I received my Azure Standard food co-op order last week…one of my favorite days of the month! It’s slightly ridiculous how much I get a thrill out of boxes and bags of food. I know not everyone has the storage space to purchase food in bulk…but this method works very well for me and I am so thankful to have this option.
As I mentioned several months ago in this post about why I buy bulk food, I don’t just buy in bulk to save money. Saving money is a wonderful perk, but I also find that buying in bulk makes cooking so much simpler for me. I don’t have to think so hard or shop so often. I buy large quantities of food items, enough to last much longer than a week. This way, I save on gas, time, energy and brain power.
I am often asked how I store my bulk purchases. Here is a little bit of explanation for what works well for me for bulk food storage:
I could just leave the food right in their bags, but I don’t feel comfortable with that for sevaral reasons. We’ve had trouble with mice in the past. Yowza, there’s not much that makes me more frustrated in the kitchen that seeing that those little rodents have gotten into and pooped in my oats. What a waste! Beyond mice, we find that if we don’t transfer food out of their bags and into something more properly sealed, it is easier for bugs to get in and ruin food.
In addition…I just feel like buckets and containers are easier to stack and store than bags. I know I’m a nerd…but I LIKE the way food looks when it’s poured into nice jars and jugs. Crumpled up bags don’t look nearly as cute in my pantry.
When my bulk purchases arrive, out come my jars, buckets and containers. I’ve accumulate quite a nice collection through the years, purchased from garage sales, Walmart or the dollar store. You know how I LOVE jars. And in general, I avoid plastics. However, for dry food that isn’t as likely to absorb chemicals from the plastic, I’m okay with using plastic containers for bulk storage.
I take a few minutes to scoop out the sea salt or sucanat or wheat or oats or whatever dry bulk item I’ve purchased into large storage containers.
From those, I will funnel smaller amounts into smaller jars for simple cooking use. I keep these smaller jars in the cupboard right above my stove so I can easily grab them while I’m cooking. As they get low, I refill them from their larger storage container.
Once I have everything divided into the appropriate jars and containers (I stare at it in happiness for a while and then) I put them all away in either my storage room, or in my pantry if there is space.
I especially like to keep my nicest jars full of dry bulk items like beans, rice, popcorn and pasta in my pantry door where it looks pretty everytime I open it!
You may also want to read about how I store bulk grain. And, if you’d like to see a more thorough view of my whole kitchen, I invite you to join me on my kitchen tour!
Do you buy in bulk? What have you found that works best for you to store your bulk food?
If you’re interested in learning more about my favorite health food co-op Azure Standard, join the Azure Standard facebook page!
Josie says
Your sucanat was pourable? I have ordered that same bag from azure, and it when I opened it, it was one solid block. I ended up having to chop at it with a knife every time I wanted to use it. Is that not normal?
Kris Mays says
Josie, No, that is not normal. Next time, complain to Azure and they will discount or refund you.
Laura says
Yeah, you should be able to scoop out your sucanat like you would white sugar. Azure is great about making thing right.
Kris Mays says
I do buy and store in bulk. It just makes sense with a family of almost 8 to cook for. Also, for the same reasons you wrote about above. It just saves on everything….and I really need to extra brain power, if you know what I mean!
Another reason we buy in bulk is that we are very much into preparedness and we just feel more secure if we have 3-12 months worth of food in our house.
At this point, we have about a years worth of various grains and beans. Along with approximately 3 months worth of canned goods and dehydrated foods (this amount is always in flux, but is our goal to keep up), we are prepared for almost anything.
I store my bulk grains and beans in the five gallon buckets, but first my husband and I seal it into mylar bags for long term storage with oxygen absorbers and bay leaves. We vacuum out all of the air and then seal the bags with our iron.
For inside my pantry, I have 1/2 to 1 gallon glass jars (love ’em, too!) filled with the items I use and some five gallon buckets with Gamma Seal lids for the stuff I use a lot of, like wheat, white flour, baking soda (I clean with it, too), etc.
I have been writing a food storage series recently and am about to add another post to that this week, Lord willing.
