Food Storage shelves and organization helps

[Weedygarden]

The thing that jumps out at me in these videos is that none of them have rails on their shelving. I live in earthquake central so I do but everyone has a risk of quakes. If all you have are cans and paper products then perhaps you can get by without rails but I can tell you from experience that the clean up is so much easier with rails. Light stuff on the top shelves as these tend to not care if they fall and the upper shelves tend to sway more.

This might be where my bins and boxes helps stuff not to fall off the shelves, unless the whole bin does.

 

[Caribou]

This might be where my bins and boxes helps stuff not to fall off the shelves, unless the whole bin does.

A bin definitely helps. Even a low rail will help keep the bin in place. A bin full of cans hitting the floor will destroy most bins. If a bin full of jars hits the deck, and doesn't break, you'll have kept the mess of the food and broken glass encased. My rails are low enough that I can readily lift my items over the rails. I like bins to keep the rodents away from my packaging.

 

[Amish Heart]

Our old man cat sleeps in our food storage area, and he's still a mouser.

 

[Weedygarden]

i need some longer and deeper shelves.seeing how the one's i have are to small for some reason now.

Watch Craigslist or Offer Up. I have gotten many storage items for free this way. Some free items work better than others.

 

[Meerkat]

I have always saved the box or cardboard crate from my jars. I type up a list of what is in the box or crate in a larger sized font and put them all on the end so I can tell at a glance what is in each one.

I have tried to figure out other ways to store like things together in bins, wooden crates, etc. It seems that trying to get organized never ends.

We also save the jar boxes mostly to put clean jars back up after we use them but if we ever can enough we will do what she does. Good idea.

 

[Meerkat]

That was a really good video. Nice well built shelving and layed out so makes good use of the space. Her ideas on not really counting jar, cans, etc, but grouping by fruits, vegs, meats, dry mixes, etc make a lot of sense to me as well.

BacP I agree, good ideas.

 

[Meerkat]

I have often thought about ways to organize some spices in a BOB or camping gear. There are lots of possibilities, but this guy uses tic-tac containers! See them at 9:30. Maybe there is a better way to organize and keep some garlic powder and a few other things. How do you organize spices for your camping gear?

Watched video and he is easy to listen to. thanks Weedy.
We use shakers and cover tops with plastic wrap then screw them back on. Sometimes put the the shakers into small canning jars so its double sealed. We always put rice in them for camping but not storing.

I like looking at Pantries, too. And canning kitchens, and other storage rooms. Our own Lady Locust has a cool outbuilding kitchen. Homestead Tessie converted part of her garage to a canning kitchen. I hope to do this to the old milkhouse at our farm. And then on the outside of it, set up my outdoor cooking stuff under the patio.
I have a lot of cooking "stuff", and all the canning stuff, large pots, cast iron take up a lot of room. I would like another area out of my smallish kitchen to put this on open shelving for easy access. My storage pantry is in need of a good clean out; hopefully will be able to get to it next week.

Amish we use the porch to can our foods, but a outside kitchen would be nice too.

 

[LadyLocust]

@Caribou I thought of that too - only a lip on the front so they don't shimmy off. I hadn't really thought specifically about earthquakes but excellent point. My grandparents lived in earthquake zone and even in closed cabinets had things break at times.

 

[SheepDog]

Any stacked boxes, bins or shelves should be fastened to the studs of the wall. This goes for any objects that are placed against a wall. Book cases and china hutches need to be secured to wall studs. Desk top computers and monitors should be secured to the desk top. You can use bridles or high strength industrial hook and loop fasteners.
Shelves need a bar or strap to keep what is on the shelf from sliding off. Mine have the rod placed at about half way up the jars or boxes. I unlatch one side to access the jars or cans.
Kitchen cabinets and cupboards should utilize locks like child proof latches to keep drawers and doors from opening. Magnets are not strong enough.
When you grow up in earthquake country this is learned quickly. It would also work to keep strong winds from throwing the contents around.

