Pantries That Work For Us

Pauline Hatch
Alice Fulton-Osborne

Let’s talk about creating a pantry that works FOR you: There are some basic guidelines to making a pantry user-friendly. The bottom line? For your pantry to be an asset, it needs to hold things well—meaning, in an organized and easy-to-access fashion.

 And don’t get hung up on pantry SIZE. A very efficient pantry can be as small as a couple cupboards—you don’t need the fancy walk-in types you see in Martha Stewart’s Living magazine. And don’t get hung up on location, either. A very efficient pantry can be a converted linen closet around the corner and down the hall from the kitchen. Since size or location isn’t the big deal, what IS the basic key to a smart pantry—one that serves you, rather than works against you? (Drum roll here…) It should only hold what you actually use, need, like, want, and have room for. This is the place for 2- to 3-week’s worth of provisions. It’s not the spot for long term storage, so you don’t want to put bulk sized bags and boxes in a pantry. They go somewhere else—a food storage area, if possible. Smaller amounts are transferred into pantry-sized containers instead.

Now that we know what a pantry should hold—we repeat: ONLY what you actually use, need, like, want, and have room for)—let’s talk about smart pantry arranging. This is fun—getting the pantry in shape is a great way to launch into a new year of cooking!

On about.com, we found some compelling reasons to get this space organized. A smartly arranged pantry:

• “Saves money by identifying what you're using, what you're not using and what you've bought in duplicate (or in same cases, triplicate).”

   

• “Allows you to take stock of your cooking habits.” For example: about.com’s writer said she once bought some saffron (a very expensive ingredient). It sat in her pantry and moved with her (twice), unopened. She finally tossed it, admitting she was still just a “beginning cook” and only bought the saffron because she thought it was the right thing to do. So she advises that if you take a risk and buy a new product, commit to using it that day or that week so it doesn’t take up precious room in your pantry.

   

• “Tells you what you should and should not buy in bulk.” The about.com author makes oatmeal daily so once a week she buys enough to fill a mason jar. She realized she ought to stock up on that item. She had lots of pasta however (hiding in the back of her pantry), that she rarely used. She decided she’d only buy pasta when she had concrete plans to use it—either that day or sometime that week.

   

• Saves you time and energy when looking for things (if they’re grouped together by type). This eliminates hunting and pawing through things to find what you want. An example of grouping and storing like items together: all vinegars: champagne, apple cider, balsamic, rice wine, etc. To that mix add white cooking wine, olive and grape seed oil, and an olive oil spray. While the bottles will vary in height and width, they’ll be in a logical spot when you need them so you can find them quickly and easily.

Other common groupings would be: 

Cans of beans and soups

Bags of snack foods

Containers of herbs and spices (they need to be tossed after a year, so use ‘em up!) 

Containers of grains such as oats, rice, cereals (to prevent weevil infestation, consider freezing these for a day or two before adding them to your pantry)

Containers of pastas

Sweeteners (honey, maple and agave syrups, brown sugar, white sugar, powdered sugar, stevia, etc.)

Milks (coconut, powdered, canned, sweetened condensed, almond, rice, etc.) 

Tomato products (canned tomato sauce and paste, canned stewed and diced tomatoes, salsa, ketchup, etc.)

Proteins (nut butters, canned tuna and salmon, etc.)

Legumes (canned bean varieties, lentils, split peas, etc.)

Now what would you add or subtract from these lists? You see the pattern though—things are grouped together in categories (like items)—it’s called the “supermarket system” of organization. It’s been around forever—it’s a simple approach to organization that simply works!

So whatever you decide goes in your pantry, just be sure you put rhyme and reason
into its arrangement, the way grocery stores do. This organization exercise is well worth your time—smart pantry arranging will not only save time and energy, it’ll be a great incentive to cook more—something we bet you’d like to do more of in 2012!