Every good housewife should have an idea of how to properly store certain food products in her kitchen. It is important to know how to approach the issue of storing bulk products and cereals. Very often, young, inexperienced housewives store cereals in purchased packaging, and this is not entirely correct.
Firstly, it's not entirely convenient. Due to the violation of the integrity of such packaging, cereals often spill onto the floor or table, in a cabinet, or anywhere.
Secondly, when storing cereals in unsealed packaging, all sorts of beetles and worms can appear. This means that you can safely throw the supplies in the trash bin, or do a good deed - feed the birds. So how to store cereals?
Now in stores you can find a large assortment of various sealed containers designed for storing cereals and bulk products.
Modern manufacturers produce various beautifully designed jars that will fit well into any kitchen interior.
Whether it’s modern high-tech or classic sunflowers on wallpaper, you can purchase the necessary containers in almost any hardware hypermarket. However, what is important to know about the cereals themselves?
When storing cereals, it is important to understand that their sales periods are different. For example, rice can sit quietly for a year and a half and retain all its beneficial features and will not deteriorate, provided, of course, that it is stored correctly.
But millet should not be stored for more than 4 months, since after this period, the grain may turn rancid and have an unpleasant aftertaste.
Buckwheat can be stored for a long time, about 20 months, but semolina needs to be used up within 14 months. It is not recommended to store oatmeal for more than 5 months; this also applies to muesli.
Types of containers for storing cereals
Very often they are attractive appearance, practical, comfortable and very light. Their weight plays an important role, because, for example, if you put a lot of these containers filled with cereals on a shelf, then the load on the cabinet will be minimal.
- Metal cans
Good, beautiful and high-quality containers, convenient for storage various cereals. Unfortunately, there is one drawback metal cans, over time, rust spots may appear on them. And such containers automatically become unsuitable for storing food.
- Stainless steel jars
Stylish and modern version for storing bulk products, but quite expensive.
- Glass containers
An excellent, beautiful and convenient way to store cereals is to keep them in a glass container. There are many glass jars of different designs in stores.
You can store cereals in ordinary glass jars with lids, like our grandmothers used. And you can style them to match the design of your kitchen with your own hands. You just need to use your imagination and buy a couple of jars of acrylic paints, stained glass outlines or glass paints.
- Ceramic containers
Ceramic containers are considered the best for storing cereals and bulk products.
- Plastic bottles
Can adapt regular plastic bottles for storing cereals.
Important! Any cereals should be stored in a hermetically sealed container.
Folk secrets for long-term storage of cereals
Take advantage of these simple tips for storing bulk products and then there will be no uninvited guests in your food supplies.
Every housewife knows how difficult it is to store cereals. Either moths will infest them, or they will become damp and spoil. Unfortunately, such problems happen quite often, and not everyone can cope with them. But we will help you with this problem and tell you about the correct storage of cereals, which will help get rid of minor but annoying troubles.
Preserving cereals is sometimes very important, but solving this problem is not always possible. You've probably tried a lot of methods but nothing worked, and this is a common problem. The point is that you should properly prepare the dishes in which buckwheat, rice or any other cereal will be stored. Yes, specifically dishes, because storing them in bags will in no way preserve the quality of the grain. Let's look at what you'll need.
So, you can use special jars that are sold in stores and supermarkets. But why spend money if you probably have the simplest glass jar in your pantry. Under no circumstances should you use bags or boxes, you will get a lot of problems and inconveniences . It’s unclear how you can store cereals in a bag and hope for their excellent quality. So first take out the jars.
Here the question arises - which jar in terms of volume should I choose? In fact, it doesn’t matter, but it will be more convenient to store in a liter or three-liter container. Naturally, each grain must have its own “house”.
The glass jar needs to be prepared. As soon as you take it out of the pantry or closet, be sure to wash it with detergent and sterilize. Next, it should be dried and only after that you can pour the cereal. The next step is to close it with a lid. If you are going to store buckwheat or millet for years, then you can even roll it up; if not, then cover it with a regular plastic lid. It’s even better if you first put paper or a bag on the neck of the jar, and only then close the lid.
Storing cereals is a simple matter, but, nevertheless, many people make a mistake about where to place these jars. It is best to make sure that it stands in a cool place and is not exposed to Sun rays. Of course, the rice will not cook from the sun, but fungus and bacteria love to bask in the rays and eat your rice or other grains. Therefore, allocate space on the shelf in the pantry for such cans.
In addition, you should protect them from moths and bugs. To do this, put a clove of garlic on the bottom of the jar itself, this excellent remedy against insects in cereals. But to get rid of these same “inhabitants” in the closet, put chestnuts or sprigs of lavender there. If you don't have lavender branches, you can use essential oil. You should also put bay leaves, they will absorb moisture and insects will not infest.
In addition to glass jars, you can use modern plastic containers, pre-steamed with boiling water. Of course, this method will not allow you to preserve your cereals for a long time, but if you do not buy bags, then it is quite convenient.
