High or Low -Where Should It Go?

Many houses in this day and age have air conditioning, whether central air or other means, and so the temperature of the kitchen is fairly regulated. We do not have air conditioning in our home which requires that I focus a bit on where items are stored in the kitchen.

Heat rises and therefore the higher cupboards of the kitchen will be hotter, and for longer, than those lower cupboards and drawers. Heat affects the quality of our food. In regards to foods that spoil, such as oils in containers that have been opened and nuts, I do not keep them in the cupboards. So what foods are best kept low, and which are safe in the upper cupboards? Here is how we do it in our kitchen, year round:

Upper cupboards: 

• Teas
• Instant coffee
• Salt
• Boxed noodles
• Dried beans

Middle cupboards:

• Cereals (cold, with no fruits, such as Cheerios)
• Hot cereal (oatmeal, grits, barley, etc)
• Flour
• Baking powder, soda, and other such products
• Sugar
• Coffee beans or ground
• Hot cocoa, apple cider mixes

Lower cupboards:

• Cereals (cold, with added fruit, and granola- if not refrigerated)
• Baking chips (unless it is summer, they go in the freezer then)
• Cans (meats, vegetables)
• Oil (before being opened)
• Peanut butter (before being opened)
• Mayonnaise (before being opened)
• Salad dressings (before being opened)
• Water (especially when in plastic containers)

I know I've not touched on everything that is in our cupboards. I use the mentality that if it can spoil, then it needs to be kept cooler, and lower. If it is fairly 'dry' then it can go up high. If it's a can, it goes low, so that it won't explode! It does get fairly hot in our house during the summer.

There are some things that we leave on the counter because I don't want them in a cupboard where they cannot be seen yet do not require refrigeration. Those are things such as bananas, apples, occasionally a loaf of bread, and some vegetables, such as my garden tomatoes and zucchini. When it is really hot during the summer, I do put these in the fridge. And if in doubt, I put it in the fridge.

All above images are public domain, source: http://www.pdclipart.org

I’m linking this post up with Making a Home at Linda’s Lunacy, where we can share posts about homemaking ideas, recipes, crafts, decorating, cleaning tips, basically anything that has to do with caring for a home and family.