How Often Should I Clean Out My Pantry? Good Questions

Q: Is there a rule to how often you should clean out your pantry? Just today I took the time to go through everything and I found so many expired items. (Jell-O with a date from 2005!)

Is there a standard for how often you should go through your shelves so you don't end up with so many expired items?

Sent by Pattie

Editor: Pattie, it sounds like you could use the Kitchen Cure! We all could, after all — since cleaning the pantry and fridge aren't exactly things that get done on a regular basis.

We don't have a set frequency for cleaning out the pantry, but we do go through it at least twice yearly during the Kitchen Cure. We also try to institute a "cupboard challenge" week of meals about once a month where we try to cook with only what's left in our cupboards. This is actually really fun, and often a great way to try new recipes and styles of cooking, too.

Readers, what's your take on this?

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(Image: Flickr user adamwaCO from the Kitchen Cure Flickr Group)

Comments (7)

I had this issue, one of the things I did was make sure that all the food was easily reachable. I had a weird pantry that was deep but you couldn't access the whole thing so I got a rolling cart for the space so I could pull it out and easily see what I had. I put nonfood stuffs in the back and these 2 things make it so my rotation is better. Not perfect but better.

Also I keep my noneating foodstuffs where they should be. Things that are really for dying yarn go with the yarn. (Because stocking up on speciality koolaid when you can is crucial!)

I aim for 2 times a year, or what really ends up happening .... I get tired of how my pantry is set up or how my family has put stuff back in there. I pull everything out and set it on the kitchen table and the washer and dryer (I have a laundry room/pantry combo) and then reorganize it and check the dates as I go. That happens more than twice a year. ;)

Usually when the holidays come around people are asking for donations to food banks and this is a good time to check the pantry, toss the expired stuff and donate the cans and boxes of whatever you didn't need or bought too many of to them.

A friend of mine sponsors a summer canned food drive (heavy donations come around the winter holidays, so stocks are often running low by summer). But whether it's summer or winter, I agree with mmepatty that a can drive is a good annual reminder to clear out the pantry.

While I'd say once a year is probably adequate, another reminder time is if you do an annual cleaning ritual - house cures, spring cleaning, or in my case for New Years. I often use those times to go through the condiments in my fridge, as well as the medicine cabinet.

at my parents' house, they don't believe in cleaning out the pantry. i don't know why, but they seem to believe that expiration dates are lies. whenever i go back there, i find new fun things: microwave popcorn from the mid-90's, asprin that expired in 1985, tin cans of salve from the 60's, etc etc. it's quite fun.

for me, living in nyc, it's pretty much whenever i run out of room (which is every time i come home from the grocery store)

I think twice a year is sufficient, as posted above. But you can make meals so much more easily and cheaply if you plan to cook using pantry staples. Things like dried beans, grains, and canned tomatoes are great meal bases, and healthy too. Each week I go through things to plan the meals of the week ahead and this helps me reduce waste. It forces me to be more creative, too, and to be attentive to what I am buying.

Well, since we used to move house so often, I used to clean my pantry out when we packed up the pantry. Some years that was every 4 months. But now that we are past our first year of this house I might have to look into cleaning out the pantry yearly. We generally eat things before they expire.