’s not always the best way to store things.
For instance, I like to buy nuts in bulk as I use them often in cooking or as snacks. They are stored at room temperature in the bulk section. However, I find they last longer at home if I store them in an air-tight container in the freezer. I would often use only a half carton of milk and then throw away the rest. But now, after I open the carton I immediately freeze most of it in an ice cube tray. I throw the frozen cubes into the blender for smoothies or saucepans for creamed soups.
Do your research
It’s easy enough to research various ways to extend the storage time for different items. And I do suggest you do your research. I remember the time I was staying with a friend in Florida and a local farm stand had a great deal on lettuce. My friend and I loved salads, so I bought five heads of iceburg lettuce. I thought I had made a great purchase. I’d use one head for a salad and put the rest in the freezer. Her dad stopped by to check on us, and as was his habit, made sure we had enough food. I knew I was in trouble when he looked in the freezer and saw the heads of lettuce.
He was very polite, and simply asked if my mom froze the lettuce at our house. My mom never bought lettuce, but I knew I had done something pretty stupid. Of course, I told him she didn’t, and he said to let him know how it turned out. I can confirm that the lettuce froze very well. I can also confirm that it defrosted very badly. Now, I know that leafy greens can be frozen, but the hardier the leaf, the better the result. And they should never be frozen as a head of lettuce. You should separate the leaves, wash them, and thoroughly dry them.
Learn from the frozen section
I haven’t tried freezing lettuce since I tried freezing those four heads, but I have purchased frozen kale, spinach, and chard. Before I freeze anything, I consider if I’ve ever seen it in the frozen section of the grocery store. Then I do some research to see if there are some prep steps that should be taken first.
My best advice is to start small and branch out gradually. I think you’ll find that you will save money, cooking will become easier, and you may become more adventurous. Of course, if you have (or have had) a similar experience as I did with the lettuce, let us know.
