Does anyone buy in bulk for their pantry?

Pollycat

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Thanks everyone, some really interesting points here.

So basically i shouldnt stock up on flour (unless i freeze it),

Did someone suggest freezing flour?

WantToBeSE

Pollycat wrote: »

Did someone suggest freezing flour?

:rotfl: :rotfl: I dont know what on Earth i was reading...but nobody suggested freezing flour :rotfl: :eek:

nuatha

WantToBeSE wrote: »

:rotfl: :rotfl: I dont know what on Earth i was reading...but nobody suggested freezing flour :rotfl: :eek:

Actually Mila did:

milasavesmoney wrote: »

As far a butter or flour going off, you can freeze both items when you find them on sale. I usually freeze flour to kill any creepy crawlies.:eek:

Quite sensibly too, 24 hours in a deep freeze will kill any weevil or similar eggs and prevent a problem. (There's also a bug that is attracted to the glue on flour bags, falls into the flour when the bag is opened and gets mistaken for weevils.)
I tend to bulk buy most of my staples, its far cheaper overall, gives me more flexibility over menu planning and cuts down the amount of time I need to spend shopping (a chore I hate)

thriftwizard

I do buy in bulk, but there are 7 adults living here, several of them very physically active! (Think football/gym/dancing 5-6 nights of the week, every week, and Tough Mudders etc. at weekends...) So 25Kg of spuds lasts us about 4 weeks, a 10Kg bag of rice about the same, a 12-tin tray of tomatoes may only last a couple of weeks, and I buy bread flour & spelt straight from the mill in 8Kg bags which last for about 6 weeks. We go through at least 10 250g pats of butter in a month, and a couple of unsalted ones too. I buy 25Kg sacks of oats, too, kept in an old unplugged freezer out in the garage, which last us about 3 months; they still seem perfectly edible then & would go to the chickens if I detected any off-taste. Said chickens are currently producing about 4-5 eggs a day, and we rarely have any left over to give away except in early spring, when they all lay every day.

The only thing I've had a vermin problem with (so far) were some loo rolls stored out in the garage, which a mouse nested in. Occasionally I do overshoot & overstock something on special offer that someone then decides they're cutting back on, but we usually manage to use it up somehow before the sell-by date. So what looks like buying in bulk, possibly even hoarding, to casual observers (and I've had comments to that effect, going through the checkout) is actually just normal stocking-up/storecupboard stuff in a household like ours.

But have to say, I'd kill for a proper larder!

sooty&sweep

Hi
I'm trying to go the other way. I've been guilty of buying things because they're a good deal or too much of something the children are in to eg cereal for them & they then get another favourite.
I do still buy certain ingredients in bulk, for example canned tomatoes but recently I've had to throw things like flour away because its not been nice.
I can see the point of keeping a stock of things like rice but only stuff that you know you'll use within a reasonable time.

Jen

elisamoose

milasavesmoney wrote: »

As far a butter or flour going off, you can freeze both items when you find them on sale. I usually freeze flour to kill any creepy crawlies.:eek:

But surely you then eat dead creepy crawlers?

PasturesNew

If I had a pantry I'd stock up on tinned goods, but nothing else.

What I'd enjoy most about it is being able to see ALL my food in one place. With bits here and bits there you often overlook/forget things.

I'd enjoy the fact that all similar items could be laid out/stacked together. Not a pile of things piled high/deep with one "left over/won't fit" packet somewhere else.

I'd probably just ensure that I always had lots of tins of beans, tomatoes, peas, carrots, tinned potatoes and some soups.

It'd be nice to have a shelf with a continuous run of: rice, pasta, noodles ... so I could scan across and see what I've got/how much of it.

It'd make choosing what to cook easier.

I dislike kitchen cabinets and cupboards immensely. Modern cupboards aren't fit for purpose.

I'd love long deep pan drawers (layout isn't conducive to that).

My parents had two simple units, 1970s style: Three cupboard doors each; when you opened them, inside, it was one continuous shelf. Much better than individual cabinets. Room to store everything and move things around.

Right now I have a 4-pack of beans on my worktop ... because they won't fit in the cupboard where all the other tins/veg/beans are ... and if I put them somewhere else (bedroom?) I'll forget I've got them.

Pollycat

elisamoose wrote: »

But surely you then eat dead creepy crawlers?

Arghhhh! :eek:

I'm just glad I've already had my lunch.

milasavesmoney

elisamoose wrote: »

But surely you then eat dead creepy crawlers?

Better dead than alive. Actually it would most likely be unmatched eggs.

The US Food and Drug Administration has rules called food defect action levels.
I'm sure most nations do also. These rules set out regulations that food manufacturers have to follow concerning acceptable levels of insect parts, rat hair etc in our food.

It's gross to think about but it's a fact of life. Everyone has consumed something yucky at one time or another because it's not possible to keep it out of canned or processed food.

Spendless

I'm loving this thread, but not for the same reasons as most. My 13yo DD recently had to tape herself for a role in an upcoming film and the instructions were '...is in the pantry'. Cue DD asking 'what's a pantry?'.:D I need to take her to visit her Great Gran who does have an original pantry and uses it for it's purpose (excepting things now stored in her fridge)

Our own pantry was also the cupboard under the stairs (whereas my Grans is in addition to) and with too tiny a kitchen, it had to come out to become first utility space and has now become our downstairs loo instead.

If I had my Gran's pantry though, I'd never get rid but would more use like pastures new has described, with everything in one place lined up, with an additional nod to anything I buy in bulk. That very much depends on what you use in your household. I don't get through loads of flour, but I'd love a bigger space to store kitchen rolls when I see a good promotion on them.