Spice Storage

[Sjak]

Hi,
I am in the process of designing my kitchen and I would like to get some help with my spice storage. I have narrowed it down to a few options.. maybe square tins with clear lids maybe a drawer or magnetic board??

Too many choices.....

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
SJak

 

[Snip 13]

I use a wall mounted spice rack for spices that I don't use daily and a smaller rotating round spice rack that is kept on my counter next to the stove for spices I use often.

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

I currently use two cupboard shelves for my spices but part of that is because I buy some of them in large containers (about 7 or 8 inches tall, 2 inches wide and 3 or 4 inches deep) and the kitchen is kind of small with very little counter or wall space. If I were actually designing a kitchen I'd have several places to store spices. I'd probably keep the large containers of spices in the pantry and then portion them out into smaller containers to keep closer to the stove. For spices that I use daily, they'd be right by the stove in whatever sort of rack fit best for the area and kept them the most accessible. I'd have another "pretty" rack for spices that didn't get used as frequently that would be kept further away from the stove, preferably in a cooler area of the kitchen. For anything that might be stored for a longer period of time I'd use opaque containers and labels to protect the spices from sunlight.

Do you have a basic kitchen layout with the stove, fridge, counters, etc. that you could attach? Also, do you keep a lot of spices or just a few? Having that information might help us know what kinds of things to suggest. Personally, I kind of want the containers that are triangular and when you put the long sides of the triangles up against each other they make a square. I think it would be space economical and triangular spice containers just aren't seen as often so would also be sort of a novelty. I've only seen them in stores a couple of times and not for quite a while. I wonder if you could store spices in wood containers. If so, when I finally get to have a kitchen of my own (instead of in a house I'm renting), I might just have to make my own racks and containers.

 

[licia]

I was wondering about the spice holders that are advertised on tv. They rotate and hold quite a few spices. Has anyone used those?

 

[Dawgluver]

I was wondering about the spice holders that are advertised on tv. They rotate and hold quite a few spices. Has anyone used those?

Those do look interesting.

I have a cabinet by the stove with two shelves that I put lazy susans on. Fairly easy to get to the spices. I also built a dedicated stand-alone spice cabinet out of a big dresser drawer with a hinged door and shelves inside. It's up on spindle legs. Definitely one of a kind, but it works!

 

[Robo410]

herbs and spices do best in a cool dark dry place. so a drawer or cabinet is better than out in the open. turntables and step-like shelving are tried and true. if you are buying bulk and want smaller jars for daily use items, consider if you want shaker tops or open tops for pinching. Keep all the timeers close at hand and the once in a whiles elsewhere if space is limited.

also, the advice to toss the product after a year and buy fresh really depends on how you store and use your herbs and spices. Many are fairly potent and will last longer if well stored.

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

Those do look interesting.

I have a cabinet by the stove with two shelves that I put lazy susans on. Fairly easy to get to the spices. I also built a dedicated stand-alone spice cabinet out of a big dresser drawer with a hinged door and shelves inside. It's up on spindle legs. Definitely one of a kind, but it works!

Where do I find the like button?

 

[Dawgluver]

Where do I find the like button?

Thanks! I tried to take pics, but will have to mess with the lighting. Sort of an antique looking R2D2.

 

[Janet H]

Take a look at these - they are expensive but amazing. They stack and save loads of room. SpiceCare Interlocking Spice Storage System | TableFare

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Take a look at these - they are expensive but amazing. They stack and save loads of room. SpiceCare Interlocking Spice Storage System | TableFare

Ohhh! Shrek will be calling you names in the morning... I love those!

 

[Janet H]

Ohhh! Shrek will be calling you names in the morning... I love those!

It took me a year to screw up the gumption to spend the dough - but they are the best spice containers I've ever had! The small size holds a little less than a standard spice jar from the grocery store. The next size up is really big. I store most things in the small containers and a few things in the large ones.

I have stacks of small ones for thinks like celery seeds, mustard seeds, etc
I use the large ones for oregano, basil, and things I use in high volume.

