seeking new canisters

I store these things out of sight, and so I am not concerned about the attractiveness of cannisters, plus I do not have room on my counters for them.

I was leery of glass also, but for a different reason - I had glass jars with molasses, oil, honey, flour, sugar, etc fly out of my kitchen cabinets during an earthquake and crash onto my kitchen floor, making an incredibly huge mess that I did not deal with for several days. That's when I switched to plastic, and I have saved huge mayonnaise jars (about 1/2 gallon size, I think) and store flours and sugar in them, but I keep them in the pantry. I put beans in glass jars with canning jar lids so that I can vacuum seal them, and I put those at the back of the pantry so that they cannot get out by themselves, even though beans would not make the mess that molasses and flour make.

I like the plastic mayo jars because they are not heavy and have large openings, making it easy to scoop contents, but I use them mainly because they do not break like glass.

I save old spice containers and reuse those. When labelling old jars, I cut part of the label from the original package and tape that to the container with clear packing tape. I make sure that the tape protects the label and covers the important parts. Otherwise, I use address labels and protect those with the packing tape as well.

My methods may not work for you, but I thought I would describe my procedure for you anyway.

Lars

Square canisters are just more space efficient. I researched earlier this year and ended with either Click Clak containers or Oxo pop containers. Both are square, stack and have airtight seals and are BPA free. I personally prefer the Oxo pop as most of my storage is in drawers in the kitchen and it is super convenient to just pop open and scoop what ever I need. I do not really take out the canister. They canisters come in a few different sizes, so you can see what will fit best for your space.

Another vote for Oxo. I have an elderly brother whose motor skills are lacking and Oxo are the easiest for him to use. A bit pricey but I buy them at BBandB and use the 20% coupons.

No matter how clean your hands are, please don't leave scoops in any canister. Think about it - your skin oils and cells transfer to the scoop handle that then reside in an airtight space which will allow bacteria to happily proliferate. I bought some scoops with a hole in the handle and hang them on hooks below the shelves. They can be washed and rehung after each use so as to have a clean scoop every time.

I use a combination of glass canning jars and restaurant supply heavy clear polycarbanate cube-ish containers from Cambro that can be covered with air tight lids (bought separately) and come in many sizes. They are a type of "plastic" but they are what the highly regulated and inspected commercial kitchens use and not a bit flimsy or chemical emitting.

As for containment during an earthquake (been there - have the T-shirt) I put pre-glued Velcro heavy duty strips on the bottoms of all the canisters and a long line of the matching strips to the shelves so unless your shelves can fall down (like they are up there with just pegs and not nailed to the walls) they stay put.

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Cambro storage containers

Thanks all, for the suggestions. Nancy, I would never have thought about leaving the scoop in the canister, thanks for pointing that out. I will look into the Oxo, Click Clack and Cambro canisters.

Love my Oxo canisters! I get them at Marshall's or TJ Maxx when they have them.

I also use a combination of old blue glass Ball canning jars for things like beans and lentils, since I no longer can with the old ones, and square Lock N Lock containers.

The girls laugh at me, they say I'm very territorial when it comes to my Lock N Locks, LOL. They come in lots of sizes, have an air tight seal, are readily available and you can see through them. I used to have Tupperware, but the lids will pop off those if I pick them up by the edges, the Lock N Lock lids stay on. They all stay inside my pantry, so loocks don't matter, really, but the Lock N Locks stack nicely on top of each other too.

Annie

I have Rubbermaid rectangular modular canisters; they're BPA-free plastic. I chose these because two of them will fit side-by-side in a 12" upper cabinet (frameless) -- and they stack -- so I can fit a lot of baking supplies in the same small cabinet and be able to get to what I need easily. They're sold many places, in sets and separately.

(edited: I see they have a new "premium" line of these as well, with completely clear sides and a window in the lid. I'll link the ones I actually have since I know the sides are easy to grip and I haven't seen the newer ones in person.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Rubbermaid modular canisters

This post was edited by northcarolina on Thu, Nov 14, 13 at 14:33

I have most of my dry foods stored in large mouth mason jars. I like the look of these in my old corner cabinet. This is the best photo I have of this.

But I REALLY REALLY like the sistema bakery canisters. A 5 pound bag of flour fits snugly into the largest one. (Caution. Do not pouf the flour out of the bag. Slip the whole bag into the canister. If you dump the flour into the canister, it expands and won't fit. Ask me how I know.)
A bag of sugar fits into the next smaller one. And all sorts of things fit into the other sizes. The lids are snug and they stack to fit whatever your cabinet shelf height may be.

As a reviewer on Amazon said, I also have 15" deep upper cabinets, and two rows of these fit perfectly in the deeper cabinets.

If I have time, I'll post a picture of my bakery cabinet. For now, this link will have to do.

Read the reviews. They are really nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sistema bakery canisters

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Thu, Nov 14, 13 at 21:13

Here's another link to the sistema bakery set. I first found them here on the King Arthur site, and this picture shows pretty well how they work. They are a lot cheaper on Amazon, though.
King Arthur doesn't give the maker (Sistema) but that is what they are.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sistema bakery set

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Thu, Nov 14, 13 at 20:55

I love OXO canisters. Perfect size, great seal. As long as you (or an unsuspecting spouse) doesn't make the mistake of washing them in the dishwasher, they are great and very durable. Be forewarned though, it can become an expensive addiction, especially if you keep a wide variety of ingredients on hand. The cabinets just look so much nicer with everything lined up in matching containers!!

