dry food storage, store in original packets or decant into other storage

[CheeringBell]

Really boring question, I know but I was thinking (rather than cleaning the kitchen) that decanting my lentils, flour, rice, pasta etc into other containers was a bit of a waste of time and was wondering what other MNers did. Does it waste more space?

The problem I have is my OH loves to bake and cook so we have 5 different types of flour etc all open and on the go at once. I was thinking that it would be still to assign each a nice box for storage. Plus it's hard to know what the expiry dates are if they are not in the original packets.

May I introduce you to Muji pegs
This is what I use on open packets. They are quite pretty but any old peg will do

My bags were all pegged, BeCool. Didn't stop the plague of flour mites taking over my kitchen cupboards.

I am honestly not AnneEyhtMeyer's puppet (although it looks like it on this thread!), but just like her, my bags were all pegged/klippy klipped etc, and the mites took over my cupboard. So for me now: if it's not airtight, it's not really sealed.

Hazel

Also worth freezing flour as soon as you buy it, to get rid of mites, then decanting. They can already be in stuff you buy.

i've used lock & lock air tight containers for years and they seem to keep food fresh and have come out of freezer and dishwasher ok, i've got them from scattysquirrel.co.uk or eBay depending on size you want

I freeze my flour too! We had bugs in a bag once and now I'm a bit over the top!

I use these Lock and Lock containers as you can fit a whole unopened bag of flour in them - sometimes you have to squeeze a bit with slightly bigger bags!

PS. I'm new to posting on Mumsnet so I hope my link works.

www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Lock--Lock-Air-Tight-Rectangular-Container-18L/47853011?from=shop&tags=%7C20000%7C30931%7C51497%7C51624&parentContainer=%7C30931%7C51497%7C51624_LISTVIEW

I keep all my other dry foods in the original packets but placed in plastic or glass storage containers.