Kris
Katie says
I would love to read your series!!! I am just getting started and would love new ideas for storage.
Kate M says
I am looking into buying more bulk, although for us, the cost of shipping makes it difficult to use Azure for most things (we are beyond their truck route). I’m always looking at how folks store their stuff, as I’m quite organizationally challenged myself and take all my insight from others. ;-D
I will begin looking at yard sales for glass jars for storage. Thanks for that tip.
Citysister says
We love bulk too…I need to get larger containers to store my bags in, but I do currently have smaller quart jars that I keep my small supply in…it comes in handy. I also keep all glass containers from food, they make a lovely little storage container for the everyday things.
Heather says
Wow…another soul like me. I also love to stare at my food storage. The organization makes my heart happy! :-)
Sonja says
I buy in bulk from a company called Country Life Natural Foods out of MI. Azure doesn’t have a drop near us yet, or I would order from them as CLNF doesn’t have fresh produce and such. I store my wheat, sucanat, oatmeal and unbleached flour in 5 gallon buckets with gamma lids. As I only buy 5 gallons at a time, that has worked out ok. I would like to get to the point where we can start talking about preparedness storage in our house too. Baby steps. Flour is stored in smaller plastic containers as it is ground, so it can sit in the freezer. My cupboards look like Laura’s with the jars, only I have hit geek and actually label my bean jars… sad I know, not like you can’t see through them. Herbs I buy in bulk get transferred to smaller jars with the remainder in the freezer. Oil stays in the same packaging but is moved to smaller containers.
DreamingofSpring says
I also love CLNF and I also label all of my storage containers!! I love the way it looks in my pantry and then when I want a specific thing I can tell my kids the name of the item and I always get exactly what I was looking for!! It makes cooking with them much more efficient :) I have several items from country life that look so similar–like the flaked wheat and oatmeal look identical–so labeling is a must (even though they both taste great, even as hot cereal) I am OK with geek status and also love to stare at my food!! It gives me such pleasure to know that I have about a 6 month supply of nutritious food should the need arise!
Shannon says
Thank you. We never used to have a problem so they came in with something I bought and have spread. I bought new containers and have been putting my flour in the freezer and putting bay leaves everywhere. I may have to bug bomb the place to get rid of the flying ones.
Jackie @ Crest Cottage says
I love the way my shelved look when they are chick full of jars! My cousins consistently mock me, because I store the unused ones on the windowsill and it looks like I am a hoarder, but I love it!
Alyssa says
We like to buy in bulk, too…I have friends who like to come look at my pantry! :)
Regarding the mice…try soaking a cottonball in peppermint essential oil and putting it at a known point of entry (replace every couple of weeks)…we get field mice from time to time because of housing construction behind us…I read about this solution somewhere and tried it…it’s worked for us so far…no mice, no poison for the kids to find (but I don’t leave the cotton ball within reach, either), and my kitchen has a minty fresh smell to it! :)
Lisa@HappyinDoleValley says
From one nerdy pantry person to the rest of you, I love, love, love all the ideas! We also buy from Azure and are in the process of building up a food storage that will get us through whatever comes our way (well, at least for 3 months which is our current goal). The nice thing is that I tend to keep a well-stocked pantry to begin with as I like to be able to make craving- and/or need-based diversions from our menu plan. :)
Thanks for sharing, Laura! Blessings to all! ~Lisa
Jen says
Even though there are only the two of us, we still buy in bulk. We finally added a second upright freezer in the kitchen in addition to the chest freezer in the basement. We just find that buying in bulk saves so much money that it’s worth it even for our small household. It’s actually an odd feeling when I actually go to the grocery store because we do it so little. I might be in the grocery store once a month as compared to twice per week before we started buy in bulk. It’s also helped with my weight loss since I’m less tempted by the junk at the store. I have everything I need at home to make delicous, healthy food at home. Also, it didn’t happen instantly. We just started evaluating what we needed and we then sought out farmers and other sources one at a time.
