The pantry is one of the most important parts of your kitchen so make sure that you keep it well organized so you wouldn’t have to tear it apart just to find something you need for baking or cooking.
Here are tips you can use for organizing your pantry for a more efficient kitchen.
Building Your Pantry
If you still do not have a pantry, have one custom built for your home. This way, you can choose just how tall and deep the shelves and drawers will be. It is best to use sturdy material for your pantry since you wouldn’t want items to fall off from the shelves, after all!
You can find plenty of ideas on the web. Because the bottom part of your pantry will be reserved for heavy items like large canned goods and jars, give it a tall space for accommodating large, tall cans. You can allocate 1 foot (or taller) height for this space.
For the upper shelves you can use varying heights and depths, depending on the items that you would most likely store inside.
One really useful tip: put shelves on your pantry doors, too! These will be great for light items like cereal boxes or chips.
Buying Containers
Invest in good quality containers. As much as possible, buy clear ones so you can see what’s inside without having to constantly do a manual check every time you need stuff.
While cylindrical containers look nice, cubes and cuboids (squares and rectangles) are more efficient as you can stack them easily and pack them tightly.
Putting Labels
Of course, you don’t have to buy clear containers at all times. You can even use biscuit or ice cream containers for your pantry. All you have to do is place labels on the containers to make it easier for you to determine what’s inside.
It is also important to indicate the due dates of the items inside your pantry so you can keep track of stuff that you need to use first and the ones you need to discard.
Arrange Your Pantry
Now that your pantry is ready, the last thing you have to do is to arrange the items inside. Arrange items according to height and weight, grouping alike ones together. Place heavy items at the bottom. You can use the shelves on the doors for chips, light boxes, and other light stuff. Those items that have the earliest expiry date should be placed in front of those with later expiry dates so you can use them accordingly.