Spice Storage Ideas

Anna N · March 25, 2018

We have had a couple of topics before on this subject but most of them are now quite old and the links are no longer operating. Further, life has moved on and perhaps there are more interesting and efficient ways of storing a very large spice collection.

My spice storage is still the bane of my life. Despite many efforts to inventory it, tidy it up, find a new spot for it, find new containers for it I end up very often abandoning any idea of making a recipe simply because finding the spice might take me longer than making the damn recipe

This was brought to mind this morning because I was forced by circumstances to order spices from a rather expensive source and they arrived like this:

It occurred to me that this was a whole lot smarter than the normal round jar/bottle. But of course finding such containers would be very challenging and buying all my spices this way would put me into bankruptcy.

So is there anything new in the way of space storage that you know? Are you frustrated? Have you come up with any brilliant solutions that the rest of us have missed?

Edited March 25, 2018 by Anna N
To add two photographs (log)

suzilightning · March 25, 2018

ohhhhhh......like that.

I have a small spice rack above the baking area of the kitchen for the spices I usually use - cinnamon, vanilla beans, vanilla extract, cloves, nutmegs with a grater among others as well as some other things like baking powder and baking soda.

I also have a pull out rack between the oven and fridge that has my usual suspects there.....

my dried mushrooms are in similar containers in the cupboards right above my small prep area.

lindag · March 25, 2018

My spices, which are mostly Penney’s 1/2 cup and a few 1/4 cup jars, are stored in a corner carousel cabinet or, for the most fragile and oft-used, in a closed bin in the fridge door (which I believe was originally intended for fresh fruit).

paulraphael · March 25, 2018

All in the freezer. When my freezer had shelves in the door, I put the bottles there. Now we have drawer-style freezers. I found plastic organization bins (Container store?) that fit the bottles fairly well, though not as convenient as the door shelves. between buying whole spices whenever possible and keeping them in cold storage, they stay much fresher. I alsways have a small mortar/pestle and microplane handy.

rotuts · March 25, 2018

Im extremely fortunate that I have a chamber vac sealer w an oil pimp.

they bags are very cheap , and can be trimmed down etc.

I know very few people have something so fundamentally food-changing.

about a year ago , I realized I could get the herbs / spiced I wanted

abd re-rebag them in these bags. I would open one when I needed something

and the reseal that same bag , as the ones I made are much taller than wide. on purpose for this.

Ive wasted lots of herbs and spices over time as they get old , but I got a phenomenal deal buying So Much !

Idiot I am , for sure. cheap is not the same as frugal.

I also love jarred flavorings , indian from Patak , curry tubs from here and there

you get the point.

Ive thrown out much of the stuff from the Last Century.

when I get a new jar of paste or what not that I know I will only occasionally use

I scoop it out , into a self made taller bag.

as there might be a smear of the stuff at the top of that bag , I put that bag in a larger taller bag

then seal the second bag , effectively. I open the first bag , take out what I need from the first bag , and reseal the second bag.

this is for occasional stuff,

the herbs and spices I freeze , as I do the various pastes.

it seems like a lot of work , and I hope you get the idea

but any hobby is work , but this one is easy and I now, once I get all the new stuff done

won't have much to ever through away.

as I see before , Im blessed I was able to invest in a chamber vac sealer w an oil pump

this use is just an interesting aside , to me at least.

it paid for itself over and over again wi9th all the SV I do on the items I know i will use

and now I only get them on deep sale.

I started the spice/herb thing over a year ago w Bell's Seasoning , in the little yellow box w Tom the Turkey on the Front.

I use a lot of it for the gravy I make for both chicken and turkey.

the vine. '17 is still gong strong !

**ElsieD** · March 25, 2018

This is what I have. The first two pull-outs are the same size and where the smaller jars go. The spices are more or less in aphabetical order. The third pull-out is wider and has three shelves rather than the four of the first two. I use it for bigger jars and vinegars, soy sauce, and such.

Edited March 25, 2018 by ElsieD
Added picture (log)

FauxPas · March 25, 2018

I have very little cabinet space in this house so needed to find some solutions for spices. I have a couple of things that helped.

I bought one of these inexpensive little spice racks online and mounted it on the side of the end cabinet. It's good for commonly used items. .

And I bought an over-the-door storage unit from The Container Store's Elfa line. It holds a lot of stuff and can be customized with various-sized baskets. It sits on the pantry door, frees up a lot of shelf space and makes finding things easy.

And if I need to put spices in jars, I picked up a couple of dozen of these glass jars with spice lids at a local spice company. They weren't very expensive, less than a dollar each.

FauxPas · March 25, 2018

37 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

This is what I have. The first two pull-outs are the same size and where the smaller jars go. The spices are more or less in aphabetical order. The third pull-out is wider and has three shelves rather than the four of the first two. I use it for bigger jars and vinegars, soy sauce, and such.

Those are some beautiful pull-outs, @ElsieD! If I ever get around to replacing these cabinets (and they should really be replaced, they are so old), I would love to have a solution like yours.

JoNorvelleWalker · March 25, 2018

1 hour ago, FauxPas said:

I have very little cabinet space in this house so needed to find some solutions for spices. I have a couple of things that helped.