Carrie says
I also prefer to buy in bulk. In Michigan however, we can not do Azure. I looked up the company mentioned a few posts ago, and the appear to be pick up only. We do DoortoDoor organics for produce, but they do not have a lot of bulk foods or dry goods. Anyone know of a company that provides a similar service in Michigan? We are in the Oakland County area.
esther says
Try UNFI, united natural foods inc, for a co-op group around you or Country Life in Pullman delivers certain things!
Abby says
Ok….so I just watched your kitchen tour for the first time and I have to say…YOU HAVE THE COOLEST PANTRY EVER!!! I need to find the genius who biult that to do one for me. :)
Samantha says
We just buy meat and then flour and yeast and baking soda in bulk right now. With just my husband, daughter, and I it doesn’t make sense to buy a ton of food when it will probably go to waste before we use it all up. I cannot wait to expand our family though and buy more and more! =]
Courtney says
Add me to the list of pantry nerds :) I love having a neat and tidy, fully stocked pantry.
Janet says
I love buying and storing things in bulk! I save so much money and time, and I like Laura, just love when all my containers are full of yummie nutritious food to feed my family. :-)
Cheri says
I received my first order from Azure Standard, but also found out that Costco had some of the same items for much, much less. I should have looked there first, but we try to go there as few times as possible because it is easy to put things in the cart that wasn’t on the list. I, too, am going to start on stocking up for emergencies. Hopefully, it’s not too late with all the earthquakes going on.
Danielle B says
I say it’s fine to plan for emergencies.. 3 days worth of food, and water. (per person) but don’t get crazy about it. Even the Bible says, not to worry about what you will eat or drink.
Because unless you have a temperature controlled area for your food, and a generator for your freezer, it will not do you any good. The food only lasts so long in a pantry.
Kris Mays says
Actually, packaged properly, many foods can last years.
And, yes, the Bible says not to worry. But those of us who prepare for long term disasters are not worried, we are being prudent. After all, the Word says…and the following is quoted from my blog series on why I believe Christians should store food:
So, the question is, how does a Christian justify preparing for the future in light of scriptures like Matthew 6:25-34, which says,
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Well, because I am not doing this out of worry. I am preparing out of prudence, like in Proverbs 10:5, which says,
5 He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.
And Proverbs 21:20, which says,
20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.
Of course, our best Biblical example of preparedness is Joseph, who stored away food for seven years in preparation for the seven years of famine God warned the Pharoah about in a dream Joseph interpreted. Joseph was not crazy and out there for preparing for the future. He was a man of God, of vision and of wisdom. And he didn’t go off half-cocked. He made a plan and he followed it through.
Personally, I have felt led by the Lord to store food for my family in case of a long term disaster. I hope we don’t have one. But either way, none of this food ever goes to waste, because we use and rotate it.
Oh, and we do have a temp. controlled storage area, which is highly recommended.
Sarah says
what is a temperature controlled storage area?
Kris Mays says
Storage that has an a/c in it to keep your temp at or below 68 degrees F.
jana says
Great thread!! What about how to know how old the oldest part of your jar/tub is? When you get new, how do you make sure old is used up first? Does this make sense? You don’t ever put anything new on top of old do you? THANKS!
Laura says
Ah, good question. I never refill the jar/tub/bucket until I use the last of the old. I leave the food in an unopened bag until time to refill.
Carla says
I love your jars on the pantry door. I have a few of those myself in my pantry that are labled even though they are clear. My Brother tells me I have issues and they call my pantry my grocery store. Love it. I buy as much as I can in bulk. I store flour and dry foods in plastic buckets that I got for free at a local grocery store. Refilling the pantry is a chore I dole out to my children it works well.
Erin says
How long do your bulk purchases last? I bought sucanat at the end of May last year and I still have some left. Do you know the shelf life on sucanat?
Laura says
Your sucanat should be fine…I actually don’t know the exact shelf like of sucanat, but I don’t know why it wouldn’t last for two years or more! My bulk purchases don’t last longer than a few months because we are a family of six big eaters, plus we feed extras just about every day…so we go through a lot of food.
