Good pantry use involves creating a space that provides the ideal conditions for long-term storage. A pantry keeps foods fresh when it’s organized to ensure a quick turnaround of your foods. Improper storage use, on the other hand, centers on not knowing what you have or how long it lasts. While good pantry use saves money, bad storage uses cost you time and money in the long run.
To get the most out of your pantry, you need to optimize your space for your needs. The purpose of a pantry is to safely store dry goods and the extras you have bought to take advantage of a sale. It’s meant to save money. Therefore, the proper use of a pantry allows you to maximize your savings. Let Harkraft help you do it right.
Your pantry should provide the proper conditions for preventing spoilage. Wire shelves, for example, offer a smart way to organize your space that allows for plenty of air movement. They give you an easy way to make the best use of your pantry whether it’s a closet or a walk-in room.
Another element of good pantry storage is organization. Ideally, everything has its place. You know what you have in stock, and when you should rotate items. Older products in the front make for easy access. The new things you buy should go behind the old stock, so they get used later.
Many items you put in your pantry may last for a long time. To optimize your space, you may want to consider writing expiration dates on labels with a black marker so that they’re visible. Good organization will involve knowing where things are and how soon you need to use them.
Bad pantry storage makes an easy task that much harder. Instead of being able to quickly find something you need, you end up wasting time searching. The problem you can run into in this case is that the older products may end up behind newer items. Throwing out those extra canned goods you bought because they expired defeats the purpose of having a pantry.
Then there is the issue of how much to buy and store. A wrong use of pantry storage is just to stuff whatever you buy into it and forget it. Your pantry shouldn’t just be a catch-all. Rather, you need to know what you should buy and what you have.
The ultimate goal of a pantry is its role as the backup for the kitchen. If you need a can of diced tomatoes, it’s there. And if you already have a shelf full of canned beans, stocking up because of a good deal doesn’t make sense.
Another problem with improper pantry storage is missing out on cost savings because foods went bad or expired. That’s why organization is important. Foods near their expiration date should stay in the front of the pantry. But there’s another factor that you should take into account.
Foods vary hugely on how long they last in long-term storage. For example, uncooked white rice lasts indefinitely. Brown rice, on the other hand, only lasts about six months. A bad use of a pantry is using the space only to stock up and not using the foods you have on hand.
Finally, a bad use of pantry storage concerns the way you store items. Neatly stacked cans and boxes leave more space for additional items than a random hodgepodge of goods. If you find yourself short on space, it could be because there is no order to your collection.
Having a pantry is a smart way to save money on your grocery bills while taking advantage of a good deal. But its real value comes from using the space wisely and efficiently. A well-organized pantry with everything in its place will pay for itself many times over.