 

[Andy M.]

I was wondering about the spice holders that are advertised on tv. They rotate and hold quite a few spices. Has anyone used those?

I've seen those ads. They always show them in an empty cabinet. Nothing in there but the spice rack. I wonder how well they work in a cabinet full of other stuff.

 

[Andy M.]

Take a look at these - they are expensive but amazing. They stack and save loads of room. SpiceCare Interlocking Spice Storage System | TableFare

I see myself always needing the herb or spice in the middle of a stack so I'd have to always be disconnecting a stack of containers for the middle one. Then I'd reconnect them so that was on top but then I'd need the one in the middle next time...

 

[SherryDAmore]

I have this one: http://http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcap...Bottle-FlipDown-Cabinet-Organizer?&cookie=set, which I really like - I alphabetized my spices (anal, I know) but the Swivel Store looks interesting.....

 

[licia]

I have this one: http://http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcap...Bottle-FlipDown-Cabinet-Organizer?&cookie=set, which I really like - I alphabetized my spices (anal, I know) but the Swivel Store looks interesting.....

Sherry, I couldn't pull up the page.

Andy, I have a full cabinet of spices and herbs plus runover into other cabinets. I don't put anything else in the spice cabinet, so was thinking maybe 4 of them would be nice. But my luck with things ordered "as seen on tv" is that they don't work as well as shown. If these works, it would be a definite improvement over searching each time.

 

[SherryDAmore]

Try again: https://spicestack.com/index.php

It holds a lot of spices....

 

[Zereh]

I like this if you have the space to dedicate a drawer to them.

Of course there's never enough room for everything so I also have a low-sided basket sitting on a pantry shelf as well. I labeled each lid so I can easily pick out what I need (instead of having to lift up 15 jars to find the right one).

I buy the majority of my spices in the bulk section of our co-op, but I don't buy them in bulk quantity.

 

[Janet H]

I see myself always needing the herb or spice in the middle of a stack so I'd have to always be disconnecting a stack of containers for the middle one. Then I'd reconnect them so that was on top but then I'd need the one in the middle next time...

This was my concern as well - but truthfully there are many spices that I only use occasionally - those get stacked. The ones I use daily I put in larger containers and store a singles. So for instance in a stack I might have black mustard seeds, fenugreek, coriander seeds, Juniper berries. In another stack I might have pwd ginger, ground cloves, pwd cinnamon, nutmeg. Then in larger singles, oregano, basil, dill and basil.

Since you can group spices by stack, if you are cooking a pumpkin pie - you can pull down the that with the ginger and unsnap them all - use them and then put away. You can store curry spices the same way. it is a little more work than many individual jars, but in the long run you save both time and storage space. When I got these I cut my spice storage space use in half.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

This was my concern as well - but truthfully there are many spices that I only use occasionally - those get stacked. The ones I use daily I put in larger containers and store a singles. So for instance in a stack I might have black mustard seeds, fenugreek, coriander seeds, Juniper berries. In another stack I might have pwd ginger, ground cloves, pwd cinnamon, nutmeg. Then in larger singles, oregano, basil, dill and basil.

Since you can group spices by stack, if you are cooking a pumpkin pie - you can pull down the that with the ginger and unsnap them all - use them and then put away. You can store curry spices the same way. it is a little more work than many individual jars, but in the long run you save both time and storage space. When I got these I cut my spice storage space use in half.

I'm sold...this will be my "frivolous" purchase for the month of August and it's not even August, yet.

 

[bakechef]

Spice storage is a problem for me, it is about the last thing in my kitchen that is inconvenient and drives me crazy.

Some things are in tiny Penzy's jars, other things are in pouches, and others are in larger containers. Thing is there are so many different sizes, that If I pour the larger into smaller more organizable (I think that I just made up a word) containers, then I still have the larger ones to store somewhere, now I have spices in two places.

Seems like I am always digging to the back of a cabinet for that one spice.