Sandra says
We shop once a month for everything except orange juice and ice cream, which we buy from a local store, and certain dried goods, which we buy mail order. While I don’t buy my dried beans exactly in bulk, I buy them a year’s or two’s worth at a time. I mix them all together and store the mixture in metal cans which we originally used to store IAMS dog food. We used to have dogs, but don’t now, so the cans are available for other things.
Before we had those metal cans, we stored cat and dog food in large plastic trash bins. We discovered that mice can, and will, chew their way into plastic trash bins. The holes will be in the back, against a wall, and more or less undetectable until uncovered by using up the food, or by moving the container and realizing that the food is running out a hole. My recollection of food storage at the pet store where I worked as a teenager was accurate as far as them using trash cans, but the ones the pet store used were metal.
My grain and sucanat, bought in bulk, are being stored in brand shiny new 5-gallon plastic buckets with gamma lids. We are hoping that the mice won’t find these plastic containers as easy to breach as the trash bins. I am stacking them in a sort of silo shape in the middle of the floor. Hopefully the cats will deter mice who venture out into the open to approach our grain silo, as their ancestors did in Egypt. :)
I’m sure there are people who would call us hoarders, but it is seven miles to the closest store. This store, which I call our local store, is better than a convenience store but by no means a good place for buying all our supplies. The place where we shop monthly is about 20 miles away. These aren’t trips that make any sense for buying one day’s groceries, especially with gasoline at the price it is now.
I think back on when I lived in a city and visited friends who sent their kids down to the corner store to buy something for a meal that was being made even as they went, and sometimes several times for one meal if the woman was very badly organized. People like that can’t relate to how we live.
Plus, in the wintertime we don’t have to worry over snow. We have plenty of food to last until it either melts, blows away, or someone gets enough energy to shovel it out. Our one vulnerability is the electric supply. We have been trying to devise alternatives, but there just isn’t any easy way to get water from the well to the toilet without an electric pump. I guess we’d just have to dig a pit out back. :P
Nicola says
For many months, I have been very jealous reading about Azure standard on a few blogs. How I longed to be able to buy whole foods in bulk like you american ladies do. There is nothing like Azure Standard here in Ireland. Just yesterday though, I stumbled across a little website that sell bulk organic whole foods in the U.K and not only do they deliver to Ireland but the postage costs are very very reasonable. The icing on the cake is that they sell rapadura sugar in 25kg bags. It is impossible to find rapadura sugar in europe. I’m so excited & cannot wait until I can stare lovingly at my bulk purchases too.
Laura says
YAY for you!!! I am SO excited that you have this available to you!!!!
Kris Mays says
Nicola, That just makes me smile. So glad you found a resource!
Teri says
Thank you all for your wonderful comments. We, too, buy in bulk, have a full pantry and a food room. It is just such a good feeling to know we can go to our storage room and find what we need without extra trips to the store. And thank you Kris Mays for the bible references. :) The Lord wants us to be prepared for whatever comes our way. And we date and rotate our food so it doesn’t go to waste. It’s a great way to save time, money and gasoline.
Kellie says
My pantry is about the only place in my house that consistently stays organized and clean. : ) I have 3 buckets with gamma lids on the floor of my pantry, but I hated having to lift those big buckets or scoop my grain and then carry it across the kitchen. So I found some of those rolling plant stands at Walmart and the buckets fit perfectly in them. They weren’t expensive and now I can just roll my buckets over to my mill.
Sandra says
Speaking of pantries, whatever happened to those? I remember as a kid that we had a whole little room, bigger than some people’s bathrooms are these days, in which there were lots of shelves along with walls and the refrigerator at one end. This was in a city apartment, too, and not a really high class one either. It was just a plain old middle class neighborhood, in those days.
Kris Mays says
I here you. I guess priorities have changed and that space is now put into walk in closets?
Alyssa Beadle says
In our house, have a walk-in pantry…although it’s technically the “utility room”…it’s about double the size of a standard size bathroom…we have shelves along 1 1/2 walls, a door to the garage, a door to the kitchen, a freezer and a washer and dryer…I love the size and concept, of course, but I really wish we could move the washer and dryer out to the garage… :)
C says
Where do you purchase those large containers?
