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The Farmhouse Table

Basic Staples for your Pantry

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Basic Staples for your Pantry

January 10, 2011
1:45 pm

Heather B

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We should put a pin in this thread.

I Wanna Farm Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it. – Mark Twain

January 10, 2011
2:00 pm

CindyP

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Pinned happy-flower

“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold

January 10, 2011
3:01 pm

brookdale

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What do you mean, pinned?

Remember, if it rains on your picnic it's also raining on your garden!

January 10, 2011
3:27 pm

CindyP

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When you go to the Farmhouse Table forum, it will always be toward the top, no looking through pages to find it.

“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold

January 13, 2011
10:26 am

ticka1

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Thanks for all the replies. I have the whole family involved in this now. We have cleared out several cabinets that were doing nothing but holding/hiding clutter – so now those are being used for pantry items. We have cook at home every night except one.

Keep the ideas and suggestions coming.

Canning and dehydrating will now become a part of my life.

January 13, 2011
10:48 am

Heather B

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That's awesome, I wish I could get my family to get involved. Although my daughter recently decided she better learn to cook or she won't make a very good wife! lol

I Wanna Farm Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it. – Mark Twain

January 13, 2011
10:52 am

CindyP

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Congratulations, ticka! Decluttering and pantry revamp all in one. And it's wonderful your whole family is in on this…they're working on it with you, so they understand everything that's going into it to help keep it a well-run kitchen. happy-flower

“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold

January 13, 2011
12:46 pm

Ross

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I Wanna Farm said:

That's awesome, I wish I could get my family to get involved. Although my daughter recently decided she better learn to cook or she won't make a very good wife! lol

I didn't give my sons a choice. I required them to watch any new cooking method I was using. Both of them are the cooks in their homes but they aren't requiring their kids to learn to cook.

January 23, 2011
4:52 pm

Pete

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Hey, y'all! Finally found the link I was hoping to post here!!

Now, storing a year's worth of supplies is not for everyone. And of course, families have different needs and likes, but this calculator just might make figuring it all out easier for many of us than starting with a blank piece of paper and a stubby pencil.

At this link you can calculate the amount of stuff you would need for a family, including adults and children. Just fill in how many over and under 7 years of age people are in the house, and it calculates the pantry needs of the family for a year!

http://lds.about.com/library/b…..ulator.htm

Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!

January 23, 2011
5:10 pm

Ross

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The stored food must be rotated so that those foods that have limited shelf life will be used before they expire. Wheat will last for years but a means of milling it is essential.

A good list all the same.

January 30, 2011
3:25 pm

lavenderblue

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So I said to my husband the other day "The next time we go to 'Sam's Club' (a warehouse shopping club,like Costco, etc. Walmart related, I think) let's get some more of those big bags of sugar." The last time I was there they had two ten pound bags of Domino sugar packaged together, much cheaper than you can buy it in the grocery stores. Domino is one of the brand names I insist on, one of the few things I won't buy in a generic brand. It just works better for jams, candy, baking, etc.

Well, bless his pea-pickin' heart, one day he was near Sam's Club, a distance from our home, by himself, BY HIMSELF, may I repeat and remembered I wanted sugar. The stocking up bug must have hit him because he came home with a great big 25 pound bag of 'Baker's and Chef's' sugar, the store brand.

Now, I have two questions. How do I store so much sugar? Right now its in the bag still in my kitchen propped against a cupboard and kind of getting in the way. The second question is…Has anyone here ever used it for real cooking? We don't use sugar on cereal or in coffee and tea much and would probably never use it up that way, but often I find the store brands don't chrystallize like the better brands of sugar. I really, really want to do some jelly this summer and need to know if I need to hide a couple bags of Domino somewhere. He's so proud of his big purchase that I don't want to discourage him by complaining. Thanks for any help and I hope this is the right place to post about my delemmia.

Progress might have been all right once, but it has gone on too long. Ogden Nash

January 30, 2011
3:35 pm

Ross

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This much I can tell you all granulated sugar comes from the refiners in 3000 pound bags. and is packaged for retail at the mills we know. There is no difference in the brands as long as it is labeled "pure sugar". I know this because one of my best customers owns a sugar mill in Buffalo and is setting up another in Little Rock, AR. I would get a food grade five gallon pail with a lid and keep the sugar in that and use a quart mason jar on the shelf in the kitchen for your everyday supply.

January 30, 2011
4:38 pm

CindyP

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I don't buy brand name sugar and I have no problem with it in baking, cooking or making jams.

I buy it by the 25# also and store it in a bucket simillar to the white bakery buckets. With my canister in the pantry and that bucket, it takes care of the 25# bag.

“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold

January 30, 2011
6:27 pm

lavenderblue

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The label reads 100% pure cane sugar, hopefully it means it. Is that Buffalo,NY, Ross? Maybe it came from his refinery. Although given big business' penchant for making things difficult for themselves, they probably bought it elsewhere and shipped it for millions of miles. Hooray for his milling business doing well enough that he is able to expand though. Even if it is out of state.

Cindy P. I've bought store brand sugar from two stores in my area. One was a small local-ish chain, although I think it was bought out by a huge conglomerate, the other was a more national store. I ruined a couple batches of fudge and a couple of jam, I can't remember which I used what for. A lady I was talking to said she always used a third store's brand for all her canning, baking etc, and never had a problem. All I can think of was maybe it wasn't cane sugar but sugar beet or something.

As far as your storage suggestions, I can get the pails where I work. The only problem is finding somewhere dry to store them. What should be my pantry has my washer and dryer in it, making for damp conditions. My backroom gets too much sun and is too close to the great outdoors, I'm thinking ant problems and the celler is much to dank. I may end up using the pails for end tables. laugh

Progress might have been all right once, but it has gone on too long. Ogden Nash

January 30, 2011
7:34 pm

Miss Judy

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I always use whatever kind of sugar that is cheapest. Never have had a problem with any brand. However, sometimes I will get a bag of sugar that is qiute lumpy. I think that is due to how it was stored in the warehouse. As for my own pantry storage of sugar …Tupperware or other plastic container with an air tight seal.

January 30, 2011
8:46 pm

CindyP

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Now, I have had problems with Super Fine Sugar standing up to what I want it to sometimes. It's in the same bag, etc and I have to watch for it. And sometimes one of the stores in town only have Super Fine Sugar…I think the buyer makes mistakes too :)

“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold

January 30, 2011
8:47 pm

Ross

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There is no difference between cane sugar and beet sugar. They are both sucrose. The reason my friend is opening a plant in Arkansas reflects the cost of shipping versus the cost of the sugar. Distance is dollars. he packages about a dozen house brand labels and it is absolutely the same sugar in every case.

January 30, 2011
8:51 pm

Pete

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For those looking for silica packs (desiccant packs), here's a link that has a pretty good selection. I have not ordered anything from them, but we talked about them in another thread some time ago.

http://silicagelpackets.com/

Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!

January 30, 2011
10:34 pm

Flatlander

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Well they both might be sucrose, there is a difference between the 2 kind of sugars.

Cane sugar has a lower melting point and blends easier, I don't notice any difference, but others do.

I'm like a lot of others here..whatever is on sale/cheapest.

January 30, 2011
11:13 pm