Organised Spice
October 26th, 2008
Melissa from The Traveler’s Lunchbox has posted a provocative article on the age-old question of how to store your spices. You only need to read a few of the comments (68 before I had my say) to realise how important this topic is to many people.
Regular readers will understand how close to my heart this subject is. As both a wanton1 foodie and cook and a woodworker who specialises in cabinets and containers, there aren’t many things I am more passionate about.
It is easy (and uninteresting) to produce a stylish looking way of storing a few spices but as Melissa points out such designs rarely accommodate the practical requirements of the even-slightly serious cook.
Tray for 50 spices
Second is volume. Dinky little jars and boxes might look good in kitchen design magazines but real cooks buy many spices in large bags. (The difference in freshness and price between supermarket jars and bags of spices from ethnically-specialised food shops is staggering.) Being able to fit 10 black cardamon pods into your spice container is no good if you use more than this quantity each week.
Third is variation. Some spices you have a small amount of - saffron for example. Some spices - such as black limes or dried mango - take up lots of room. Some spices you use a little of and some a lot. Your storage solution should efficiently deal with this variation.
Then there is the freshness issue. Many solutions, including my own wooden cabinets, don’t provide the air-tight seal that is essential to maintaining fresh spices.
There are other considerations such as light, accessibility and of course I don’t mean to totally dismiss style!
So having laid out some requirements you might imagine I am about to give you a solution. Well no I’m not. I haven’t sorted it out myself yet. Melissa’s solution might work for you - or one of the other systems decsribed in the comments to her post. My current solution is more prosaic.
My old spice cabinet in situ
One element of my new spice 'cabinet'
Of course there are also the dinky jars on the window sill (the worst place to store spices) - about 40 from a quick count. And then there are all the liquids such as rose and orange water, 5 varieties of soy, oils, vinegars and mustards - I better stop before getting to the pantry cupboard!
It is still a goal in my life to design a spice storage solution that satisfies all these requirements and is sexy to boot. But since I have a small kitchen that could do with many other improvements it may be some time yet. I console myself that you need to keep some goals unfulfilled2 so there is something to think about in the shower each morning.
Like Melissa I would love to hear about your solutions.
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4 Comments Add your own
1. Nina | October 26th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Mark, I absolutely hung off every word you wrote. I find the subject fascinating. I think because I want to be a foodie that owns and uses even 50 spices.
Anyway, as I was reading, I realised that the only solution for you would be to build your own house to design your own kitchen (like chubbyhubby), and then you could have one entire wall where you designed a floor to ceiling (maybe not that high) cabinet/shelving system to accommodate your love of spices. It could be a real piece of art, as well as functional, and it would be big enough.
Actually that’s the other thing I wanted to say when you sent me the link to chubbyhubby the other day…. Whilst I love my house my only real complaint is that my kitchen is small. I don’t imagine that I will ever want to build my own house, but I would love to do it, just so that I could build the kitchen of my dreams (not that I have one in mind yet).
I looking forward to hearing how you will continue to try and find solutions to what seems to be an impossible challenge.
Oh, and I simply love the spice cabinet.
2. ursula | October 28th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Mark, when you figure out the ultimate storage solution let me know. My food blog http://www.janespice.com is about showing folks how to use spices in everyday cooking — so like you I have over 50 spices in my cupboards, and use them everyday. I also buy in bulk as otherwise it would be way too expensive.
3. Bill Stankus | October 31st, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Mark, I’m not a cook by any means but I do appreciate the nature of the spice box. One has to make such a box to understand the difficulty of getting the fit “just right”. Very nice.
4. Mark | November 12th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Nina: I love the idea of designing my own house although I’d never have the stamina to manage the building of it. (If however I should win lotto I might be able to afford Graham’s project management rates!) My house would have a large internal courtyard with a huge lemon tree in the middle, overlooked by the second floor balconies. Strangely I haven’t fantasised much about the kitchen although I’ve put a lot of thought into the library!
Ursula: Thanks for dropping by. Some very interesting recipes on your blog. I will be trying many of them soon.
Hi Bill: You can achieve a reasonable seal by making drawers and lids fit tightly. Of course the inevitable movement of wood always conspires against you. I have designed and prototyped some drawer solutions where a lid closes over the drawer as you push it in and springs open when you pull the drawer out. Very fiddly to make though and I’ve never used them in a real cabinet. Maybe one day…
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