Storing Spices

[Anna N]

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A great idea, but wouldn't you deal with the occasional catastrophe of one of those tins falling off the door while it was beeing open/closed?  I can imagine myself cleaning some otherwise perfectly good spices off of my floor on many an occasion.

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No problems so far. These are pretty powerful magnets and the lids fit very securely so that even if one fell off, there's a good chance of no spills.

[Cleo]

These tins from The Container Store have been working well for me. Not magnetic. I stack them in one of my cabinets and I made labels for each one.

[Darcie B]

I have a wide drawer in which I keep most of my spices. I transferred them from their original containers (generally Penzey's bags) into these Penzey's jars.

I have 47 jars in there and could have more if I used smaller jars and kept the remainder in the fridge.

[jgm]

Maybe this is a whole new thread, but how do you arrange your spices? Alphabetically? Or do you group them? If so, what kind of groups?

[RonC]

Cool - thanks for sharing!

Sidecar Ron

I have a wide drawer in which I keep most of my spices. I transferred them from their original containers (generally Penzey's bags) into these Penzey's jars.

I have 47 jars in there and could have more if I used smaller jars and kept the remainder in the fridge.

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[RonC]

Mrs. Sidecar is an English Major - gotta be alphabetically.

Ol' Sidecar Ron

Maybe this is a whole new thread, but how do you arrange your spices?  Alphabetically?  Or do you group them?  If so, what kind of groups?

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[SuzySushi]

I have a plain oak spice rack that's been following me around for the past 25 years. I bought it at a kitchenware store in Brookyn Heights, but I've seen similar ones for sale on eBay, in various sizes. It can be mounted on a wall or is stable enough to stand on a counter.

Mine has 3 tiers and holds about 30 standard spice jars (a few more if I squeeze them together a little). I've saved the glass jars from old spices to use for new spices. Larger back-up quantities and spices/herbs that lose their fragrance quickly get stored in the freezer, in 2 layers of Ziploc freezer bags. I haven't found a problem with transferred flavors/scents.

[edsel]

I keep the most-frequently-used spices in little jars with ceramic grinder heads. Bulk supplies and larger spices like Ancho chilis get vacuum-sealed in mason jars. (We get those obnoxious meal moths in Ohio, too, Fifi).

I keep the "bulk" stuff away from sunlight. The least-used stuff (for me, at least), like black cardomom and cubeb pepper, gets stashed in vacuum-sealed jars or pouches in the cellar where it's dark and cool.

A few small and expensive items like saffron, fennel pollen, "exquisite"-grade paprika, get vacuum-sealed and refridgerated.

One little rule that I have to remind myself of: the "frequently-used" stuff has to be turned over often, even if it means tossing some occasionally.

As for organization, that's a whole 'nother pathology.