Now you know, how to properly store cereals, and you will no longer encounter difficulties in cooking, catching insects or using wet rice, buckwheat, millet and others. Good luck!
Cereals, grains and flour have a fairly long shelf life, but if stored improperly, they become prey and habitat for very unpleasant bugs, worms and other evil spirits. To prevent this, owners of cereal stocks resort to a variety of tricks.
Check in store
To avoid problems with cereals and flour at home, take a close look at them before purchasing. Ideally, cereals in the store should be stored in compliance with all rules and regulations, at low humidity, in intact packages. If the cereal or flour is stuck together, black dots are visible among the grains, and even more so - bugs or worms - you should not buy such a product. But cereals are often sold in paper bags or cardboard boxes, which makes verification difficult. All that remains is to look at the release date of the cereal and its recommended shelf life.
They brought him home - he turned out to be alive
After purchasing, some experienced housewives recommend frying the cereal in the oven. This will not harm the quality of the cereal, but it will be possible to get rid of the beetle larvae, if they are still present in the cereal. Others advise keeping the cereal in the freezer. There is logic here - cold is destructive for both bugs and larvae. You just don’t need to keep the cereal in the freezer all the time, four days is enough. If it happens in winter, take the cereals out onto the balcony - it’s more convenient, because there is more space there and the freezer will be free. Processing cereals by calcining them for 5 minutes in a microwave oven can also be effective.
In any case, newly purchased cereals should be checked. Although measures are taken in production to prevent the infestation of cereals by insects, troubles do happen. Even grains that seem clean at first glance may contain larvae. After you bring the cereal from the store, it is better to pour it out of the store container. But store cereals and flour in tight plastic bags should not - they “suffocate” and acquire bad smell and taste. Perforated bags are not suitable, as there is a danger of the cereal becoming damp or becoming infected with bugs. Where to pour it?
Rescue containers
It is best to store flour and cereals in glass jars or containers with tightly sealed stoppers or lids. Our grandmothers also knew that in a three-liter glass jar With a lid, the flour will be completely safe. But the shape of such cans does not allow for rational organization of space, so choose square or rectangular containers for storing bulk products. It is optimal if the container is glass. But the cereal will be good in plastic container, especially if it is equipped with rubber gaskets to ensure a tighter seal on the lid. Metal boxes for storing cereals and flour quickly rust and do not provide the necessary tightness.
Containers should not be placed on a straight line sunlight. Hide them in the cupboard - this way your cereal will be more intact. For greater safety, you can put a couple of cloves of garlic, a chili pepper or a bay leaf in a container with cereal, which bugs really don’t like. A bag of salt will also come in handy to protect the cereal from moisture. But keep in mind that even perfectly “packed” cereals cannot be stored forever.
How long do cereals last?
Those who farm will tell you that grain can be stored for a very long time if stored properly. Of course, when long-term storage taste qualities croup worsens, but remains quite acceptable. However, most supermarket cereals should be used within a few months of purchase. If cereals are stored in the refrigerator, the period increases slightly, but it hardly makes sense to store cereals for a year or more. Consequently, there is no particular reason for large stocks of flour and cereals if you do not have an equipped place to store them.
Rice and corn do not lose their quality for the longest time. They can be stored for more than a year, but subject to all the precautions described earlier. Wheat grains, barley, oats and buckwheat store well, but millet quickly becomes rancid. Semolina and flour can be stored for a little more than a year, but in the refrigerator. If you can't imagine life without strategic reserves food, use airtight containers to store grain, cereals and flour, and inspect your treasures every few months. Replace stale cereals with fresh ones and check for signs of bug infestation.
Porridge is great source carbohydrates, therefore, energy for the human body. Every housewife must have several types of cereal so that at any time she can prepare tasty and healthy porridge as a side dish or just like that.
Of course, the days of former shortages have already passed. Those times when our grandmothers have it in their closet three liter jars were filled to the brim with scarce buckwheat and less scarce domestic rice. Nowadays, you can buy any type of cereal at the grocery store. But even with frequent purchases small quantity cereals need to be properly stored, and then the cereal will not lose its benefits.
Having bought cereals, do not store them in the plastic or paper bags in which you bought them, because the bag may tear, the cereal will scatter on the shelf or, in the worst case, on the floor, and then you will have to waste your time on cleaning. And it’s possible that debris will get into the cereal, and you’ll have to sort it out or throw it away altogether.
Also, cereal in a plastic bag can “suffocate”, since its storage requires a special perforated bag, and not all manufacturers comply with this condition. What often happens is that cereals are purchased in bulk and then packaged in ordinary plastic bags. And another important thing is that perforated polyethylene and paper bags Moisture may penetrate, causing the cereal to become soggy. Pests can also enter, and as a result, the cereal will be spoiled.
Therefore, immediately upon bringing the purchased cereals home, you need to pour them into a dry, clean glass or metal container. If the cereal requires it, you need to sort it out immediately. After all, if you do this, the cooking process will take much less time. You can entrust this painstaking work to children, then the cereal will be ready for use, and the children will be accustomed to work.
