Pantry organisation primer: What to store and how?

Pantry organization is an essential step to keep the kitchen rush running smoothly and efficiently. If you haven’t been paying attention to storing food properly and have fallen into the trap of finding certain ingredients hard to find or some ingredients have gone bad, the following tips can help!

General rules for pantry organisation

For both small and large pantries, certain unwritten rules on pantry organization may apply. In fact, even for those who only have one cupboard for food storage, the following advice is worth following.

The first step in pantry organisation is to sort. Before you start any sorting, first look at the food you have and get rid of what’s out of date. Then create categories either by food type or by use. 

Then assess the household’s consumption habits. Keep track of how many packets of what you have stocked up on, look at what are the popular ingredients you often use for cooking, and think about what you like to store more of at a time. Of course, you should also consider the capacity of your pantry, because if it’s a smaller space, it may not be a good idea to keep a supply of everything.

After all this, it’s time to furnish the pantry!

When packing, make sure that frequently used ingredients are always in an easily accessible place, while those that are rarely used can go on higher shelves.

Consideration should also be given to which shelves children have access to: do they reach snacks or not, make their own breakfast or not?

Also, if you’re a fan of the loading method, make sure you always put the food that expires first and use the food that expires first. Also, it doesn’t matter how you store those particular ingredients. Different organisers can help you to create a transparent pantry. But remember to measure the shelves and check the capacity of each bin before you buy one!

Correct storage of dry food

There are two ways to store dry food: by pouring it into an airtight food storage box, or by using a pantry organizer to store it in its own packaging. Alternatively, a combination of the two methods can be used. 

The advantage of using airtight storage and the popular OXO container is that you can make your pantry completely pest-free and create a truly aesthetic, uniform modular system. You can get food storage boxes in a variety of sizes. Transparent, labelled containers make it easy to keep track of food consumption. At the same time, you’ll have extra time to fill the containers with newly purchased products after each shopping trip. 

The advantage of self-packing is precisely this: you don’t have to bother with refilling. If this method of storage appeals to you, then once you’ve grouped your food properly, place it in labelled, open-fronted pantry containers, which will help you avoid chaos in your pantry. It is also possible to create a modular system for bagged storage!

However, in this case you are more likely to encounter pests. So you need to be vigilant and check the ingredients more often to keep your food from being thrown away.

Bagged organizers give you more scope to tailor your pantry to your own taste, as you can now use wooden pantry organizers in addition to plastic bins if it suits your taste better.

Vegetable and fruit storage in the pantry

In general, you should store fruit and vegetables in your pantry that will last for up to several weeks and don’t need refrigeration. These include potatoes, onions, apples, nuts and root vegetables. Storage of these is very specific, as each vegetable and fruit can tolerate different light conditions and carbon dioxide levels.

But generally speaking, they prefer cooler but frost-free places and will stay fresh for a long time in well-ventilated containers free from moisture.

For this reason, one of the best choices is to arrange them in onion baskets. The rust-resistant steel baskets can be stacked on top of each other, and the integrated handles make it easy to move them around even when you’ve loaded them with potatoes. Another advantage is that thanks to its deep open sides, you don’t have to lift the baskets off each other even if you take the food you need from the bottom one.

When storing fruit and vegetables, be careful not to use wooden storage bins, as wood is less ventilated, prone to moisture and difficult to clean. These foods will rot easily in wood, so a pantry storage basket or something plastic is definitely the best choice for this purpose.

Small things in pantry organisation: spice storage

For those who cook on a daily basis, it is most obvious to store frequently used spices near the hob or stove. On the other hand, spices that are used infrequently or stocked up on as a top-up often find a place in the pantry, for which there are several storage solutions. The first question is the same: do you want to store it in its own bag or in small jars?

If you find the bagged solution more practical, designate a small food storage box to line them up in.

The advantage of the organizer is that it takes up little space and you can place it on the counter next to you at any time during cooking, so if you do keep all your spices in the pantry, you don’t have to walk to the one you need one by one.

But if you like to pour your spices into small jars, choose an expandable spice rack pyramid to store them. You can safely line up a lot of spices on this one, as the rim prevents them from tipping off. 

Safe storage of bottled products (wine, preserves, sauces, oils)

When storing products in different glass containers, always make sure that they are not placed where they can be easily knocked over. Examples include alcoholic drinks, sauces, preserves and oils. These products with a long shelf-life are no coincidence to find a place in the pantry, so here are some handy organisers for storing them.

Wine bottles often cannot be stored upright on a lower shelving system, but they can easily roll away when laid flat. You can eliminate this problem with a 5-piece wine rack, which you can stack on top of each other or even put in the fridge. Of course, it’s not just for organising your wine, you can also use it to store canteens and bottles of soft drinks.

When organising your pantry, it can often be a headache to store jars, jams, pickles and various sauces.

If you have empty jars, first check whether you really need them. Check that they all have their tops on, then sort them into a box or storage basket and put them on the top shelf of your pantry shelf, out of the way until you fill them.

But arrange the full jars neatly and securely. Storage of jars can be difficult because of the different sizes and shapes. Because they are usually rounded, they are difficult to arrange in a space-saving way and they cannot be stacked on top of each other because they shift easily. For this reason, you should aim to make the most of vertical space, so a super solution is to organise them by placing them in an internal shelving unit. 

However, dressings, sauces and oils are mostly available in longer glass jars, for which you can use the inner shelf less. But when organising them, it’s also a good idea to make sure that they don’t hide behind each other, are easy to access and don’t tip over, as they are fragile. For this reason, a rotating tray can provide a practical storage solution.

So organising your pantry is not an impossible task.

The key is to tailor your storage to your own and your family’s pantry usage habits, not to rely on the perfect system you see on the internet, because everyone works differently!

Choosing the right, high-quality organisers can help you maintain a transparent system for years to come, so you can avoid food spoilage or wasting precious minutes searching for ingredients before cooking.