Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I keep my spices in drawers (with full extension slides), with the lids labeled, so I look down and can find them instantly. I also highlight them with different colors - green for herbs, orange for "sweet" spices, yellow for most of the rest. I also have two boxes of small containers of Indian spices I keep in a cupboard - one mixes, the other, all the usual things used, even if they are also in my regular drawer (cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom, cumin, fennel, mustard seed, etc.) - this way, I just pull out the one box, and everything is in it. And the other box, if any spice mixes are used in the meal. Whole spices keep well, and I don't grind too many at a time, for the mixes.

All the large amounts of things I buy I keep in the freezer, in a box of foodsaver bags for the ground spices, and jars or ziplocs for the whole spices.

Lisa,

Indirect sunlight isn't as damaging, but it's still damaging. My spice jars from the picture are shaded by a cabinet, and are lids-out ... but still delicate herbs like chives have a lifetime of weeks, and I keep poppy seeds in the fridge. I used to have spice jars made entirely of white glass, which were better, but they broke over the years, and I can't replace them.

Frosting your own glass jars might be the best approach, especially if you plan to stand them upright.

What about these jars?

http://www.specialtybottle.com/salvejarsambermi.aspx

JesBelle - a truly awesome site!

I tried storing spices in indirect sunlight in the original ironing board cut-out in my kitchen (old house, old kitchen.) Herbs turned gray in no time flat. Now they are in a corner cabinet, alphabetized with the labels on the top.

Lisa - under the category of none of my business - but - when was the last time you overhauled your kitchen gadget drawer, cabinets, pantry et al? It's amazing how much space can be reclaimed. Do you have a garage or store space? Mine's filled with lots of gadgets, pans I had to have and even seasonal roasters. Here's an old interview for inspiration from Mark Bittman, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/mark-bittmans-bad-kitchen/

That said, if you must keep your spices/herbs out, that great site JB mentioned might solve your problem.

Andrea, I love your reclaiming space idea. One slight problem is that some of us are gadgetholics. I love cooking gadgets and equipment. DH can't complain because he has every tool ever made. Having said that, I do find that cleaning my big gadget drawer at least once a year helps a great deal. Some of the stuff I kept because of sentimental associations or as AB would call them "unitasker", e.g. a taco holder for frying tacos which will go in the current Salvation Army pickup in the next few weeks. I used it a lot years ago, but now at the risk of being kicked off the board, I enjoy the 12 for $10.00 Taco Bell ones just as much when I need a taco fix. However, I do love having the perfect tool for the job though, used my new hand dough mixer today and loved it. So it gets packed again fairly quickly with new stuff.

JesBelle, that site is wonderful. I love glass containers (actually tin and wood as well, anything but plastic). It is so much easier to keep stuff fresh and see what you have in glass containers.

Lisa, I think your original idea with some of the amber bottles would work well. I would suggest, trying maybe one shelf with inexpensive spices and see how they do. You could put a cloth covering that complements your kitchen if you needed extra protection. Have you considered using the wall to store some of the things that currently live in your drawer so you can put your spices there instead?

JB,

But why don't they have amber or blue glass jars in a spice jar size & shape?

Google "25 Best Ways to Organize (Spices Storage Solution)" Some clever ideas here.

A friend of mine bought some magnetic spice tins from World Market and has them stuck all over the side of her refrigerator. Must be 30 or 40 of them.

fitzie

Ya got me, but I've never liked spice jars anyway. I like to be able to get all of my measuring spoons into the jar, not just the 1/4 teaspoon. It seems to me that the spice jar size and shape are better suited to that little display rack that non-cooks have in their kitchens -- the ones that never get used because the salt, pepper, and taco seasoning are in a cupboard next to the stove and who knows what "cumin" is anyway. If space was a problem, I'd probably opt to use metal tins stuck to the wall.

I have exactly four drawers in my kitchen, five if you include the microwave cart which is already where about half of my spices are stored. While I love the idea of reclaimed space, I am indeed a gadget-aoholic and I do regular purges just to maintain the ability to close the drawers I do have.

I love the blue glass jars, but yes it really is too bad they don't have any in a more straight sided tallish shapes. Those would be very pretty covered with a white frosting. I will keep an eye on this site, it might solve some other problems as well.

I could also possibly cover the whole wall with metal and use metal tins, but I worry I would knock them off the wall everytime I walked by it. It is a high traffic area. That is probably something won't know until I try it.

Thank you all!

--Lisa

I really like the victorian square jars on there. Must resist.