# Canisters!  What's in your kitchen?



## choclatechef (May 20, 2005)

I was just thinking about canisters.  We need them to keep our foodstuffs safe from spoilage, from bugs, and that sort of thing.

But for me, standard canisters in housewares stores don't hit it.  What do you like to use?  What are the pros and cons.

Enquiring minds want to know......


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## mudbug (May 20, 2005)

I use the Tupperware ones to store actual foods in.  They're in the cabinet.  The ceramic ones out on the counter contain rubber bands, recipe cards, twist ties from various things, a playing card with Elvis's picture on it (don't ask), and a whole bunch of those little packages of soy sauce, hot mustard, etc. from the Chinese takeout place.


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## Dove (May 20, 2005)

*I have three from Tupperware that are probably older than most of you..LOL they are round and stack on top of each other in my cupboard. One is for sugar..flour and rice.*
*Marge*
*P.S. Paul uses my "old" ones for screws, nails etc..they are antiques by now...*


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## pdswife (May 20, 2005)

Dove said:
			
		

> *I have three from Tupperware that are probably older than most of you..LOL they are round and stack on top of each other in my cupboard. One is for sugar..flour and rice.*
> *Marge*
> *P.S. Paul uses my "old" ones for screws, nails etc..they are antiques by now...*




My Paul does the same thing.

I just leave my flour and sugar in the bags they come in.
I've never had a problem.


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## jkath (May 20, 2005)

I have the big rectangular tupperware containers for flour and sugar (each holds a 5lb.bag-full) and I have the matching smaller rectangles for dark and light brown sugars, powdered sugar, chocolate chips and nuts. They're in my cupboard. I also keep bay leaves on all the shelves of my cupboards, as I've heard it keeps any creepy crawlies away. I've never seen one in there, so either it works, or I'm just lucky.
I don't keep any food on the counters except my fruit bowl.

I'm STILL looking for the perfect cookie jar! I can't find a good one!


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## Alix (May 20, 2005)

Dove said:
			
		

> *I have three from Tupperware that are probably older than most of you..LOL they are round and stack on top of each other in my cupboard. One is for sugar..flour and rice.*
> *Marge*
> *P.S. Paul uses my "old" ones for screws, nails etc..they are antiques by now...*


 
I have the Tupperware ones too. You can tell how old they are by their colours. LOL. I store flour, brown sugar, white sugar, icing sugar and tea in them.


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## choclatechef (May 20, 2005)

jkath said:
			
		

> I'm STILL looking for the perfect cookie jar! I can't find a good one!


 
I had the durnest time finding a cookie jar I liked myself!  

It took me years of searching.  But I have one now, and I have never seen another one just like it.  

I wish I had a digital camera.  But if I find something similiar online, I will post a photo.

It looks like an old time country store glass candy jar and is made of aqua glass.


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## Alix (May 20, 2005)

Your cookies last long enough to go in a cookie jar? I gave up on that years ago. If I manage to actually get any off the racks and into something, they go into the 4 liter pails from ice cream. LOL. They never last more than a couple days.


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## choclatechef (May 20, 2005)

Dad is diabetic, and I am fat and try not to eat too many!  

My neices don't come visit that often to clean out the jar real fast.

This is similiar to my cookie jar, but mine can stand upright or at a slant.  Also my jar is a lot larger and has a screw top metal lid.


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## jkath (May 20, 2005)

I'd love to see a photo!

choc, if you ever see one on ebay (as I know that's your home away from dc) pm me


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## choclatechef (May 20, 2005)

jkath said:
			
		

> I'd love to see a photo!
> 
> choc, if you ever see one on ebay (as I know that's your home away from dc) pm me


 
I sure will!

Maybe I can get my aunt to take a photo of it with her digital camera and she can send it to me so I can post it for you.

I will ask her next time I see her.


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## buckytom (May 20, 2005)

Dove said:
			
		

> *. Paul uses my "old" ones for screws, nails etc..they are antiques by now...*


paul and the nails? or the tupperware?


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## jkath (May 20, 2005)

bucky! you never cease to make me laugh.


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## Andy M. (May 20, 2005)

jkath said:
			
		

> ...also keep bay leaves on all the shelves of my cupboards, as I've heard it keeps any creepy crawlies away. I've never seen one in there, so either it works, or I'm just lucky...QUOTE]
> 
> Reminds me of the old joke about this guy who walks around snapping his fingers constantly.
> 
> ...


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## Zereh (May 20, 2005)

hehe Andy

I have porcelin canisters for flour / sugar / coffee. 

I have several clear glass ones with the rubber fittings and the latch type lids that I have filled up with rices, b. sugar, cornmeal, beans, etc. 

I also have some plastic click-clacks (I think that's what they're called) which are also air-tight that I use for granola, croutons, oatmeal and such.

Whenever I open a box or bag of stuff I put what I don't use into some type of container. I HATE bugs. It doesn't matter how clean you are if something has an opening they manage to sneak their way in.


Z


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## Charlotte (May 20, 2005)

I have never been able to use any sort of container on the couter tops as hubby does not like anything left out on it - well except the fruit bowl and the knife rack, the small electric kettle and the bottle of hand soap... I have had to find places inside the cupboards for everything that usually lands on the counters in a normal kitchen.

I do have the tupperware modulars in my pantry, they are getting old now - since 1988 - so I am going to have to start replacing them as I don't like the smell that some of them start to give off after a few years. I leave all foods in their bags and just store the bags in the plastic containers.


