Maintaining an organized pantry in your Tulsa rental home can be difficult. It’s vital that you are able to keep all of your things in a way that they stay fresh and neat. To be sure that your food supply is fresh and easy to access, here are a few simple pantry organization tips.
1. Create a System
Most people approach pantry organization with a relatively simple system: grouping similar items together. This is not the only way to organize a pantry, though! What you can do is to place items you often use together next to each other, like pasta noodles, and sauce or baking essentials. Keep in mind, there are several other methods to pantry grouping.
It would also be a good idea to stash your frequently used items in an easy-to-reach spot! Also, you can designate zones or stations in your pantry, grouping food items by function or the time of day you will usually use them. Examples of this might be a coffee station, a bin with after-school snacks, or a shelf for breakfast. While these are good suggestions, you are free to choose and use any system, so long as it aligns with your routines in your pantry.
2. Rotate Your Storage
Pantry organization should involve regular rotation of your food items. This is often overlooked by a lot of homeowners. Very often, food items will get shoved back and forgotten for several months at a time. So that you won’t end up throwing out expired food, get a first-in, first-out system in place for your pantry. When restocking each shelf, place new items behind older items. To make sure that your expired items are properly disposed of, make sure to check your pantry regularly so that you can keep track of expiration dates. This allows you to make sure that your pantry is always fresh.
3. Choose Proper Storage Containers
Storage containers don’t have to be expensive, at all. The most important thing to make sure of is that your items are sorted and stored properly in your pantry. Not all of your items are going to be canned food. Most of them, perhaps, will even be in different packaging and will need to be transferred to airtight containers to stay fresh.
To ensure long-term freshness, decant flour and other grain-based food items by taking them out of the bags they come in and placing them in glass or plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. Flour, cake mix, or other similar items should be taken out of their original bags and stored in a different container because their bags could be hiding insect eggs and other problems. I’m sure you don’t want to come home to a pantry that’s infested with bugs.
Here are a few simple tricks to grouping your pantry items. Be wary of specific foods that should not be closely stored with others. Be sure to separate onions and potatoes in your pantry. If you don’t, the onions’ strong odor can permeate the potatoes and cause them to spoil faster.
Lastly, when looking for storage containers, go for the containers that fit your shelves and provide easy access to their contents. Mason jars are the common go-to for most people when storing rice, but the narrow mouth makes scooping difficult. Go for containers that you can label with the name of the content and the expiration date. You can go for removable labels so that each of your containers can easily be updated every now and then.
4. Size Matters
Finally, though most of your items might be smaller, like spice jars and whatnot, remember to always leave some room for bigger items, too! One way you can keep different items in their own area is through the use of smaller shelving or trays. If possible, create some taller spaces for cereal boxes, bottles, or other tall or oddly-shaped items.
Ultimately, the way you organize your pantry should reflect your daily routines and practices. With these tips, you can make sure you have yourself a pantry that keeps your food supply fresh and ready to use.
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