I bought one of these inexpensive little spice racks online and mounted it on the side of the end cabinet. It's good for commonly used items. .

And I bought an over-the-door storage unit from The Container Store's Elfa line. It holds a lot of stuff and can be customized with various-sized baskets. It sits on the pantry door, frees up a lot of shelf space and makes finding things easy.

I love the idea of door storage!

FauxPas · March 25, 2018

8 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I love the idea of door storage!

It works really well! Of course, you need a door near your kitchen for this option.

JoNorvelleWalker · March 25, 2018

8 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

It works really well! Of course, you need a door near your kitchen for this option.

I was thinking the bedroom door...bathroom is too moist.

FauxPas · March 25, 2018

10 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I was thinking the bedroom door...bathroom is too moist.

You could put it over the door so it faces outward, I don't think it has to go on the inside.

rotuts · March 25, 2018

so many wonderful systems

Im not trying to be flippant :

Penzey's Turkish Oregano , 8 0z / bag , divvied up

and Bells ' , ' 17

and no , I have not done it right : B '17 is in the freezer .

while TO for some reason is on the counter.

if you are able to slowly move in this direction ,

give it some thought

that bins said :

The Sirens are singing their song

( they always do )

they are singing :

" F_C , in your basement ! $ 200 , free delivery , to your very basement ! Right Now ! "

Ill wait for a sale.

JoNorvelleWalker · March 25, 2018

My spice storage from the other thread...

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/15363-your-spice-cabinet/?do=findComment&comment=2142427

Except for the spices in the bedroom.

Anna N · March 25, 2018

Well from what I see nothing much has changed in all the intervening years. @JoNorvelleWalker‘s link is ~15 years old!

Seems that efficient, affordable and compact spice storage has not caught the imagination of innovators.

JoNorvelleWalker · March 25, 2018

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

Well from what I see nothing much has changed in all the intervening years. @JoNorvelleWalker‘s link is ~15 years old!

Seems that efficient, affordable and compact spice storage has not caught the imagination of innovators.

By my count the link is a month old to the day.

rustwood · March 25, 2018

We have been very happy with these cabinet organizers:

We have 3 racks on one cabinet shelf with enough space left over for a line of the bulk spice shakers (e.g Costco red pepper). It is easy to slide them part way out and grab what we need. Not all jars will fit side by side on the bottom, but I can usually make them fit. The top half works well for most of our oddly shaped spice packages.

Anna N · March 25, 2018

20 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

By my count the link is a month old to the day.

Sorry you are right. The post only gives the month so I went to the top and discovered that the thread was from 2003 but your post is certainly not that old.

Anna N · March 25, 2018

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

so many wonderful systems

Im not trying to be flippant :

Penzey's Turkish Oregano , 8 0z / bag , divvied up

and Bells ' , ' 17

and no , I have not done it right : B '17 is in the freezer .

while TO for some reason is on the counter.

if you are able to slowly move in this direction ,

give it some thought

that bins said :

The Sirens are singing their song

( they always do )

they are singing :

" F_C , in your basement ! $ 200 , free delivery , to your very basement ! Right Now ! "

Ill wait for a sale.

Your system works fine for long-term storage but is extremely annoying for day to day use. I want to be able to easily scoop out a spoonful or so and not have to worry about resealing everything afterwards. Or for some things I want a shaker.

I want something like an old-fashioned library card cabinet with tiny atmospherically sealed drawers. When my ship comes in I will forward my idea to Nathan M and hope that he can put it into production. Would give him a rest from making books.

kayb · March 25, 2018

I buy a lot of my spices from a local bulk store that packages them in half-cup and cup plastic containers similar to what you'd get soup in from the Chinese takeout place. They seal nicely, so I stack them in plastic bins from the dollar store and keep them in cabinets. I try to keep them generally categorized -- baking spices here, different chiles here, Indian spices here, Asian spices here....but I wind up thinking I'm out of something, buying more, and then finding a container of the first. I think I have three containers of ground sage, and my Szechuan peppercorns keep hiding from me.

Thinking about Anna's card catalog idea...I'd like to have something like one of those pill containers, but a dozen spaces wide by six deep or so, the containers big enough to hold a half-cup of spices. In a rack so you could stack them.

Okanagancook · March 26, 2018

My spices are such a mess I cannot face it.

some good ideas here

https://www.wayfair.ca/dining/sb0/spice-jars-spice-racks-c246764.html

FauxPas · March 26, 2018

27 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

My spices are such a mess I cannot face it.

Photo, perhaps?

Anna N · March 26, 2018

48 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

My spices are such a mess I cannot face it.

some good ideas here

https://www.wayfair.ca/dining/sb0/spice-jars-spice-racks-c246764.html

Seems as if my library card cabinet is not a unique idea to me. Mind you it never is. As soon as I get a bright idea I discover somebody else had it long before I did!

Cabinet

Anna N · March 26, 2018

1 hour ago, kayb said:

Thinking about Anna's card catalog idea...I'd like to have something like one of those pill containers, but a dozen spaces wide by six deep or so, the containers big enough to hold a half-cup of spices. In a rack so you could stack them.

Perhaps eG will be the innovators of new spice storage concepts. Perhaps we will all become wealthy.