Better Home Food Storage For Hygiene and Convenience
For most parts of the home, storage is mostly about making the place look tidy and uncluttered. The kitchen, though, is a bit different. It is a work zone, and the source of the family’s life and energy. In an emergency, such as during and after a severe storm, it can become a survival zone. In ordinary times, it is your food processing area, twice or three times daily.
This article is not about survival. Home food storage for short or longer term survival is something many are thinking about these days, and web sites such as Simply Living Smart and HomeFoodStorage provide some good advice in that area. This is about normal, everyday kitchen storage of your regular foods and ingredients. Having said that, in some homes an element of food storage may happen outside of the kitchen, such as in a deep chest freezer out in the garage where you keep a months supply of frozen fish, meats, vegetables and so on.
The focus here, therefore, is with the pantry itself, where storing utensils and cooking equipment has to harmonize with the food preparation and food itself. Most family kitchens have to make careful use of limited space, so the choice and placement of kitchen shelving, cabinets, under countertop units and so on, is critical. Then there is, of course, the all important refrigerator and/or freezer, which can have varying importance depending on your climate.
For storing food in a modern home the refrigerator is probably the core storage area for most or all food that perishes quickly. If you can, buy a fridge that can comfortably store a week’s supply of your main fresh food needs, that is those which do not store well or long enough at room temperature. That will serve you well so long as there is no power failure lasting more than a few hours. Bear in mind, though, that the food will deteriorate quickly if there is no power for longer than that.
Dry foods, cans, pickles etc. can be kept elsewhere in the kitchen and stored inside cabinets (ideal for the ugly cans), on countertops, corner shelving, wall racks and so on. Having a few attractive containers can enhance the look of the kitchen as well as provide storage for things like dried beans, spices, rice, pasta, and much more. For “pretty” foods and spices, clear glass containers are great. We have a year’s supply of bee pollen stored in Sunnix air tight containers, and the bright yellow glow of the pollen actually adds to the kitchen décor.
For food storage in the home, hygiene and convenience take priority. Convenience, that is, for the one who prepares and cooks the food. Having food, as well as the appropriate cooking utensils and equipment, stored conveniently placed, makes a work of difference to the cook. The hygiene angle, of course, is important for the whole family.