A pantry

The word "pantry" comes to us from the Middle English "paneterie", meaning bread room. A modern pantry contains bread-making remnants of the 13th century bread room such as flour and grains, along with non-perishables. Is today's pantry still the best place keep bread-making essentials such as flour and grains? Today's post will discuss the best way to store provisions such as grains, beans and pulses, nuts, and flours.

As the weather outdoors is heating up, so is the temperature inside the pantry and cabinets. This change in seasons is my queue to move some food staples out of the pantry and into a climate controlled refrigerator.

Tree and ground nuts and nut butters should be stored in a cool and dark place, ideally a refrigerator (even unopened). (Tree nuts are, just what they sound like, the ones that grow on trees - almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, pistachios. Ground nuts are peanuts.) The fats and oils in nuts become rancid and spoil in the presence of light and heat.

Flour should be stored in the freezer. Freezing will keep the flour fresh and free from exposure to light, heat, and oxygen, elements which can speed up the rancidification process.

Beans, lentils, and grains should be stored in a cool dark cabinet. The ideal storage container is made of glass or stainless steel (not chemical-leaching plastic) and seals tightly to minimize exposure to oxygen. Glass mayonnaise, tomato sauce, and nut butter jars can be reused for storing bulk grains, herbs, legumes and loose teas. Adding a whole clove of garlic to each grain or legume will keep the bugs away.