Bulk Storage: Storing Food Safely without Spending a Fortune
It's only happened to me once, but oh how well I remember it. I got out the flour and saw movement where all should be still. Pantry moths! I threw out the flour and checked items near it. Infected! On and on until I found the Mother Lode of Moths. I wound up throwing out nearly all our flour, sugar, and grains and spending several hours scrubbing and vacuuming out the pantry.
This spring, I started to put a fresh bag of organic flour from a reputable market into a canister but noticed a dead moth in it. Who knew what live moths or eggs also lurked in the bag? The store told me to take the buggy flour outside and throw it away. They gave me a refund with only the receipt as proof of purchase.
Freeze It, Seal It, Keep It Clean
Now if I have freezer space and time, I put new bags of flour and sugar into the freezer for a week before unleashing them into the pantry. That way, if there are moths, they will at least be killed before they can spread. I use a wide range of containers with tight seals. Some of my favorites are freebies: repurposed cashew cans and brown-rice containers. And about twice a year, the pantry gets a thorough cleaning.
Look for containers with tight seals
From left to right, these are:
- Aluminum flour canister from the 1950s, one of a set I found at a second-hand store. I use it for all-purpose flour, which doesn't need refrigeration like whole-wheat flour does. I use the sugar canister for sugar, the coffee one for grits, and the tea one for kosher salt. The last two have new labels on their smooth sides.
- Glass jar that originally held a holiday treat from a sweet neighbor.
- Can that originally held five pounds of cashew pieces, with a new label replacing the original one. I have several of these for different flours.
- Glass canister with a suction-ring lid that holds tightly in place. I have several of these in various sizes. The lids are a pleasure to use and you can easily see the contents. In fact, you can see that I keep a measuring cup in with the rotini so I can measure out servings without having to wash a measuring cup each time.
- Flip-top plastic container with a label since the contents are hidden.
- Plastic container that originally held two pounds of basmati brown rice. I keep it handle-side out on the shelf, so it takes up little room but shows the contents freely. The wide mouth and handle make it easy to fill and empty. I'm gradually moving my beans to these containers.
- Another flip-top plastic container, this one for white basmati rice.
- A vintage glass jar from my mother-in-law with a glass-on-glass seal, like the containers in chemistry class.
Don't you like how the free cashew can fits in so well with the other "high tech" containers?
What not to use
- Smelly containers. Back when I was in college, I was one of the first members of a very well-meaning but inexperienced co-op. We brought used jars into the co-op so others could fill them with bulk goods. One time, I used a jar that had started life holding pickles to get honey. The glass jar itself was fine, but the lid smelled like pickles. Soon, so did the honey.
- Containers not meant for food. As attractive as your old paint cans might be, keep your rice in something meant for food.
- Soft containers. I once stocked up on rice in 15-pound bags just before a price increase hit. The rice came in thin plastic bags that were themselves in zippered burlap bags. Evidently the fragrance of 30 pounds of rice was enough to lure a mouse or two into my basement to gnaw through the bags. If I'd had any flour or sugar out in paper bags, I'm sure the mice would have had more variety in their diets.