Sam says
I have used plastic containers from Walmart in the past, but they always eventually crack. Last year I bought the brand Cambro. The same brand that is used in restaurants. I ordered mine from DEI Equipment on this website http://www.deiequipment.com/buy/square-food-storage-containers/
I have the square ones but there are round ones on the site also. Check their facebook page and retailmenot.com for coupon codes.
Shannon says
How do you keep the grain moths out? I am at my wits end with them. They seem to be able to get into everything.
Dianna says
When you get an item in bulk, put it into the freezer for 72 hours. That will kill any live bugs and their eggs. Then put into your containers (5 gallon buckets with gamma lids are amazing for storage!
Shannon says
Thank you!
Kris Mays says
I don’t let them in. I’ve never had a problem with grain moths with anything I’ve purchased from Azure, but I keep everything in seal buckets with oxygen absorbers, so nothing can live in them, anyway. Also, I am married to a pest control operator!
I suggest putting everything you buy in the freezer for a time to kill anything that might be living in it. Id. Google how long is best to leave it in the freezer to kill whatever species you are dealing with.
Shannon says
Thanks!
Heather T. says
We have gotten them and they do sell traps for them, which work to at least get the ones that are flying, the freezer is a good idea for things that come in (I was told that everything has bug eggs) And yes tight sealing containers are the trick they may get around the rim but not in. Good luck I usually end up bug bombing the house, I just can’t stand it when the bugs think they can take over! Or the spiders are eating my kids alive when we sleep.
Dianna says
We store in bulk for our family, daycare and for emergencies. Most people hear you store for emergency and think you will be on the next series of Doomsday Preppers. Not at all! Emergency can be many different things….an unexpected bill, loss of pay from cut hours or a layoff, Needing to help a family member, friend or neighbor because they are low on food, and of course a real emergency (snow storm, hurricane, things of that nature). People expect the government to take care of them if something happens. I think it has been proven, on more then one occasion, that isn’t going to happen. I love knowing that my family will have food to eat if time are tough! We store in mason jars and in food safe five gallon buckets. I had back surgery last summer, and we were able to make very few trips to the store and live off my stored and home canned goods:) It was an amazing feeling!
Angela says
Does anyone know of any food co-ops in Eastern North Carolina? Unfortunately Azure Standard doesn’t come here, but I’d really like to be able to buy bulk at a good price.
Cindy says
How about a place to buy in bulk in Indiana? We live about halfway between Indianapolis and Louisville, and I’ve not found anyplace yet that delivers close to us.
Heather T. says
I keep trying to entice Azure to Wisconsin, they are getting close!
Beth Altman says
I love storing things in jars, too….. At our little convenience store, they still get their large pickles (the giant ones that the kids buy) in gallon jars. Once the pickles are gone, they throw the jars away! Until my sister and I found out, now they save them for us and I use them for everything…..food storage, to store small craft items, and I use them at school. I’ve looked for a place to order new jar lids that would fit but haven’t found one yet…. It’s time consuming to get the pickle smell out of the jar lid. Any suggestions? Thanks! ……and if you’re looking for jars, check out the convenience stores :)
Liz Barner says
We have just begun our long turm storage. We have bought flour, sugar, rice and beans and stored them in #2 plastic buckets. Can we put the oxygen absorbers in the buckets or do we need to put them in the mylar bags first?
Laura says
I’m not sure! I’ve never used those before. :)
Kris Mays says
You do not have to use mylar bags to use oxygen absorbers. However, if your bucket tops do not have a rubber gasket so the top can seal airtight, I wouldn’t waste your money on oxygen absorbers. Happy to answer any food packing questions you might have [email protected].
Jalisa says
I am looking for one gallon jars that are sort of square with tight-fitting lids and are big and easy to dip into. I prefer ‘not glass’ because of breaking but some kind of safe plastic…for a good price. I’d like to store dry stuff in them. Where is a good a place to look?