We've seen a lot of magnetic spice jars; they're quite the thing for small kitchens, right? But these jars are the cleverest and nicest we've seen lately. They don't come with a separate strip; they just stick to your fridge in rather lovely beehive pattern.
We love how these rather look like a colorful beehive when clustered together, and we also love how the name of the spice or herb is stamped into the lid!
Now, before you howl about how spices need to be in the dark and shouldn't be so exposed — yes, in general we agree with you. But we also think that small jars like these (1.5 ounce) would be gone through quickly enough to make no difference, and the convenience (and beauty!) of having them near to hand might be worth the tradeoff. What do you think?
• Find it! Magnetic Spice Rack for Compact Living (set of 24, 1.5 oz jars), $60 at Gneiss Spice
Thanks for the tip, Kim!
Related: 5 Eclectic (Yet Coordinated) Spice Jar Sets
(Images: Gneiss Spice)
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Like it a lot!
They look great, but how would you get the one in the middle out with out rearranging them all?
The do look great - but they only hold 1.5 oz of spice and most spices come in jars larger than that...so you still have to store spices elsewhere. Kind of defeats the space saving goal.
I wouldn't think exposing most spices to light and heat would do much for their shelf life...
I love them. We don't have cabinets in our kitchen, only open shelving, so the light argument doesn't matter. If I hadn't already created a spice set-up I like, I'd definitely buy these.
So pretty. but I'm constantly knocking things off of my fridge... I'd probably end up making a mess!
I think aesthetically it's a great new alternative!
But I agree with the light and heat comments....not to mention that the spice label would be against the fridge making it inaccessible. That doesn't present a problem if you are looking for peppercorn vs bay leaf; but it does if you are trying guess which is garlic powder and which is onion.
I love these! More so if they were stuck to a piece of sheet metal inside a cabinet door - so pretty and organized! And as for garlic vs onion -- just organize them in a way to remember the basic area its in and double check before using.
Yea they look cool on the fridge in the picture but I agree, it would be a nightmare to push them apart to get 1 spice form the middle plus think about it: marjoram looks like oregano looks like mint which is similar to parsley, etc...I like to see the name before the spice.
I have tried magnetic containers on the fridge - but they tended to slide downwards. Maybe the fridge is made of too fine a gauge of metal to work?
Not to mention that the names are stamped on the jars - what if my stock of spices doesn't match the labels?
They are really cute though, I'll grant that.
Here's a system I came up with to addresses the frustrations I had trying to store spices. I wanted something compact, modular, and very flexible.
http://tablefare.com/video
Bobolink: the creator will customize the lids for you! I looked, because I had the same concern. I cook with a lot of asian spices, that aren't your typical housewife spice rack names...
I want to use this idea for small craft items, like buttons and pins and things - same idea of small jars and rare earth magnets - the creator has a DIY tutorial here, and the jars are available
Hi! I think you all are much more sophisticated than the urban crowd I usually cater to! And, I bet you know your spices so well that it won't matter much how close they look to each other. It's a little game for me to see if I choose the right one. I agree with your critiques above--but I guess I'm more of a designer than a chef. I keep the ones I use most often at the edges--and the inside ones aren't that hard to get to by separating the jars a bit.
BTW: You tell me what spice names you want. I make the sets to order. I also have 4 oz. jars--but considering the arguments above, the 1.5 oz jars are better to keep fresh spices. And, they don't slide down my fridge (I haven't gotten any returns or complaints yet). Thanks for looking at my stuff. There's other kitchen solution here: www.gneissspice.etsy.com ~Bethany ;-)
I'm totally digging this. Looks really great, but it probably wouldn't work for everyone. And I'd use a Sharpie or wax pencil to write the name of the spice of the jar because I think that would be helpful and look good.
Unless it's something I use a lot of, I try to buy small amounts of spices from bulk sellers, so the small size of the jars is fine with me. For things I buy in larger quantity, I'd still use the smaller jars for the active rotation and stash the big container in the back of a dark cabinet--both to preserve freshness and limit cross-contamination (my bf is in the habit of not cleaning measuring spoons between dips...parsley flakes in the nutmeg...erg.)
these lids look much better than the ones on the magnetic spice jars from Container Store - those stopped spinning, making the whole thing kinda useless.
That spicecare system looks awesome.....but expensive! Guess I'll have to hold out for quite a while to get a good system for my spices!
I'm sorry to the owner of the Etsy store but you can (maybe) buy the jars for <$1 each here:
http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=16
(sans the magnet and stamped label, of course)