Muldoon Mercantile — Pantry Stocking Guide | muldoon-mercantile.com
Ordered procedure: check, rotate, list and buy, with the FIFO rule at its centre.
A working pantry for two adults typically holds 15 to 25 staple items and is rebuilt weekly, not bought once. The routine below runs in a fixed order — check, rotate, list, buy — so that each cycle replaces only what was used and nothing expires unseen.
Step 1 is the check: open the pantry and note every item within 30 days of its date. This is where a duplicate can at the back of the shelf gets caught before it goes stale. Step 2 is rotation, applying the FIFO rule: first in, first out means new purchases go behind older stock, so the front row is always the oldest and gets used first.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
Step 3 is the list: write down only what the check found missing or near its date. Resisting the urge to add items that merely look low keeps the pantry at its 15 to 25 item working level instead of drifting upward. Step 4 is the purchase: buy from the list, then place new stock behind existing stock immediately — the rotation only works if it happens on the day the groceries come home.
Typical failures this routine prevents: an older can expiring behind a newer one (caught by check and rotate), brown rice going rancid because too much was bought at once (caught by list discipline), and pantry moths spreading from an opened bag to the rest of the shelf (caught by moving dry goods into airtight containers during rotation).
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