Spices....why did it have to be spices?! Am I the only one who has this problem?

M

mariadnoca

Moderator
I dumped them all in a basket to try and start over with some kind of better system, or location, or whatever.

The thing is that basket? I put my foot in the photo to try and show size, but it didn't work. That basket could hold a large baby with no problem. It's at least a foot deep! I might even be able to get in it as it's HUGE and was the only thing that I thought might temporarily fit all of these. I have a small kitchen. Do you have this stuff stashed all over the place like I do?

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy163/4ebay_bucket/Food/Spices/IMG_2736_zps2df3caf9.jpg

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy163/4ebay_bucket/Food/Spices/IMG_2735_zps70465e0e.jpg

 
I have a small cupboard with two tall shelves. Two lazy susans. One with savory

type spices and one with baking spices. I'm lucky that my kitchen is large and has 22 cupboards and a pantry. DH says we bought the house because of the kitchen and dumb waiter.
I agree.

 
Lovely foot. Yes, that disarray would be discouraging. I use 2 2-tiered lazy susan types.

And I have 2 single-tiered ones for bottles in another cupboard. I refill some of the old cans because they stack so well. (for some reason the brilliant minds that package spices now, no longer put the name on the end of the can). What I don't use often, goes back into the belly of the lazy susan but generally, I keep the larger bottles behind.

It took a few years to get this sorted out but it's been working now for about 35.

 
The real problem is that they are not particularly good after

6 months. If you have a door that you can put shelves on, it is good. I have plastic shelves that fit a cabinet and let me make 3 rows.
If you go somewhere like World Market or such and get jars, then buy bulk and date it.
I keep some things in the fridge like poppy seed (they get rancid) and the chile powders (NM, hot smoked paprika, etc.)

 
So Maria, I took your instructions, right-clicked on the image in PB, copied link location and

dropped it in the IMAGE link here but it doesn't show.

Did I miss something?

 
I was just saying that I needed to reorganize my collection...

At least yours is all in bottles or tins. A lot of mine are still in the bags I got them in from the store or Penzeys/

I already have a 2 tiered lazy susan, and it is also surrounded by jars and boxes. I also have another cabinet with 2 shelves filled with tins and bottles and 2 Rubbermaid containers filled with cello or zip-lock baggies and a couple of bags from Penzeys that are full of their bags.

Do I need a 12-step program? No, I just need an organized system! Will I ever get there? Who knows???

 
In addition to lazy susans/tiered shelves. I've found it is helpful to do an inventroy

and keep a list of everything I have so I don't lose track of what I have.

I've also found that despite what some folks say, if you get fresh spices. most last well past 6 months. I am a huge Penzy's fan and have found, depending on the spice or herb, for them to last well beyond a year and still pack an appropriate flavor punch.

Here's my list of stuff I have in inventory:

Individual Herbs and Spices:
Aleppo Pepper
Allspice
Basil
Bay Leaf
Cardamom (Green, pods)
Cardamom (Ground)
Celery Seed
Chili (Ancho, ground)
Chili (CA - ground)
Chili (Pasilla, ground)
Chili Powder (Dark)
Chili Powder (Regular)
Chili Powder (NM)
Cinnamon ( EF Vietnamese Cassia)
Cinnamon (Ceylon)
Cinnamon (China Cassia
Cinnamon (Sticks)
Cloves (ground)
Cloves (whole)
Coriander (Ground)
Coriander (whole)
Cream of Tartar
Cumin (Ground)
Cumin (Whole)
Cumin (whole)
Curry (Hot)
Curry (Sweet)
Curry (Maharajah)
Dill Weed
Fennel Seed
Garlic Salt
Ginger (ground)
Lemon Peel (Powdered)
Lemongrass
Mahlab
Marjoram
Mustard (Ground)
Mustard (hot)
Natural Dark Cocoa Powder
Nutmeg (Whole)
Old World
Oregano (Mexican)
Oregano (Turkish)
Paprika
Pepper (Black, whole)
Pepper (Cayenne)
Pepper (Red, crushed)
Pepper (White, ground)
Poppy seeds
Saffron threads
Salt (Hawaiian, red)
Salt (Kosher)
Salt (Sea)
Star Anise
Sumac Berries
Tarragon (French)
Thyme (French)
Tumeric
Vanilla (fluid)
Vanilla Beans
Wasabi Powder
White Sesame Seeds

Blends:

BBQ 3000
Breakfast Sausage Seasoning
Cake Spice
Chinese BBQ
Chinese Five Spice
Italian Seasoning
Kirkland No Salt Seasoning
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Northwoods Fire
Pasta Sprinkle
Sunny Paris
Tuscan Sunset
Herbs de Provence

 
well, I take that with a BIG grain of salt....

... ok, maybe after 6 months a small loss of flavor takes place. But I NEVER toss my spices after 6 months or after a year.

I think spice merchants love to hammer that info on us, so that we buy from them often and discard our "old" spices.

I have spices that are over 2 years old, and I use them and so far, no problems smileys/smile.gif

I keep them in my drawer, protected from light and humidity. I do a little sniff test if I need to use them after a long storage - I seriously doubt that the decrease in potency will negatively affect most recipes.

 
Lisa, thanks for the list!

Your collection is extremely close to mine. I can just check off, line through maybe 2 or 3 and add perhaps that many.

 
Hummm

Well, first off I fixed it and the picture is in there, but it's big. I'm not sure why everyone has that problem, because I don't have to resize the ones from my own PB account...I might go poke around the settings to see if that can be fixed. If you click the link it will get you to a normal size of the photo (I may come back and edit your photo to fix the size, but I'm tired right now and sleep is calling me.)

Did you copy link location or image location when right clicking? Because it should be image (if using PB's provided links you should use their "direct link" and put it in the Eat.AT IMG link insert - I know, it's confusing because you can do this a number of ways). Somehow you got URL code in with it - in PB you can also just copy the "direct link" code to drop into Eat.AT's image link insert box in your post. When I tried to copy the IMG link code PB added that funky extra URL wording in the code that messes it up (PB has been doing strange auto changes on link codes of late - I've had the same issue with my acct and I have to reload the PB page to clear that up).

I'm tired and think none of this will make sense, so I'll revisit tomorrow to see if I can turn this into something less rambling and talking in tongues. smileys/smile.gif

 
Having a minor reno to our kitchen motivated me to clean out every cupboard and drawer..

Threw out or gave away lots of stuff. Thing I don't use often have been packed away until after the reno. Before the work is done all the cupboards will have to be emptied but it will be an easier task.

The reno is a "simple" one. The cupboard doors, facings and drawers will all be replaced. The kitchen has been painted and should look great once the project has been completed.

 
You're probably looking at a couple hundred dollars worth too. I consider myself...

...to be somewhat frugal, as in, no matter how much $$ is in the account, I ALWAYS shop "sales" for food and cook for the week accordingly. That's how you raise a family on a budget.

I do have more spices than I need, but we have a program in our Kroger stores where I can buy spices in small quantities for a dollar or less. They are packed in cellophane bags and hang on j-hooks. I usually use them up pretty quickly.

Are they as high quality as Penzey's? Probably not, but my family still loves my cooking.

Michael

 
I don't disagree, but things like aromatics DO lose power==

cinnamon, nutmeg (grate that fresh actually), allspice. Yes, you can use them with "no Problem".

 
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