Have you been thinking about stocking up your pantry with enough dry goods for a month? 2 months? A year? However long you are looking to stock up for this guide will help you determine how much you need.
Pantry staples like flour, sugar, oats or rice, are a vital part to any working pantry. You can use them as the base of so many recipes and in a pinch, you could survive off of them (plus whatever random goods you have in your fridge/ freezer/ pantry.)
Stocking up isn’t just for fun (although the satisfaction of a full pantry is fun!) It is also practical. Let’s go over it in the next section.
This post is all about pantry essentials and how to stock up on them.
Why should you have a long term pantry essentials storage?
1. You can be prepared:
If something ever happens and the grocery store shelves are bare, you can rest easy knowing you are covered. This is not to spread fear. I do not believe in panic stocking or thinking about the worst case scenario, but it is about making sure that if life happens, you are prepared.
Like I mentioned above, if you have some basic pantry staples, you can create quite a few meals. Things like flour can serve multiple purposes (bread, tortillas, baked goods and even thicken recipes.)
2. You can save money!:
By buying in bulk, you can cut costs. Whereas a small bag of flour may cost 10 dollars, a huge bag that is 15 times the size may cost a mere 25 dollars.
There is an initial up front cost to buy the containers to store it long term (more on that down below) but once that is taken care of, the cost goes down substantially.
3. There is a sense of pride/ satisfaction:
Looking in your pantry, knowing if you use this last bit of sugar, you still have a 5 gallon bucket of sugar waiting for you is awesome! Seeing a beautifully organized area of your pantry that is filled with baking supplies reminds you of how organized and thoughtful you can be! It is a win win situation all around.
How do I store these goods long term?
I’m sure there are a few options when it comes to storage but there is one method that rises above the rest. Regardless of which option you go with, the most important part is to make sure it is airtight. The minute air enters your dry storage, it decreases the shelf life substantially!
- 5 gallon buckets- This would be the most popular option as they are food safe but also cheap. You can buy them on amazon or you can buy them at your local hardware store. It is slightly cheaper at your local hardware store but always make sure they are food safe and BPA free.
- When it comes to lid options, you can use the lid the buckets come with but keep in mind that they are hard to take off so you may want to invest in a tool that helps you like this one.
- Gamma lids: These have changed the game for us and now we have these lids for all of our main containers. They are airtight and so easy to open!
Why did I choose these foods to store?
I chose these foods because even if things get bad, you can still create a variety of foods that will sustain you.
Flour, yeast and salt can work together to create bread, tortillas, pita bread and more.
Oats can be eaten as is or can be ground up to add bulk to meat to stretch them further. You can also blend them with water to make your own oat milk to use in recipes or to add creaminess to recipes.
Rice and beans are self explanatory but could also be used to bulk up meat.
Honey can be used to sweeten anything and is used to help the yeast rise the dough.
How much of each thing should I store?
This is where we really get into the nitty gritty… The part where we decide how much of each dry good we need for whatever length of time we decide. I have created a printable for you to download to follow along with me. Access it down below.
The first step is of course, deciding what foods you want to store. For the purposes of this printable, as well as what I think a working pantry should have, we will cover sugar, flour, salt, yeast, rice and oats.
Let’s start with flour. As flour can be used for so many things you will likely need the most of it.
To begin, start with sorting out how much flour you use either daily, or weekly. I tend to make baked goods or bread once per day so I calculated my numbers using 4 cups a day as the base. Once you know the daily rate, you can calculate the yearly rate (multiply the number by 365.)
It would look like this… 4 cups of flour X 365 days in a year = 1460 cups of flour a year.
Next we need to figure out how many grams and kilograms are needed. To do this, we will multiply the final number (1460) by 250 (grams per cup) to find how many grams we need for the year.
1460 (cups needed per year) X 250 (grams per cup) = 365000 grams of flour yearly.
Now take that number and divide it by 1000 to equal kilograms. 365000/ 1000= 365 kilograms.
Each flour bag I buy comes with 22 kg of flour so take your total number of kilograms for the year (365) and divide it by 22 (how many kilograms comes in a bag of flour) and that will be the number of bags of flour you will need per year (16.5)
The math a little more clear...
Step 1: How much flour you use daily = 4 cups/ day
Step 2: How many cups of flour a year = 4 X 365 = 1460 cups total
Step 3: How many grams total = 1460 X 250 grams = 365000
Step 4: How many kilograms total 365000/ 1000 = 365 kilograms
Step 5: 365/ 22kg/ bag of four = 16.5 bags of flour total.
Now of course, 16.5 bags of flour feels ridiculous to purchase one time but if you slowly build up to it over time, you should reach your goals in no time.
Where can you buy in bulk?
Costco is the obvious choice for a lot of bulk products but there are a few other places you can check as well! We have a local Mexican Mennonite store near us that stock bulk dry goods for a better price than Costco so I shop there most often.
You may have a local Amish shop that does similar. You can also find bulk products such as wheat berries from local farms. A quick Google search should help you find them.
I have found that 5 gallon buckets will fit different amounts ad the 20 kg bags contain different volumes of each food.
For example, I need 2 full buckets to store 20 kg of flour. I need 1.25 buckets to store 20 kg of sugar. I need 2 full buckets to store 20 kg of oats and I need 1 bucket for a Costco sized bag of rice.
How long do these products store for?
With all of these items, the length of storage is based on storing them completely airtight in a cool, dry place.
Dry Beans: Indefinitely
Dry Pasta: 2 years
Rice: 2 years or up to 30 years with an oxygen absorber
Flour: 3 months at room temp or up to 1 year in the fridge
Wheat Berries: Decades
Sugar: Indefinitely
Honey: Indefinitely
Oats: 1- 2 years
Salt: Indefinitely
Yeast: 2 years if unopened
A sample of how to stock up
If you break your goals down into smaller chunks, it can feel manageable. If you need 16 bags of flour, you can consider buying 1 bag every 2-4 weeks over the course of the year and that should allow you to use the flour and also create a long term storage pantry.
Obviously that is a lofty goal and may be something to work towards, but even purchasing 2 bags the first day you shop, and then a maintenance bag the next month will go a long way to building the storage. Let’s make a schedule to buy!
Month 1:
Week 1: This is where you begin your long term storage! Use this time to stock up on some buckets or the storage container of your choice.
Week 2: Use this week to do your regular grocery shop but add a big brick of yeast (this is best from Costco.) You can also purchase a few bags of dried beans this week.
Week 3: Buy a large bag of flour along with your regular grocery shop. If flour was already on the grocery list, add a second bag.
Week 4: Buy a large bag of sugar as well as your normal shop.
Month 2:
Week 1: Buy a large bag of wheat berries (these store way longer than flour.) Please note, you will need a way to grind them up such as a grain mill or high speed blender.
Week 2: Buy your normal groceries plus a bag of rice. (Costco or Walmart have them for decent prices.)
Week 3: Purchase your regular groceries plus a bag of oats.
Week 4: Buy your normal groceries plus honey.
Congratulations! You have taken some HUGE steps towards creating food security for your family.
Now you can repeat the process purchasing larger quantities as needed to fulfill your long term storage. If you feel good about where you are at, you can move into maintenance mode and purchase less often.
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