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## mdmc (May 20, 2005)

Like most of you I use Tupperwear. A few years ago I sold Tupperwear. You guessed it. I have a container for everything. I especially like the fact that they stack and they came with labels so everything in my pantry is neat and labeled. I love it!


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## Spice1133 (May 20, 2005)

I  gave up on the fancy ones years ago.  They just don't work in Fl.  Tupperware works ok but takes up too much room.  I finally settled on zip lock freezer bags. I put my brown sugar in one and put it in the crisper of my refrigerator and it never gets hard. The gallon size will hold 5 pounds of sugar or flour. Since I've been using them I"ve never seen an elephant or a bug.


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## HanArt (May 20, 2005)

Have my Mom's old aluminum set for flour, sugar, coffee, & tea. She kept the grease strainer.

Charlotte, lots of ladies on the Kitchen forum at THS don't allow canisters or paper towel holders on their countertops. I find that so strange. My kitchen is definitely no showplace, but it is user friendly. Even once it's remodeled it'll still be a comfortable place to cook without reaching behind cabinet doors for everything.


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## choclatechef (May 20, 2005)

I use aqua colored vintage canning jars and gallon Horlicks jars as canisters in my kitchen.  

The major disadvantage is the small mouth of the jars, but it is surpassed by the inexpensive decorative effect -- at least in my eyes.

Besides, I can buy as many as I want and never break the bank, and I can see what is inside.


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## Michael in FtW (May 20, 2005)

I grew up with Tupperware, have also had some "cute" ceramics, some slant-face clear glass ones that look like the one choclatechef pictured .... but now I've settled on commercial square clear polycarbonate food storage containers made by Cambro (1st choice) or Carlisle (2nd choice - appers to be identical to Cambro) or RubberMaid (3rd choice - I don't like their handles and they seem thinner and not as sturdy as Cambro or Carlisle).

I prefer square because they hold 30% more than a round canisters of the same width and height.


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## BlueCat (May 21, 2005)

I have the round Tupperware ones that are white with blue lids (why blue, I don't know - never had any blue in the kitchen except for Blue Cat - and he's always on the counters, whether I want him there or not). They work fine but are in the cabinet. I thought about ceramic ones, but I don't have a lot of counter space, and keeping them on the baker's rack, where they would look nice, would not be handy for using the stuff stored in them. I will someday replace them with square containers for the reason that Michael in FtW mentioned, but they are fine for now.


BC

Hey, editing to say that this post makes me a Senior Cook.  Cool!


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## Andy M. (May 21, 2005)

I guess I'm both deprived and disorganized.

I keep flour in the bag it came in inside a ziplock in the fridge. Sugar goes into a plastic half gallon pitcher (cost me a $1) in a cabinet. I don't keep food stuff on the counter simply because I don't have a lot of counter space and use the space for more frequently used stuff like a toaster and a couple of ceramic thingies to keep my spatulas, spoons etc. in.

Any backup storage is one floor down in the "pantry" which happens to be shelving units in the basement.

Sigh, some day I'll get that dream kitchen...


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## Pam Leavy (May 22, 2005)

I've never been in a Dutch home where there were cansiters on the counters.  They are almost always completely empty.  I have tupperware for sugar, flour, my husband's cereal and the kids instant hot chocolate.  Everything else gets used up so quickly it would be too much trouble.  

That means I have a cabinet full of unused tupperware.  As it is so expensive I don't want to toss it.

I would love to have a kitchen large enough to have some wonderful glass canisters or something else with character.  I have such limited counter space it is always full when i cook.

Pam


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## choclatechef (May 22, 2005)

Michael in FtW said:
			
		

> but now I've settled on commercial square clear polycarbonate food storage containers made by Cambro (1st choice) or Carlisle (2nd choice - appers to be identical to Cambro) or RubberMaid (3rd choice - I don't like their handles and they seem thinner and not as sturdy as Cambro or Carlisle).
> 
> I prefer square because they hold 30% more than a round canisters of the same width and height.


 
 Actually Michael, for pure practicality I agree with you.  If I was working in a commercial kitchen again, these are what I would use.

But in my home kitchen, I have sacrificed some practicality for beauty and also good memories.

My maternal grandmother used aqua glass canning jars to can her home grown vegetables.  Every time I see them in my kitchen, it reminds me of her and I get a warm soft feeling of my grandma's love.


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## Dove (May 23, 2005)

I think I should have said my Aantique DH uses my old tin ones for nails etc...I have had the old ones (inc.Paul) since 1954...
My Tupperware arn't as old.. they are Green, Yellow and Orange


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## Claire (Jul 10, 2005)

I, too, believe in Tupperware or Ziplocks for in the cupboards and practical use.  My attractive ceramic ware contains packages of soup, tea bags, etc (stuff that is already sealed).  Living in the south and in Hawaii, if it isn't perfectly sealed you'll wind up with bugs of some sort (most noticeably roaches and weevils), not to mention mold.  Living here it is mice at harvest time.  I also have mason jars with plastic lids I use for smaller amounts of things.  I like being able to see through the container rather than having to label it.  I like to tell at a glance whether the rice is basmati, jasmine, CalRose.  If I'm putting something in a totally separate container (rather than putting the box/bag into a baggie), I razor off a section of the label and tape it to the outside of the container if there will be any doubt.


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## TexasTamale (Jul 10, 2005)

I found this one ChoclateChef, hope its close! well priced too....here's the link: http://store.igiftsfast.com/canningjars.html


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## tweedee (Jul 10, 2005)

I like those little square glad bowls that have the snap on lids. They stack very nicely.


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