I then spent a few years looking for the perfect way to store my spices. My mother's racks are perfect and the search began for racks similar to hers. It was an exercise in futility.
Real Simple Magazine came to my rescue. I adopted their method for the following reasons:
I have 70+ different spices in my kitchen.
This system keeps the spices out of the light.
It is uber-compact.
I can access whatever spice I need in less than ten seconds.
Basically, you decant your spices into watchmaker containers (Lee Valley corners the market) and then label them (labelling is so important in organization).
The only thing I would add to RS's system is to alphabetize. This is especially crucial with multiple cases. I labelled the cases 1-4 so I wouldn't be permanently stuck with A-E, F-I, etc. I've used these for years so I know 'cinnamon' is the first four containers of case 2 (yes I have four different kinds of cinnamon).
The whole shebang fits beautifully next to my stove.
I'm about to graduate into a fifth case. I'm worried that this is an obscene number of different spices.
What are your favorite spices? How do you organize them? Do you have a favorite spice blend you like to make?
What I Made:
The Businessman can't handle spices. He likes spice blends (calling them "Man Spice"). Thirteen years ago he got a container of Tony Cachere's Creole Seasoning. One day he panicked because he was in the middle of cooking eggs and realized the container was almost empty. I secretly looked at the ingredient list and whipped up about 1/2 cup of fresh seasoning blend for him and poured it into the container.He still has that same container.
I still fill it. I still don't know if he knows this. I made a fresh batch today.
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This is a great idea, although I'm not sure I like opening a box. I might have to use the watch boxes and put magnets on the back or something. But I love the little canisters! And my husband uses Tony's too. :-)
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