Thank you all for the ideas. We are going to start freezing flour and similar dry goods for a few days before putting in the pantry in well sealed containers. I would just store them in the freezer if I could, but we are always short on freezer space thanks to Costco. Speaking of which, I plan to buy a Costco size bag of bay leaves and use them generously around our stored food. We do watch out for phthalates, pvc and bpa in plastics (I'll add styrenes to the list). That is part of why glass containers appeal to me, as well as the aesthetics. Of course, glass containers are tricky with a 2 year old in the house! We are going to run around to Ikea and The Container Store and wherever else I can think of to look at the available options. Maybe we will do a few really pretty glass jars with frequently used items like lentils and rice on the counters, and do a mix of glass and plastic containers in the pantry. I love the pantry pictures that show all the dry foods lined up in matching glass jars, but I should probably get over that fantasy. We have started checking the spices (which were in a different location), and there is no evidence of pests so far. We are bad about collecting spices. I'll buy something like juniper berries or cumin for a particular recipe, and then not want it again for a long time. We probably have 40 jars of various dried herbs and spices and another dozen of seasoning salts and seasoning blends (most of which we were given and don't use because we like to mix our own seasonings).

Mtnfever, I just checked my flour containers. I buy flour in 5# quantities as my containers won't hold 10 lbs. I can't lift 10# easily. I do buy the small bags of Bob's Red Mill specialty flours and keep those in plastic bags in the freezer. Cambro rounds-6 liters, 6 qt., use for no-knead bread dough, not flour. Easier to mix in rounds. Cheap at webstaurantstore.com. (Also parchment paper 100 sheets under 5 bucks.) When I put 5 lbs. flour in these following containers, there is enough headroom left on top, so I can put in 1/2 and 1 cup measures and comfortably scoop flour. These containers have lock n' lock lids. Sterilite, -3.8 liters, 16.2 cups Sterilite, 16c, 3.8 liters, 4 qt Rubbermaid, 15 c, 3.5 liters, taller than others I know you were hoping that Cambro would hold 10 lbs. The 8 qt. Cambro would very likely hold 10-lbs, based on my 5# containers.

I hate disappearing lids! For that reason I use the Rubbermaid that the lid snaps to the bottom, and the set as advertised on TV that all fits inside each other and have the lids attached. They are great. I too have glass Pyrex but the red lids keep splitting and I wash by hand. I keep a supply of the cheap ziplock in the cabinet too. Those I don't mind giving away.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't really see the difference between glass and plastic containers because the lids are all plastic anyway, including the lids of my glass containers. wintercat: I have always wanted some glass containers, but they are so expensive that I have never gotten any. I believe the difference is only that the container is glass and reheating something in it will not extract plastic residue since it is glass and presumably the lid is removed. I already had a couple of those old Corning Ware mini pans (and just found three more) to use for reheating small portions. Originally I had some plastic lids for them, but they were already long gone. Perhaps some will fall into my hands some day. Until then, I just use Saran Wrap or aluminum foil for storage. "The gaskets are of a hollow core and the OD of them are very them" What does this mean? olychick: my initial assumption (still held) is that a1an is a touch typist and meant to type 'very thin' and made a duel typo into 'very them'. Admittedly, I didn't originally see that it was an 'm' rather than the 'n' that I imagined was there, but I have often found myself typing a character from the same finger but wrong hand, and have done the 'm/n' thing as well.