# Which of these "staples" do you have in your house? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101 "2022-08-22T18:17:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/1 "2022-08-22T18:17:24Z")
Which of these staples do you have in your home? Sugar Salt Flour None 2 of the 3 all 3 Bonus points: Baking powder/soda? I’m talking about “bulk” containers of any size - not a salt shaker or a sugar packet. While we are comparing pantries, what foodstuff do you think the greatest percentage of people regularly keep in stock. I suggest bread. One edit - once again I’ve proven myself incapable of creating a poll. Sorry. Added by {WE?} **Link to the poll:** > [@Which of these "staples" do you have in your house?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/19): > > I’ll give it a try: Which of these staples do you have in your home? [poll](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/19) ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/2 "2022-08-22T18:21:55Z")
None. My staples are orange juice and chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/3 "2022-08-22T18:23:18Z")
All of them. I can’t imagine having a kitchen and not having sugar, salt, flour in generous quantities around. (I usually have at least 5 pounds of flour on hand – have a little more now. Sugar I don’t use very often at all, so 4 lbs or less is what we generally have until I see the sugar running low in the glass container I keep it in. But we also have powdered and brown sugar, too.) And salt – right now, about half a 3 lb box of Morton’s kosher, 2/3 of a 4lb box of Morton’s pickling, and then smaller quantities of assorted salts that maybe add up to another pound. ETA: And for bonus question: yes to both baking powder and baking soda. Clabber Girl and Arm & Hammer. Oddly, I’m out of bread. I don’t always have that around, for whatever reason. But I do try. I’d be curious about pasta being added to the list. That just seems to be something everyone has. The others are ingredients used to make other stuff, but pasta you could just boil and sauce or whatever for a quick meal. We have – way more pasta (and I’m including ramen in that definition) than I know what to do with. Rice is another one that should be in the poll (moreso than pasta, really.) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/4 "2022-08-22T18:24:47Z")
I have 2 out of the 3 listed (no flour). But I do have actual staples, do they count? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/5 "2022-08-22T18:26:40Z")
We have all three. Plus baking powder and baking soda. We also have three kinds of sugar – granulated, confectioner’s, brown. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/6 "2022-08-22T18:38:12Z")
All three plus baking soda and baking powder.Three types of sugar and regular and kosher salt and pasta and rice. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/7 "2022-08-22T18:40:18Z")
Yeah, we always have spaghetti in the cupboard, because I can’t live without it. We have three kinds of salt: Morton’s, Kosher, and Himalayan (a gift). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/8 "2022-08-22T18:40:55Z")
All of them and more. We have sugar and flour canisters in our pantry, and bags of it in a cupboard in the laundry room. We also have kosher and regular salt. And bread crumbs. And rice. And zillions of spices. But we seldom go out to eat so we are well stocked. And we buy in bulk when stuff is on sale. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/9 "2022-08-22T18:41:04Z")
I forget the exact discussion, by my wife and I were discussing what percentage of households we thought generally stocked al of these. Heck - I did even in college, when I’d bake an occasional batch of cookies, or flour some meat. But I suggested that this might be a classic situation in which we were generalizing from our own experiences/preferences. And I suspected many younger households might rely more on takeout/prepared meals such that they only bought sugar/flour/salt if they were making something special. We rarely stock pasta any more. When we do, it tends to be lentil-based. But brown rice - definitely. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/10 "2022-08-22T18:43:44Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > And I suspected many younger households might rely more on takeout/prepared meals such that they only bought sugar/flour/salt if they were making something special. Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if our kids (late 20s early 30s) didn’t have flour on hand. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/11 "2022-08-22T18:44:11Z")
We have all the aforementioned staples, including baking soda. Plus citric acid for mixing with baking soda and water to generate carbon dioxide. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/12 "2022-08-22T18:47:30Z")
All and many many more. We don’t eat out, nor do we buy very many pre-made foods of any kind. We bake, including bread. My kitchen is full of “staples”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/13 "2022-08-22T18:48:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > All of them. I can’t imagine having a kitchen and not having sugar, salt, flour in generous quantities around. This. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/14 "2022-08-22T18:53:15Z")
All and the bonus and lots of other stuff. But then, I have plenty of room to store it in; and I’m not near a grocery or a take out place every day, or even every week. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/15 "2022-08-22T18:58:29Z")
Yes to all, although to be fair I haven’t checked the far reaches of the cabinet, where baking soda and baking powder would be, in months. I probably haven’t scooped any flour out of its container since Thanksgiving 2021. We go through salt and sugar like they’re not making them any more. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/16 "2022-08-22T18:58:51Z")
All of the above. I don’t use baking powder much, but I’m pretty sure I have some. Definitely have baking soda. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/17 "2022-08-22T19:05:38Z")
White and rye flours stored in the freezer. I do very little baking these days and really only use the for two things, roux based gravies and home made noodles. (one part rye to four or five parts white flour adds a nice little twang to many savory noodle dishes, in my humble.) White sugar is nearly non-existent in my house. Molasses and honey make up the bulk of my sweeteners. Kosher salt is always on hand.’ I like to keep a box of Bisquick, some coarse corn meal and a couple of box cake mixes on hand. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/18 "2022-08-22T19:12:47Z")
I don’t know about that - the younger households I know cook at home about as often as my husband and I do. However, I do think what people consider “staples” depends on what they cook - my son cooks dinner most nights but I’d be shocked if he had any flour in his kitchen. He doesn’t bake and doesn’t need flour for the food he cooks. My daughter always has flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda - she doesn’t even buy pancake mix. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/19 "2022-08-22T19:20:26Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > One edit - once again I’ve proven myself incapable of creating a poll. Sorry. I’ll give it a try: **Which of these staples do you have in your home?** _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/19))_ ---
**Author:** ![Jungian\_Camisole1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jungian_camisole1/32/3646_2.png) [@Jungian\_Camisole1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jungian_Camisole1)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/20 "2022-08-22T19:25:16Z")
All of the above. Except for perishables like milk or fresh fruits and vegetables, I don’t think I’ll need to shop for any groceries for at least two months. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101.md?page=2)