Pantries hold everything from flour and bread to nuts, spreads, and bottles waiting to be opened. Some of those foods, however, may last longer somewhere else.
Heat, moisture, air, and the natural oils found in certain foods can affect how long they stay fresh. In some cases, the pantry works until a package is opened. In others, the refrigerator or freezer can be a better choice from the start.
Here are five foods worth reconsidering the next time you organize your pantry.
Pure Maple Syrup
Pure maple syrup can sit in the pantry while the bottle remains unopened, but it belongs in the refrigerator once the seal is broken.
Unlike some pancake syrups made with corn syrup and preservatives, pure maple syrup can develop mold after opening. Refrigeration helps protect it once air has entered the bottle.
Check the label as well, since storage instructions can vary between products.
Nuts and Seeds
Bags of almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, and other nuts and seeds often end up beside cereal and baking supplies. Their natural oils are what make long-term pantry storage less than ideal.
Those oils can oxidize and turn rancid, with nuts and seeds high in unsaturated fats among the more susceptible types. Heat can speed up the process.
If you use them within a short period, pantry storage may be fine depending on the product. For larger bags or anything you plan to keep around, the refrigerator or freezer can help preserve freshness.
Flour and Whole Grains
Flour seems made for the pantry, but long-term storage can expose it to two common problems: moisture and pantry pests.
Whole-grain flour can be more vulnerable because it contains oils from the grain that can turn rancid. Moving flour and whole grains into airtight containers helps, while refrigerator or freezer storage can extend their usable life.
Cold storage can also make sense when you buy flour in bulk or don’t bake often enough to finish a bag soon after opening.
Natural Nut Butter
Not every jar of peanut or almond butter needs to leave the pantry. The important distinction is what’s inside it.
Conventional nut butters often contain ingredients that keep the mixture stable. Natural nut butters made with little more than nuts and salt can separate, with oil collecting at the top of the jar.
Many natural nut butter brands recommend refrigeration after opening, which can also help maintain quality for longer. Check the jar before deciding where yours belongs.
Bread
Putting bread behind a pantry door may keep the counter clear, but it can also make a loaf easier to forget while mold develops out of sight.
For bread you’ll eat soon, a bread box or suitable spot on the counter can work better. If you want to keep a loaf much longer, freezing is one of the better options because slices can be removed as needed.
The refrigerator isn’t always the middle ground it seems to be. Refrigeration can cause many breads to stale faster, so freezing often makes more sense when the goal is longer storage.
Where do you keep these five foods — and which one is sitting in your pantry right now?