Taking Stock

Priti asked me how (and how often) I keep track of everything in my pantry. It has been mere days since I moved into this new kitchen so it is a question that's very much on my mind.

Some people are very organized by nature and others struggle with it. Like most people, I'm somewhere in the middle. But I'm always looking to become better organized, especially in the kitchen, because if you cook on a regular basis, you save precious minutes every time if you're not working in near-chaos. Investing a little bit of time in organizing the kitchen yields good returns. You'll end up with more time to do meaningful things. Or in my case to watch more reruns of The Big Bang Theory. Whichever.

In the kitchen, stuff falls into two categories: the hardware (appliances, gadgets, tools, cookware) and the consumables (the edible stuff: everything in the fridge, freezer, pantry, spice racks etc.) Here's my approach to keeping track of the consumables. The principle is the oldie-but-goodie: A place for everything and everything in its place.

1. List all the places where the consumables will be stored. In my new kitchen, the list looks like this:

Main areas

• Fridge
• Freezer
• Pantry (cabinet)

Smaller areas

• Corner cabinet with built in Lazy Susan
• Tiny shelf
• Shelf in a closet outside the kitchen

For the average person, it is unlikely that you can keep track of more than 6-8 areas so don't spread out the consumables more than you need to. These areas will contain all the edible items in your home.

2. Designate what food goes in each area. Within each area, create zones where things are grouped together in a logical way. This way you know where everything is while you're cooking and also when something is running low or used up.

Main areas

• Fridge: Here, I group milk, yogurt, beverages together. All the cooked (ready to eat) food is in one spot and all the ingredients (say, half an onion, or a half-used jar of pasta sauce or container of tomato puree) are all together. All the cheeses are together etc.
• Freezer: Ditto- the prepared foods are all together and frozen veg are in one spot etc.
• Pantry: This has zones for flours, lentils and beans, oils, noodles and pasta, canned goods, baking supplies (powder sugar, cocoa) and so on. 

Smaller areas

• Corner cabinet with built in Lazy Susan: This has all my spices, plus cans of curry paste and the smaller baking supplies like vanilla extract and baking powder.
• Tiny shelf: This has tea, coffee, salt and sugar.
• Shelf in a closet outside the kitchen: Here I keep all the stuff I buy in bulk (like big bags of toor dal) from which I replenish the containers in the kitchen.

I'm describing all this just as an example. You'll want to group foods according to what's convenient and logical for you- for instance, by cuisine. But take a look at each and every consumable you own and make a conscious decision about where its home should be.

3. Know that you can only store as much food as can fit comfortably in the space available. The key word is "comfortably". If things are piling on top of each other, if you reach for one thing and other things come crashing down, if you have to remove 20 things to reach the last thing in the back, these are clear signs that you're crowding your space. Be honest with yourself. If you don't use something, use it up, give it away or toss it. It is simply leading to more waste by being there and cluttering your space. Consumables should be easily accessible or else they will never be used.

4. Keep pen and paper handy in the kitchen. Any time you're using the last bit of something, jot it down. This running shopping list will make sure you're stocking your kitchen on a continuous basis.

5. Before you go shopping every week, take a look at what you have on hand. Come up with meal ideas to use up anything that's been sitting around for a while (a big jar of tahini, in my case).

6. Twice a year (I typically do this in Spring and Fall), do a pantry eat-down where you try to consume a lot of the food on hand and do a thorough cleaning.

This post probably sounds very OCD but it is a system that works- it has worked for me for many years in different kitchens. How do you keep stock of things in your kitchen?