I’ve had to make the most of every inch of storage space because I cook frequently in a tiny apartment kitchen, and having a well-organized spice cabinet is one of the most crucial components. Whether you have a spice rack, cabinet, or drawer, you can perfectly arrange all of your spices and seasoning mixes by using the techniques I’ve acquired from years of personal experience and talks with professionals.
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How to Organize a Spice Rack
Take Everything Out
First and foremost: Taking everything out of the area is the most important step in organizing it, as any expert organizer will tell you. Seeing what you have can help you determine what needs to be replaced (or what is a duplicate), as well as how much space you actually need to store the majority of your belongings.
Use this chance to use a handheld vacuum to remove dirt and crumbs from the bottom of your spice cabinet and to thoroughly clean everything with a microfiber cloth and multipurpose spray. It’s likely that you will also want to quickly wipe off each of your spice jars, but we’ll leave that until after you’ve gone through the whole stash.
Check Expiration Dates
Since the majority of spice jars will have an expiration date printed on the side or bottom, this step should be very simple. This will make it simple for you to determine which ingredients have been in the cabinet for a lot longer than you initially believed. However, whole spices have a shelf life of around four years, whereas ground spices have a shelf life of three to four years.
As a general rule, if a jar doesn’t contain an expiration date and you’re unsure when you opened it, make sure the spice is fragrant and vivid. You may pretty much assume that it’s expired or won’t add much flavor to your cuisine if it has lost color or has no fragrance.
Label Jars
Additionally, you should try your best to write the date you open each spice jar on the label (a Sharpie and some masking tape work just as well as an expensive label maker). This will save you from throwing out spices that still have some life left in them or using expired goods.
Develop an Organizational System
A neatly arranged cupboard is only as nice as the planning that went into it. If you just reorganize for the sake of rearrangement, you’ll probably end yourself back where you started in a few days or weeks. Consider carefully what you most often grab for in your spice cabinet and how you use it.
Coordinated Bottles
Consider getting a matching set of bottles to save your sanity if you’re finding that the large variety of spice jar sizes and shapes in your cupboard is driving you crazy. When I first started using it, I didn’t think it would solve anything because it seemed like a pointless organizing tip fit for Instagram, but now that I’ve made the move, I won’t go back.
The best thing about them, in my opinion, is that no little or big bottles clog up the delicate environment found in spice drawers; instead, they nestle neatly next to one another. It also doesn’t hurt that they have an incredibly minimalist and streamlined appearance.
Pull Out Racks
To maximize your storage space in extremely deep yet short cabinets, pull-out racks are a perfect choice. Up to 20 spice bottles can actually fit in a small space with a rack like this one, and you can choose from a wide range of custom sizes to ensure that it fits both your cabinet and your spice collection precisely.
Shelf Risers
Stacking your spices on a shelf riser—which makes your cumin and coriander seeds resemble stadium seating—is another method to take use of cabinet depth. This type of shelf riser is really extensible, allowing you to tailor it to the width of your cabinet.
You can even choose an organizer that really lowers out of the spice cabinet to make items easier to reach if it’s a bit out of reach.
Turntables
Turntables make it simple to see precisely what you need to stock up on for your next shopping run, whether it’s for bulk items, backups, or spices you don’t use frequently. Additionally, adding more peppercorns to the peppermill is as easy as spinning them out.
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