# 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:** 5
**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 23, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/81 "2022-08-23T16:17:42Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/82 "2022-08-23T16:21:50Z")
As far as things we keep on hand beyond the stuff already mentioned in my other posts, we typically have: Beer, wine, liquor. Fruit- always lemons, limes and apples, and we frequently have other more seasonal fruit. Right now it’s grapes and cherries. As winter gets closer, it’ll be more citrus- grapefruits and oranges. Ramen- my kids LOVE it, and it’s a fast meal if we’re in a hurry. Coffee and tea, both for iced and hot tea. Diet soda… for me. My wife cooks a dish out of urad dal (a sort of white lentil), so we keep that on hand. I lumped stuff like dried chiles under “spices” upthread, but we usually have a couple kinds of those- ancho and guajillo usually, along with some sort of small, hot pepper. Coconut milk and curry paste are staples, I suppose. You can make a pretty decent approximation of Thai curry with those, vegetables, and chicken, and it’s fairly quick and easy. There’s almost always yogurt of some kind in the fridge, and often a couple kinds. My wife likes White Mountain plain, and I like Noosa, Chobani and Fage in various flavors. There’s usually cold cereal- Special K more often than not; I’ll eat it and so will one of my sons. And we always have milk. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/83 "2022-08-23T17:19:39Z")
Not at all. Baking soda cuts acidity very efficiently without adding the sweetness or unhealthy aspect of sugar. I don’t use much. A large pot of sauce gets one full tablespoon, and a small 2 quart pot gets an even teaspoon’s worth. There are adjustments for individual taste, of course, but they need to be modest ones. Too much makes your sauce flat and hurts the taste. ---
**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 23, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/84 "2022-08-23T17:24:54Z")
Thanks for the proportions. @pulykamell 's post had me a bit worried about trying it. ---
**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 23, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/85 "2022-08-23T17:39:48Z")
It’s worth trying, and definitely is a “thing.” I’ve done it before, but tend not to use it, as I very rarely find a tomato sauce too acidic to my tastes. I’ve overdone it, and it’s not just tasting “flat.” It’s downright chalky and inedible if you have too much unreacted baking soda. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/86 "2022-08-23T17:45:34Z")
We’ve got a store of staples that would make most preppers blush. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/87 "2022-08-23T20:15:46Z")
All three, tho we rarely use sugar or salt. The only thing I add salt to is pizza, and it has to be large grain salt, either kosher or sea salt. My wife salts some things while cooking, but I’d guess we only buy salt every 5+ years. As far as I know, the only reason we have white sugar is to make nectar for orioles and hummingbirds. 🙂 We do have brown sugar for other things. Several kinds of flour, mostly for baking needs. ETA: No cereal, no canned soups. My wife drinks soda so we always have some kind of sugar free stuff around. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/88 "2022-08-23T20:26:41Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > The only thing I add salt to is pizza, and it has to be large grain salt, either kosher or sea salt. Not sure if you are making your own za, but on the infrequent instances that we order za, after my wife and I inevitably comment as to how salty it was. My personal experience is that the less you use salt, the less you miss it - and the saltier prepared foods taste. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/89 "2022-08-23T21:54:01Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > My personal experience is that the less you use salt, the less you miss it - and the saltier prepared foods taste. According to my doctor, my salt intake is low. She’s asked me a couple of times to eat more salt. Putting salt on pizza every 2 or 3 months apparently isn’t enough. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/90 "2022-08-24T00:24:12Z")
Yeah - my sister was told the same thing. When we bike ride, she adds salt to her water bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/91 "2022-08-24T00:55:02Z")