From time to time you need to open cans of cereal and check them for the presence of pests in the cereal. Do not eat already spoiled cereals. Pests can leave their waste products in cereals, which spoil the taste and smell ready-made dish. And if there is a high concentration of insect excrement in cereals, then you can even get poisoned.
What pests can you encounter in the kitchen and in cereals? Granary weevils, Surinamese flour beetles, bread borers and other pests can happily settle here. For humans, in principle, they are not dangerous, but they are unpleasant. These are bugs that can appear in your cereal for several reasons. The main reason is non-compliance with the rules for storing cereals. You can store cereals such as buckwheat, rice, semolina, and flour at home for six months, because they contain a minimum of shelf-stable fat. Millet, egg, oatmeal, and rolled oats spoil faster, since they contain more fat than other cereals. Do not store them for more than four months. Milled rice can be stored for years, especially basmati. He's like good cognac– the older, the better.
Why do bugs appear? It also happens that, even if you take all precautions, pests still appear. First, you can bring them home in a pre-packaged cereal bag. Of course, responsible producers must carefully process cereals before packaging, but this is not always the case. Secondly, the source of bugs can be dried fruits (dried apricots, raisins, prunes) that you purchased from sellers from Central Asia. To prevent such situations, you need to carefully examine packages of cereals before purchasing, and store washed dried fruits in the refrigerator.
To prevent the appearance of bugs, immediately heat only the purchased cereal in the oven or put it directly in the package in the freezer for a day.
A few more tips to ensure that pests forget the way to you. Place a few cloves of garlic (in the peel) directly into the container with the cereal. When storing cereals, starch and flour, place gauze bags with salt on the bottom of the container, and dry lemon zest and leaves on top bay leaf or chestnut (one of three products). A piece of foil or an ordinary iron spoon placed in a container with cereal/flour helps well against bugs. You can put a pod hot pepper, it protects rice not only from pests, but also from mustiness.
And it is important that you store cereals in glass or plastic containers, which are hermetically sealed or screwed with a lid. The room in which cereals are stored must be well ventilated. If food's moisture content rises above 15%, it will be spoiled.
Our grandmothers stored cereals in linen bags, boiled in strong saline solution, and considered this storage method to be the best. Thanks to the fabric packaging, the cereal can breathe, and the salt prevents insects and mold from getting inside. This storage method is still relevant.
To prevent the taste of cereals from deteriorating, do not make large reserves, but renew them as you use them. And remember that dry products easily perceive and retain foreign odors for a long time, so take this into account when placing them for storage.
In contact with
Any housewife should have an idea of how to store food, including non-perishable foods: rice and other cereals, pasta, flour, sugar, tea, etc. Temperature, humidity level, selected container for bulk products - all this matters. After all, it is often improper storage that leads to food spoilage. And spoiled foods not only lose their taste, but also become hazardous to health.
One of the enemies of bulk products, especially cereals, is mold, which usually develops due to high humidity in the kitchen. As it multiplies, it destroys food, resulting in an unpleasant odor and the formation of toxins. Eating food contaminated with mold is hazardous to your health.
Insects may also appear in bulk products. One of the common pests is the Suriname mucoed. It's a brown bug that lives in flour, different varieties cereals, dried fruits. Unlike microorganisms, insects do not destroy cereals, but contaminate them. But when high concentration pests or their metabolic products can lead to food poisoning.
Expired products, although visually they look normal, lose their taste and beneficial properties. Even if you know how to store cereals, it is important to remember that bulk products cannot be stored forever. If you prefer to buy for future use, first try to cook from products purchased a long time ago. And in order not to confuse anything, you can put stickers on the containers with the date the contents were placed.
The cereals that spoil the most quickly cereals– in 4-6 months, and flakes from all kinds of additives even less are stored. Rice can be stored for about 1.5 years, peas and buckwheat– up to 2. The remaining cereals are best consumed within 9-12 months. Simple pasta will last about 1 year. A pasta With various additives, for example tomato, it is recommended to store no longer than 3-5 months.
Carry out an annual audit of the kitchen, during which you check the expiration dates of the contents of the cabinets and, if necessary, throw away everything that is spoiled.
Basic storage rules
To avoid problems with products in your kitchen, carefully examine them in the store. Damaged packaging, sticky grains, foreign inclusions among the grains - all this signals that the product is not worth buying. If it is not possible to evaluate the product visually, for example, if it is sold in an opaque bag or box, be guided by the production date and recommended shelf life.
Despite the fact that production measures are taken to prevent the contamination of cereals by insects, unpleasant exceptions do occur. Therefore, before putting the cereal away for storage, it is recommended to check it again for the presence of mold and larvae and pour it out of store containers. Some people prefer to leave rice and other grains in plastic bags. But this is not recommended: food in them can become damp, “suffocate” and acquire an unpleasant smell and taste.
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