Tall spice racks take up a lot of space in a small kitchen. I was always banging in to mine and moving it around to free up its countertop footprint. Exposed to light and cooking grease, the bottles were getting gross and the spices were losing their potency.
I switched over to a spice drawer, using this In-Drawer Spice Rack ($24.99, The Container Store). Unlike the spice carousels where you need to spin and spin to find what you want, here every spice is available face up and ready to grab one-handed. It is easy to see what spices you're running low on. I like how this long narrow rack leaves a margin along side of the drawer. That's where I keep my unopened bags of spices and pre-packaged spices, like Old Bay, that don't fit into the rack.
The biggest downside to the spice rack system is that a whole drawer needs to be sacrificed for spice. Many apartment cooks won't want to give up a knife drawer for a spice spot. Where do you store your spices? If you happen to have any pictures of your collection, we'd like to see.
Well, I use glass containers /plastic containers (recycled ) for storing spices. I have shelves attached to the door of a Cabinet. I also have a drawer ( which keeps ) the little extras and small tiny containers that I fill in the spices near the stove.
Whatever spices I have are in either of these 2 places.
I have a sort of pantry, tall closet in the kitchen that is housing all my cooking ingredients. Favorite thing about the kitchen:) Anyway I have my spices stored between two shelves, not the best system as they tend to migrate to new locations but it works. I have bought a basket system from Bed Bath & Beyond that I have stored the spices that are in little plastic baggies and I have to admit I almost never go get anything out of it, as I am not exactly sure what's in there. I guess it's time to clean it up in there!!
We too have a spice drawer -- almost no cabinet space, but a ton of deep drawers, oddly enough. The boyfriend worked at Penzey's for a summer, and we've got so many spice jars, that we have to stand them upright and label the top with little sticky dots (like you'd use for garage sale prices). It works, although it's a little disorganized.
i keep my spices in clear top metal jars that i got at ikea that stick on the side of the fridge. peppers & salts go in smaller versions from the container store that have holes in them. i can see at a glance what i have and what i'm running low on and i like the way that they look. if you click on my name it should bring you to the picture on my flicker page
Since my kitchen only has two drawers, giving one up for spices was out of the question!
I use magnetic ones from the container store stuck to the side of the fridge. (which happens to be just 6 inches from the stove - making it very convenient when cooking). Then made labels for each container.
Our kitchen had an old ironing board cupboard. I put tiny shelves in it and it's perfect. :)
I mounted mine on this magnetic strip thing I got at the Container Store:
http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=70879&PRODID=72044
I think it's pretty genius, cool to look at (it made me want to have more multicolored spices), and ultimately, a fantastic space-saver.
We measured the interior of the drawer that we planned to use for spices and bought the right number of spice jars from Penzey's Spices online. Then I bought labels at the Container Store (permanent marker, unless you use the special eraser that comes with) and put an individual label on the top of each one. The jars are clear glass with a black lid. They look clean, and fill the drawer without lots of dead space.
I found a bunch of old biology department glass jars in my dad's barn, so I use those for spice jars. They're just on shelves with my plates, which I guess lacks a certain organizational flair, but they were free and I like them. I put some pictures in flickr, I tagged the atkitchen:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=atkitchen&w=all&s=int
I haven't figured out how to properly label them, though. I tried to find some little round labels to put on the lids, but didn't see ones that were small enough. I was also thinking maybe a grease pencil? Or is that ill-advised?
I "inherited" 4 of those little turn-table things from my mother-in-law. They are avocado green and harvest gold, right out of the 60s (what a hoot!). I use an old TV/stereo cabinet for my spices. The 6-inch high shelves are perfect for the retro carousels. So even though I do have to turn them around and around looking for the right herb or spice, at least they and the carousels are in the dark and compacted into a more or less small space. I may just take a photo and post it. Will let you know if I do.
v in boston--
Awesome jars! I love old glassware. As for labeling, I think grease pencil would befit their former lab usage. Just invest in some pure acetone (from hardware store) to serve as an "eraser".
There seem to be paper labels and some markings on the jars already. Are these from their previous life?
Thanks, Michelle!
I'll try the grease pencil and acetone.
The little paper labels were a stop-gap (mailing labels cut into pieces). The original labels are numbers etched into the sides and tops of the jars (you might be able to make out some of them in the photos). Unfortunately, the top numbers don't always correspond to the jar numbers, or I'd just have a list that read something like "117A -- ground ginger."
re: labelling-
I mark all my jars with a sharpie in black, near the bottom of the jar. At the moment they aren't very uniformly marked, but the idea is there. Oh, and the marker washes off quite gracefully (click my name for a picture)
I re-use small jars as my spice jars. I like being able to dip my measuring spoon into the jar itself. And i'm lucky enough to have a great source for bulk seasonings right in the neighborhood!
i like a p-touch labeler myself (although none of my spice jars are labeled since i know by sight what's in all of them and they're arranged in an order of sorts -- indian spices across the top row, then french spices, italian spices, then mexican on the bottom row)
Ooooh, I like!
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