Spice jars

[syntheticjesso]

So I reorganized my pantry this last weekend (I have so much more room now!) and tossed all the old stuff (from as far back as 2008!) and generally tamed the mess that was in my teeny tiny pantry. From the outside, it looks like a regular pantry, but when you open the door you see the whole bottom half is taken up with a water heater. Boo hiss

Comments

[anita_margarita]

I use a combination of old jars (even an old molasses jar to store cinnamon sticks in!) and new jars. The new ones are plastic with red tops that have two openings - one to sprinkle and one large enough for a measuring spoon. I got those at a supermarket that sells spices in bulk. Then I printed labels on my computer for those.

*Sigh* I keep intending to have a nice matched set of spice jars...

Having said that, you might check out Penzey's (on the web) as they sell spices in attractive jars, and I believe they also stock just plain jars.

[syntheticjesso]

I was looking at Penzey's! They even have a store in south Arlington, where I could go and spend Way Too Much Money! And their plain jars would all match while still being different sizes for different things.

[anita_margarita]

I Love me some Penzey's. They're reasonably priced and have great spice mixes (I'm in love with Tuscan seasoning and Turkish seasoning, and their Green Goddess and Buttermilk Dressing mix). And they ship quickly.

[syntheticjesso]

I've heard how wonderful they are, and I purposely put off going in there when I saw they opened the store by me because I knew it would be a "kid in a candystore" thing.

[a_boleyn]

It's difficult since "real" spice jars should be dark if you don't keep them in a dark spot to minimize degradation. And since you will use some spices more than others, you'll have to have different sizes. Once you figure that out, you'll need to transfer your spices to other containers so you may want to use labels that can be easily removed and replaced. And, you'll want to have some spices in whole seed and also ground form.

Good luck... after 20 yrs and a lack of storage space, I still use a mish mash of different sizes and periodically have spice jars that take a dive off the shelf as I go rummaging around for what I'm looking for. :)

[syntheticjesso]

This is true! Mine will probably always live in some kind of cabinet though- it's where my mom kept them, so keeping them "out" seems weird :)

Honestly, having them *perfectly* matched (same size, etc) is negotiable as well. There are definitely some that would be bigger and some smaller. I think I'd like them to all be the same style, though, for the sake of stacking/sorting/labeling.

I currently live in fear of dropping ANYTHING in my pantry. I'm convinced that it will either a) fall and roll behind the water heater, to be lost forever, or b) fall ON the water heater and somehow make it explode. I just know that one day that thing is going to blow up at me.

[a_boleyn]

My spices are above my dish draining board. I've had at least one dish cracked by a glass bottle falling from the highest shelf. Currently my spices are divided among 3 different shelves.

[pandoralsu]

I buy my spices in the bulk food section of Whole Foods. It's cheaper, you waste less and you can store them in a rubbermaid box in the ziploc bag. I label them when I purchase them. It saves a TON of space.

[syntheticjesso]

Wow, that's a brilliant idea that I hadn't even considered! I could do that with the stuff I don't use very often (helloooo, expensive spices I use in my chai cookies and spend way too much on) and get teeny quantities.

[carminaburana]

Ikea has fantastic and cheap jars. I bought some pre printed spice labels at the dollar store, but i think any labels would work. I also used a multi-tiered pastry display that i got on sale at Bed Bath and Beyond for a rack.

[syntheticjesso]

Pastry display! Good idea. I need to measure how much vertical space I have in there.

[desahra]

Not so much spice jars, but an organizational idea. I have no pantry (boo), so my spices are up in a cupboard. I cut the flaps off an Amazon box and put all my spices in there so I can pull the whole thing down and look through it if need be, without the rummaging and breakage that a_boleyn mentioned. I realize that may be a bit more improvised than you're looking for (I'm a college student), but you can buy a storage box from Target for this.

[a_boleyn]

Putting the bottles in a box is an idea I tried at one point. A transparent box would be best or you'd have to label the contents which is one of the reasons I don't use the box idea any more. I also found the box took up more room than just the loose bottles. It got pretty heavy as well as blocking access to other things on the shelves behind it or I had to remove things in front of it to get the box down.