Buying in bulk,,,,part 3

Greetings!!

As a person who does a lot of baking I buy my supplies in bulk.  Having to only make purchases about once every six months to a year is a great savings to me both in money and in time.  I buy my flours in 25lb and 50 lb bags.  Generally my all purpose flour and or pastry flour I get in a 25lb bag and the bread flour I get in a 50 lb bag because I will use more of it.

Care should be taken when storing flours, whole grains which includes rice and cereals made with wheat.  Flours and grains all have bug eggs in them.  Hate to gross you out folks but it's true.  They simply cannot remove all the eggs when processing.  Most people think they get those little bugs in the flours when the flours get too old but that is simply not true.  The eggs will not hatch and are harmless when they are not exposed to light.  Light and some moisture will cause the eggs to hatch and then you have those pesky bugs and wind up throwing out everything in your pantry and starting over.

The best way to store flours, grains, cereals and any wheat products in general is a little time consuming, but simple and definitely worth the effort.  First I break my big bags down to manageable sizes and scoop flour into gallon size zip lock baggies.  I put a tag on each bag of what it is and what the expiration date was on the bag.  Then I line a Rubbermaid tote, (preferable one of a solid, opaque color) with a black garbage bag.  Then I place the bags of flour or grain in the tote and wrap the plastic garbage bag around the top and put the lid on.  Now it is not only air tight and moisture free but it is also dark.  I put another label on the outside of the tote with the type of flour and expiration date on it and store it in my food pantry in the basement.  When I am running low of flour in the kitchen I can just go and grab one bag of what I need.

Don't forget the flour in the kitchen needs to be stored properly as well.  Canister sets with lids are perfect for this as most canister sets are solid opaque color that do not let light in.  I would not recommend using transparent canisters even if you only keep enough flour in your kitchen for a week at a time.

I sometimes buy cereal in bulk when I can get a good deal.  With just the two of us, we do not use as much as people will with a big family.  I store my extra cereals in the same manner.  It keeps it fresher longer.  I buy rice in bulk too.  I do not typically use the "instant" rice and prefer the regular whole grain rice.  This is another item that needs to be stored as you would for flours and other whole grains.

If you don't have the room for big totes you can always use buckets with lids.  I have done this as well.  The buckets will stack easily and can fit into the corner of a closet if need be.  Most bakeries, even ones in grocery stores, get some supplies in 2 and 5 gallon food grade buckets.  They often throw them out.  Sometimes they sell them at a nominal fee.  It is worth stopping in and asking them for the buckets.  They make great storage containers!

My primary reason for buying in bulk is the savings.  Items are much less expensive per unit when purchased in bulk than if purchased in smaller packages.  But I also keep a food supply in case of emergencies.  I know I can put food on the table for a long time when there is an emergency such as a natural disaster that makes it impossible to get to the store.  Of course there are other types of emergencies but you get the idea.

In my next post I will talk about some of the items I keep on hand at all times for emergencies.

Until next time,,,,,,,Blessings!