 

[LadyLocust]

I like looking at Pantries, too. And canning kitchens, and other storage rooms. Our own Lady Locust has a cool outbuilding kitchen. Homestead Tessie converted part of her garage to a canning kitchen. I hope to do this to the old milkhouse at our farm. And then on the outside of it, set up my outdoor cooking stuff under the patio.
I have a lot of cooking "stuff", and all the canning stuff, large pots, cast iron take up a lot of room. I would like another area out of my smallish kitchen to put this on open shelving for easy access. My storage pantry is in need of a good clean out; hopefully will be able to get to it next week.

I just saw this post today. Not sure how I missed it when I read through the first time. Anyhow thank you for the kind words. It's rather a disaster at the moment between canning and post - yard sale piles (going down each day.) It is due for a thorough cleaning.

 

[Weedygarden]

 

[Amish Heart]

I store alot of what she stores, but I repackage things, and I noticed she doesn't do that. Her sugar, beans, packaged meals are all just sitting out in their original packaging. That would make me nuts.
I have noticed the can denting on the bottom of cans in different stores

 

[Weedygarden]

I store alot of what she stores, but I repackage things, and I noticed she doesn't do that. Her sugar, beans, packaged meals are all just sitting out in their original packaging. That would make me nuts.
I have noticed the can denting on the bottom of cans in different stores

I would be so concerned about bugs and rodents. I use canning jars and 5 gallon buckets for stuff that isn't in cans or jars already. Her potato flakes? I've had them get bugs in them. Her oatmeal needs to be in jars or buckets. I would put it in mylar first, then in buckets. I don't eat much breakfast cereal, but when I do have it, I keep it in half gallon jars.

 

[Amish Heart]

Yep, me, too. Just started new bins of flour, oats, and sugar. Finally found some decent priced bins. They were hard to find for awhile, now they have them for double the cost.

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

Its interesting to see different pantries. I probably don't stock 98% of that stuff.

I found her spice storage very limited.

I agree that it is just a matter of time before the mice and bugs move in.

 

[Amish Heart]

Alot of people show their newly stocked pantries and a common thing shown are boxes of mac and cheese products. We have plenty because the grandkids eat it, and I will sometimes, too. But how about get a bucket, baggie the macaroni, put all the powder pouches in a ziplock, cut out the instructions from the box, throw that in there and seal the bucket. You could fit alot of mac and cheese in that bucket, without the box (which is not pest proof). I do this with lots of convenience foods. I'm the cook of the family, but if somethings happens where I am not able to cook, then the kids won't starve. The rest of our preps are raw basics to make meals out of. But I don't leave them out in the open.

 

[UrbanHunter]

The one thing that she has in there (post #41) that makes me nervous is the lamp oil in plastic containers. If the containers leak you have a real mess and a fire hazard.

I tend to re-seal things using the seal-a-meal. I have gotten in the habit of resealing some of the 1/2/5/ and 10# bags of stuff like specialty sugars, by just placing the whole bag in the seal-a-meal bag and sealing it like that.

I don't like stacking boxes on their sides either... Just me, I guess....

 

[goshengirl]

I’m with you guys on repackaging foodstuffs. Had a weevil infestation several years back from stored spaghetti noodles - I’d thought I didn’t need to do anything to the packaging because the spaghetti was in cellophane (1lb packages). Those buggers hatched out of the spaghetti and got out of the cellophane and wreaked havoc on everything.

ut at our farm I have a little “food storage station” - a small folding table with mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, desiccants, small lunch bags, labels and pen, and a flat iron for sealing the mylar bags. I tend to get food storage items in waves (getting a lot of something when it’s a good price), and while my food storage station is relatively new, it has already been a huge help.

If I’m storing something like a 5lb bag of flour, I’ll leave it in the original packaging, but cut a slit in the top, put an oxygen absorber in, and put the whole package in a mylar bag. (Got that method from Provident Prepper (?) on YouTube.) But most things I take out of its packaging.

I also do like Amish Heart with little baggies in buckets for things I know we’ll rotate through - mac n cheese, au gratin potatoes, hamburger helper-type items. You can store so much more in a smaller space that way, and the baggies can be reused.