5 Ways to Organize Your Spice Rack

In the last installment of Spice Hunting, I gave some tips on how to clean out and reorganize your spice cupboard. A great discussion brewed up in the comments on different tools available for organizing spices—a topic I think is worthy of a post all its own.

If you're unsatisfied with your current spice storage system, here are some methods to consider. I don't think there's such a thing as a perfect system—so much depends on your needs, your spices, and available space—so rather than recommend one approach, I've listed pros and cons for each.

The Jar Approach

Storing spices in variably-sized glass jars is probably the least elegant solution, but it's also the cheapest, most adaptable, and is pretty helpful if you have strong locational memory.* You can buy jars in a range of sizes, or just hoard your jam and peanut butter jars. It also makes it easier for you to store them in an actual spice rack.

You can also have tons of fun when a guest reaches for your candied ginger only to discover smoked paprika.

The pros:

• Cheap and adaptable to a range of storage situations
• Easy to add new spices
• Accommodates a variety of sizes for large and small amounts of spices

The cons:

• Hard to access everything at once
• Unstable stacking increases risk of spice avalanches

Wall-mounted Magnetic Tins

A popular choice with readers of kitchen design blogs and the like. Tins magnetically cling to a sheet mounted on a wall, often with plastic windows on the lids for easy reference. Pretty, isn't it?

The pro:

• Attractive way to store, show-off, and easily locate spices

The cons:

• Expensive
• Exposure to light degrades spices
• Hard to add new tins
• Only accommodates fixed amounts of spices
• Tins can rust/fall off mounting
• Really expensive
• Basically, I can't recommend these at all

Stackable Twist-together Jars

One commenter (Vakreiter) shared these food-grade plastic jars that screw into one another in stacks. Stack jars as high as your cabinet space allows, then unscrew an individual jar as needed. If you're looking for clever pantry storage ideas, this is one of the best we've seen.

The pros:

• Neat, efficient way to store lots of spices in a small space
• Cheap jars come in multiple sizes
• Stacks far less likely to topple than glass jars

The cons:

• Time-consuming to get out more than a few spices
• Locks you into a single storage system

Spice Drawers

If you have extra drawer space, you may want to consider a deep drawer for spices. You can store jars and bags upright, or lie them on a set of inclines with a drawer organizer.

The pros:

• Easy access and visibility to a large amount of spices
• Saves cabinet space for larger items

The con:

• Drawer organizers only accommodate small jars

Old School: Masala Dabba

Indian cooks may be familiar with the masala dabba, a flat tin or container that holds smaller, open containers of spices inside. These are ideal for spice blend supplies, as they're essentially a kit for frequently-combined spices. You can have masala dabbas for different classes of spices: Indian, specialty salts, or East Asian.

The pros:

• Easy to group related spices
• Allows easy refills from bulk spice containers

The con:

• Unmanageable for larger spice collections

Some General Spice Storage Tips

No matter what system you go with, there are some general guidelines to follow to get the most out of your spices. Keep them away from light, heat, and excess air, which can all leach or damage spices' essential oils. That means your spice storage shouldn't be near the stove, oven, or other source of heat, at least not for long periods. But more importantly, make sure all your spices are visible to you. If you can't see 'em, you won't cook with them.

So how about you, serious eaters? How do you store your spices?