So frustrating isn't it? Trying to find the best lid seal and still fit properly in the pantry? I've gone to all glass the best i can. We don't keep flour long term as we go through it quickly and just have it on the grocery list. But all the specialty seed, spices and flours are in original packaging, wrapped tight with a rubber band, in groups, in zip-locks and in the freezer. I just use my spice grinder when i need it. I must have 20 various things i pull out when i make crackers.
I had a pantry pest problem from some external market purchase.
So i have it all organized in a freezer drawer. Bags have been easier to stuff, less air space.

I only have 2 lock-down canisters for 2 bags of flour. The Sistema ones. The size that holds the full bags.

Whatever you choose, give them the shake test right out of the box. Put in a bit of flour and shake hard. They should be washed anyway, so give them a water shake test.
I always end up with duds, and after reading Amazon reviews on many canisters, a set often has one dud. All the ones mentioned above get good reviews.

Sleeve, it is extremely frustrating, sigh. My house came with a pantry moth problem, ugh, and it took forever to get rid of them, hence my desire for really tight fitting lids.

I am going to hit Target this weekend and take a look at the Oxo containers. The Sistema also look interesting, but I'm a little leery about the snap tabs -- they look like the weak point in the system.

Also, Sleeve good advice about using flour to test the seal.

Why not order a set of the Sistema bakery canisters from Amazon?

For less than $22 you will get 6 canisters. You can try them out and see what you think. King Arthur wants $13 plus $8 shipping for just the flour canister!

If you aren't a member of Amazon Prime, this might be a good time to join. I love the free 2-day shipping. Yeah, it costs a bit for year's Prime membership, but I easily get it back.

I use the little canisters for dried fruits and nuts, by the way.

(Garsh, Sistema owes me a bonus for pushing their product! But it is SO much the best one I have found!) I love the easy grab shape of the front of the canisters and the modular design that allows me to stack them to just about any height.

Ah, heck. I couldn't resist this (less than I paid before by a good bit) price and just ordered another set!!

By the way, I would like to know if anyone has used these canisters and found problems with them.

I am editing this post a day later to say that the price has gone up to $28 a set. Still a good price, but quite a jump.

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Sat, Nov 16, 13 at 13:15

I'm still on trial with my sistema. I like to give containers some time before reviewing.
I scored at a whole house yard sale yesterday. A vintage (new/unused) box of ball jars and two big gal Italian BormioliFido canisters. I've been on a total hit with yard sales this summer.
Finding things i actually need. Seems they wanted to try canning once. Everything still in boxes...grinders and strainers. Everything 1-2 dollars.
Roasted a few batches of coffee for the week ahead. Store them in ball jars with the label rubberbanded exterior.
My favorite storage are the French jars. I have dozens. Use them for everything. I've used them for years and keep finding them at yard sales. (just ground grains for baking)
Got derailed yesterday with light bulb issues. Everything is burning out all at the same time...fridge, stove hood, garage, bedside, 1/2 bath, front exterior, one deck light...!!!

DO NOT BUY SISTEMA if you live in an area where pantry moths are around. Actually they aren't even airtight. View the link below.

I moved to tropical Queensland from cold Victoria where I've never even seen a pantry moth. Come spring, an infestation began (I was admittedly ignorant of what they were feeding on, but was told by friends) so I bought the sistema bakery range after emptying my cupboard, re-bought my baking goods, and 2 weeks later, I've discovered moth larvae inside these supposedly "airtight" containers!

Well, I'm annoyed, but I'm not the only one. Seriously, read the reviews in the link below my picture.

Here is a link that might be useful: productreview.com

Check out "The Container Store"

They have everything imaginable.

dcarch

I've never heard of "French Jars"...is that the orange/red lid containers? I like that but it doesn't hold much.

Who knew this would be such a challenge?

I don't current;y have pantry moths, but they came with the house when we bought it so I want to avoid them in the future. Last summer some water line work seems to have created an ant issue -- for the first time I had wee little ants in the kitchen get in the honey, sugar and even the flour, so any canister system needs to be ant-proof.

I use a lot of canning jars including half-gallon size jars, but would prefer something with slightly larger mouths for scooping. I may opt for faux-vintage cracker jars. What say you all, would these be air tight enough?

Here is a link that might be useful: cracker jars

balcony,garden
Thank you for the link to New Zealand reviews of Sistema. Interesting reading.

Concerned about what I read, I filled three empty Sistema bakery containers with water and inverted them into pans. In an hour there was no water in any of the pans. Of course, I have not used any of the bakery containers in the microwave, so I cannot speak to that.

FWIW, I have had pantry moths in the past, but none at all since I started keeping grains in mason jars and sistema canisters. However, if there were moths in the purchased product, obviously they would show up in the stored container.

I had a young friend staying with us for several months. She bought a five gallon pail (!) of jasmine rice because it was so cheap. I made her keep it under the carport because the moths came pouring out of it after a few days.

Mabeldingelding,
I have a few of the wide mouth cracker jars. They seem to do fine at keeping crackers fresh for a couple months at least. Crackers don't usually last longer than that around here. I also store dog treats in them. I DO like their wide mouths. And they stack pretty well, too, although I don't think I would go more than 2 high since they tend to slide around a bit.

I also keep cheerios in an old two gallon pickle jar. Works pretty well, seals well enough.

+2 The Container Store; they have great containers for everything imaginable.

I still love Tupperware & hunt it down whenever I need some; pricey, yes, but it lasts forever!