All of them, plus baking powder (Rumsford, because no aluminum), baking soda (A&H), yeast (Bob’s Red Mill), sea salt, kosher salt, regular salt, peppercorns. Actually, most everything in the food cupboard are staples for me, as I use them often. I also buy eight pounds of bacon at a time from Costco, and six pounds of Kerrygold butter, which all go in the freezer. We go through a _lot_ of butter. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/92 "2022-08-24T03:57:25Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > My personal experience is that the less you use salt, the less you miss it - and the saltier prepared foods taste. Also true of sugar. I grew up eating peanut butter that had sugar infused into it. Now that tastes _nasty_. Same with marinara sauce, WTF is with putting sugar in your red sauce? Outside of desserts I don’t add sugar to much of anything… omit it from recipes that call for it. I do have a salty tooth but I’ve come to enjoy alternatives to salt including lots of herbs and spices with a tiny sprinkling of salt. Popcorn for instance with some toasted sesame oil and 1/4 the salt I’d otherwise use. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/93 "2022-08-24T05:00:14Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > So how many salts do you folk need for what purposes? Regular Morton table salt for the salt shaker, which I rarely use because I rarely want to taste “saltiness.” It’s more for guest use. Non-iodized kosher salt for baking and putting in water when boiling pasta, veggies, rice, etc – iodized salt is distincly bitter to me. Pickling salt for making homemade pickles and pickled peppers, and fleur-de-sel from back when I would put a pinch on a salad or use it in homemade salad dressings. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/94 "2022-08-24T05:22:48Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I’m curious: to those who don’t keep any of the three items, what sort of meals do you eat at home that you don’t need sugar or salt? What sort of meals do you eat that you _do_ need sugar? Salt obviously is a common table item but what meal do you need to add sugar to? I think there’s probably a bag of flour somewhere in the kitchen but I can’t remember ever actually using flour for anything. I have never baked any kind of bread/pastry thing. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/95 "2022-08-24T09:43:05Z")
I can’t imagine not having large quantities of those 3 on hand (along with BP and BS and yeast). I have 2 different wheat flours in bulk (\>10 kg) as well as other kinds in 1kg or less. Bulk white sugar and lots of other specialty sugars. Bulk table salt and then plenty of fleur de sel and other finishing salts. Other dry staples always on hand include various rices, spaghetti, ramen noodles, lentils and couscous. > [@Lancia](#): > > large-grained brown sugar but loose, like regular sugar Turbinado? Demerara? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/96 "2022-08-24T13:04:38Z")
Yeah, you’re right about sugar if one is not baking, putting it in coffee, or on cereal. But in my adult life I’ve always done at least one of those things, and so have never been without a bag of sugar in my house. But different folks, different strokes. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/97 "2022-08-24T16:18:51Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Demerara That’s the one, I think. It works better than plain white sugar for sprinkling on Christmas sugar cookies. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/98 "2022-08-24T16:53:54Z")
Sugar - white, brown, muscovado, and coconut. Also honey, molasses, coco syrup, and maple syrup. Flour - enriched white, whole wheat, rye. Salt - coarse sea salt, fine salt, Himalayan pink salt. Yes to both baking powder and baking soda. As for the staple the greatest percentage of the population would have, my guess would be rice. ---
**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 30, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/99 "2022-08-30T17:51:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Your milage will vary wildly based on your family, ethnicity, tolerance for convenience foods, etc. But my gut says households with cereal overall, in the US, outnumber households with ramen. Ramen is camping food. I’d buy it for a backpacking trip and that’s it. Other than that, too me it is poverty/student/desperation food and I haven’t been in any of those categories for decades. I do have cold cereal, my husband uses it as a late night snack. The only cold cereal I can abide is shredded wheat. ---
**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 30, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101/100 "2022-08-30T18:00:10Z")
Since we eat a lot of cooked grains, I keep stuff like quinoa, bulghur, white and brown rices, farro, cornmeal, oatmeal, cracked wheat, polenta, as well as black, navy, pinto, adzuki, and other beans. I remember a young woman acquaintance looked at my dry goods shelf (all of the above plus all my flours, sugars, etc. are in gallon and half-gallon glass jars), and remarked that my kitchen was full of stuff that she didn’t have a clue what it was, much less how to prepare it. And yet I’ve managed my kitchen this way since the 1970’s … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-staples-do-you-have-in-your-house/970101.md?page=4)