How do you store dry ingredients

[Shariinsd]

I have all these bags of things like lentles, buckwheat, chia seeds. Now I am starting to have a problem with bugs. How do you store these food items? I want to keep them organized and bug free. i tried canning jars but the quart size seems too small.

Thanks for the help,

Shari

[Plumerias]

We live in an RV, so glass jars are not an option for us. When we started out ten years ago, I bought a collection of Tupperware's Modular Mates, some are squared, some are oval, measured to fit our cupboards. They are still listed for sale on their website. There have been no issues with bugs, even in winter in Florida. I label with super-sticky posti-it notes. The smaller items, like pound bags, all end up together in larger containers. https://www.tupperware.com/shop/store-a ... e.html?p=3

[Shariinsd]

How do you what size to get. I saw this on Walmart.com. Does this seem like a good assortment of sizes?

Set Includes 5 Sizes 2 of each size Choose The Perfect Size For Each Food 3 qt or 11.25 cups. 2.5 qt.or 9.72 cups 1.8 qt.or 7.1 cups 1.5 qt.or 4.6 cups and .5 qt. or 2.1 cups.

Do these seem really big? My bags are usually 2 pounds or 5 pounds.

[Mayapples]

I keep everything in their original bags, stuffed into a couple of plastic bins with tight lids -- the kind you can get in the storage containers section of any housewares department. I had a pantry moth infestation once and definitely do not want to repeat the experience! This has been working well for me.

[Plumerias]

How do you what size to get. I saw this on Walmart.com. Does this seem like a good assortment of sizes?

Set Includes 5 Sizes 2 of each size Choose The Perfect Size For Each Food 3 qt or 11.25 cups. 2.5 qt.or 9.72 cups 1.8 qt.or 7.1 cups 1.5 qt.or 4.6 cups and .5 qt. or 2.1 cups.

Do these seem really big? My bags are usually 2 pounds or 5 pounds.

Shari,

I'm afraid I don't understand just exactly what you are asking. Could you maybe rephrase this, as your measurements aren't making sense to me.

But honestly, the real answer is buy what you can afford, what might fit in your cupboards, and work from there.

[Shariinsd]

They have the measurements in both cups and quarts. So I put both the cup and the quart measurement for each size. I have a vision problem and one of the consequences of it is I have not spacial relations. So it is very hard for me to tell sizes. I will think leftovers will barely fit in a container but when I put it in the container the container is half full.

Eleven cups seems huge, but for all I know it is about the size of a bag of flour. The idea of two cups to a pound isn't working here. At least it doesn't work for chia seeds. That is why I was asking if these sizes seem reasonable. As far as if they will fit in my cabinet? That is a whole other question, but my shelf is adjustable. Price is good because I get 10 pieces for about $44 which seems to be cheaper than most places.

Does this make more sense now?

[michaelswarm]

I use larger size ziplock bags.
Dry goods like brown rice, rolled oats, lentils, all go into their own ziplock once opened.
We live in Mexico so moisture and bugs (and small children) are an issue.

[Plumerias]

They have the measurements in both cups and quarts. So I put both the cup and the quart measurement for each size. I have a vision problem and one of the consequences of it is I have not spacial relations. So it is very hard for me to tell sizes. I will think leftovers will barely fit in a container but when I put it in the container the container is half full.

Eleven cups seems huge, but for all I know it is about the size of a bag of flour. The idea of two cups to a pound isn't working here. At least it doesn't work for chia seeds. That is why I was asking if these sizes seem reasonable. As far as if they will fit in my cabinet? That is a whole other question, but my shelf is adjustable. Price is good because I get 10 pieces for about $44 which seems to be cheaper than most places.

Does this make more sense now?

Yes, thanks. Unfortunately, I'm really bad at spatial relations myself. Those tests of our school days, the one where you were given a picture of an unfolded thing and were to choose which one it would be when folded, a,b,c, or d. No can do, rarely guessed right. And you're not the only one who can't always choose the correct size for the leftovers!

So, one of my most used containers is 3.9L, which translates roughly to 4 quarts or 16 cups, holds my split red lentils and moong/mung dal (split yellow lentils). Just went shopping yesterday. I got the four pound bag of red lentils in, plus what there was left, so maybe about six pounds? The moong dal also got a four pound bag, and would also hold more. I get these large bags at an Indian grocery, which may not be an option for you where you live. However, if your health food store sells in bulk as opposed to prepackaged......

The 2.6 liter (11 cups) squared one holds almost five pounds of bulk rice, in this case one each for brown jasmine and brown basmati. A 4.3 liter one is used for (Lundberg) golden rose, a medium grain brown rice, which I get from the bulk bins as well. Short brown (Lundberg) goes in the approximately four liter one, of a different shape. Again, the bulk bins at a health food store.

I have a couple of really large ones that assorted one pound bags of beans and green lentils get tossed into. I don't usually worry about any sealed packages, as my bad experiences (a basement storage area full of bean beetles, shudder, what a mess), happened to be because I carelessly tossed thin bulk bags of stuff on a shelf, which I no longer do.

I like to keep a well stocked pantry, as I am lousy at meal planning, so I keep a good variety on hand.

Maybe that will help you get started?

[Bkworm]

Hello Shariinsd,

I have lived in Florida my entire life. Two times in my 46-year marriage we have experienced problems with the bugs in whole grains to the point we had tiny moths flying all over the house. The first time it happened, we had no idea where the moths were coming from.

Are you purchasing from bulk bins? The bug eggs or larvae get in the products while the products are in the bulk bins But some are capable of eating through packaging, too. I was told long ago that the best step is to freeze whatever you purchase from bulk bins or packaged in bags in the freezer at least for a week. That kills the larvae. Unfortunately, there is larvae in much of our food, so small we really don't notice them. There is also a big problem with bugs in dry pet food in Florida in the summer months. Just this week I was watching a WFPB YouTube video by Tami of Nutmeg Notebook. Tami commented that she puts everything she purchased in bulk in the freezer for at least 5 days. Previously we had a large freezer and I just stored all my whole grains, dry beans, seeds, nuts, etc. in the freezer from the time I purchased them. Right now we don't have a freezer.

When I used to have a food vacuum system, I purchased half-gallon sized canning jars by the case. I seem to remember getting them at ACE Hardware Stores. I don't remember the exact price but they were reasonably priced.

I do store food items in my cabinets in glass containers. Plumerias, some of the little pest will eat through plastic, including Tupperware. Had it happen in the past. You could see the holes they bored through the containers.

Sudden memory from going grocery shopping with my mother. When she purchased corn meal at the grocery store, she always had the cashier open the bag of corn meal to check for weevils. If weevils were in the corn meal, there were be webbing at the top of the corn meal and my mother would not take that bag.