Flour Storage : Before and After

I love baking bread, all kinds of bread. I am slowly working my way through a few bread books and at the same time baking a weekly sandwich loaf from some tried and true recipes.

All this bread requires a lot of flour and a lot of flour means finding somewhere to store it properly. Every time I found a new flour like dark rye or a high gluten bread flour I brought it home to my collection. As my flour collection grew I realized that I didn't have anywhere to keep it.

Here's a before shot of how I was keeping my flour (try not to be jealous of its simple charm and majesty)

 

Ta-Da! On the floor by the pantry.

Flour, especially whole wheat flour, needs to be stored properly to ensure freshness and extend its life. This method was obviously only good short term so I began hunting for the right kind of containers.

 

I found them at Canadian Tire: a large container with a lid that flips open for easy scooping. They have seals around the edges so that they close air-tight and keep the flour fresh.

Then I picked up a cheap billy bookcase from Ikea to use as a flour pantry.

 

Labeling the flour is important because most of it looks exactly the same. I downloaded a PDF image and then typed out the flour types and printed them on cardstock then attached them to the containers with double sided tape

 

Bread add-ins like cornmeal and ground flax got put in airtight jars and labeled as well.

 

Along with the different flours I also store my two scales there. A digital scale for weighing flour and other ingredients for bread baking, and an old fashioned scale that's useful for produce.

And now for the after shot:

 

Much better! The area went from frustrating to a very organized and functional baking station. The total cost was around fifty dollars for the bookcase (although you can almost always find them on craigslist or kijiji for cheaper) and then $7 - $12 dollars each for the containers.  I find it much easier to assess what ingredients I have at a glance with this system and I also make better use of the different kinds of flour instead of just forgetting that I bought them.

So all in all it leads to more baking which is always a good thing.

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Comments

[Jess [tenpenny splendid]]

This is amazing. I dream of this kind of storage when I have my own kitchen! The wide opening on the containers makes life soo much easier. Currently, everything that isn't ap flour is still in a bag folded up in my cabinet since I've recently started buying different flours.. I'll have to look into something like this! :)

[Lee]

I am sobbing from the jealousy that's surging through my bloodstream.

[Kait]

Looks great! So organized!

[Jacinthe - Food With Presence]

Looks amazing! Organization is a must, especially when experimenting with new ingredients. I better get on this as well! Thanks for sharing.

[Karen]

I love a good sort out, container, storage system story. It looks fab!

[DessertByCandy]

The before made me smile but the after made me envious!

[Heather @ Mmm... is for Mommy]

Love, love, love this! I am in the midst of a kitchen organization myself and might swipe some ideas from you!

[Les]

I love the look of that cheese bread...

[Family Feedbag]

Great job! Being disorganized in the kitchen can be such a de-motivator. This is inspiring!

[Nancy]

What is the brand of storage containers and where did you get them?

[Elspeth @ paper armour]

Once I'm living somewhere with a larger kitchen, I'm definitely going to do something like this. How many lbs of flour do the largest containers hold?

[Coach outlet]

Okay I just picked up more work at my church and added a new blog to my life. I may be really busy the rest of this month sorting this out but at least I'm trying new things right?!? My schedule is also almost booked up right now for wedding clients so grab the spots while you can!

[yummy supper]

Stephanie, I am so impressed. I am always shoving various half used bags of grains, nuts, seeds, etc in any unused spot in my pantry. Very inspiring to see your organized space and I love those adorable labels!
-E

[Russell van Kraayenburg]

OH. MY. GOD!!!! I love that scale. And you have soooooooo many flours. And I'm so jealous.

I recently did what you did with my piddly flour collection. Isn't organization fun?! Ugh. I don't like you know. Jk. Want to tell me what flours I should be getting?

Where did you get that big scale?

[Russell van Kraayenburg]

Your flours and scale had me so excited I was flustered and made a couple typos. Don't judge. Haha.

[Rigel_p]

Excellent transformation! You know you're passionate about baking when you have a flour collection. You really mean business!

Now that's what a cheese bread should look like.

[Candice]

Sooooo jealous! I started out my flour pantry with labeled containers but now we're getting ready to move again and everything's a mess. Can't wait to have everything sorted out again. Yours look fantastic!

[A]

I was just complaining yesterday that my whole wheat flour had started to taste a bit stale.

One thing I do, though, is store my ground flax in the fridge. I find it lasts a lot longer that way that the time I stored it at room temp.

[Cookie and Kate]

Great job! I just have a bunch of whole wheat flours in their original bags on the bottom shelf in my fridge. Perhaps it's time to upgrade to better containers! I love your PDF printout idea, that's a very nice touch.

[Becs@Lay the table]

Immense! I love that I'm on the other side of the world, and we have the same bookcase!

[Jessica @ bake me away!]

This is serious business! I am very impressed and inspired. My flours are just in big ziploc bags! And yes, please to that swirly, cheesy bread...

[Maggie Muggins]

Nicely done, it looks perfectly organized. I found super cheap food grade containers at Dairy Queen, they hold 20lbs (I think) and only cost $3 each, not as clean looking as yours though since they have DQ crap written all over them. I really need to get some cardstock for labeling, great idea. Where did you find pastry flour? I've never come across it in the grocery store.

[Mary]

How brilliant with all those labelled containers. I have a deep drawer that I keep mine in cereal containers but I just keep a few different types.

The flax seed should be in a dark container and ground when you need it. My understanding is heat and light degrades all the good omega 3 so you just end up with expensive fiber.

[Gregory Palma]

Good job keeping things very organized!

[Cheap Air Jordans]

How brilliant with all those labelled containers. I have a deep drawer that I keep mine in cereal containers but I just keep a few different types.

[UGG Australia Boots]

Immense! I love that I'm on the other side of the world, and we have the same bookcase!

[mobile spy]

I'm quite good at cooking though, i wasn't aware that there are so many sorts of flour. I like that you have those containers for keeping flour in good condition. By the way, the bread looks delicious!

[Christian Louboutin]

Very cool idea. I think I will have to try this one. I just love the "It's the Little Things" line. Thanks!

[cooking rookie]

nice!