Where do you keep your spices?

[bigbadbarry]

I have rather a lot - they currently live in a motley collection of glass jars, of which I am actually quite fond, in an old (clean!) cat-litter tray/old lunch box, in the cupboard. Which is OK except I don't know if refills have got larger or if it just a different brand I am buying, but the refills are now too large to fit in my jars. Having a full jar accompanied by a half-empty box is driving me absolutely nuts. Really - I am far crosser than this deserves. And I am sometimes moved to buy those poncey "pioneers" ones that come in a foil packet, and then I don't have any sort of jar. So I would like to ask what you keep your spices in, are they large enough to take an entire refill box, do you like them, do they work? Thanks ever so.

A mixture of old small jars (like the ones you get chutney in) and the containers they come in from the supermarket. My mum buys spices in mahoosive packs from the cash and carry (she's Indian) and gives them the required treatment before decanting them into smaller containers for me. But non-Indian spices and herbs I get from the supermarket and just keep them in their containers.

All the containers live on the bottom shelf of the wall cupboard next to my cooker. Messy things (like garlic and stock cubes) live in a small wooden box in the same shelf.

That doesn't help, does it?!

Nope but I was interested anyway. Like the sound of mahoosive packs - I clicked on the wrong turmeric when online shopping once and could supply the whole neighbourhood :)

Maybe old glass jars = big bad something!

When my new kitchen goes in I intend to go to an Indian provisions shop and buy their stainless steel containers

How large are these containers and how do you plan to label them, please?

I keep mine in their original jars, in the spice cupboard. I couldn't put anything else in it now - it smells spicey and lovely.

I have an entire cupboard devoted to jars of herbs and spices. Last week I created an excel spreadsheet of them all, in alphabetical order, printed it out and stuck it on the cupboard door so I know what I have in stock at a glance .

belledame do you buy refills?
blossoms!!! a spreadsheet? Love it

Wow - blossoms, now that's impressive.

bigbad (love the name) - I do buy refills and keep them in the boxes until the jar is empty, then wash the jar, obsess about drying it properly and then put the refills in the original jar.

I also have multiple instances of the same spice. I will decide I want to cook something while I'm shopping and can't remember if I have the necessary spice so buy it "in case". I have four jars of turmeric. Why is it always turmeric? And mace. Who needs three jars of mace?

Tsk - how come my refills are too big for my jars? Is v annoying.
I have 3 jars of cumin.

I a drawer, I lay them down face up so I can read them. They are all alphabetical so they are easy to find.

Spices in packets do the same in a draw underneath. Stock cubes come out of the packet and in a tin as do sachets.

I've got a lot of cumin too... Cumin to the garden, Maud?

both ground and seeds...(I am now humming the Charlatans...I'm cumin home...)

I don't know if that question was for me - regarding size and labeling - they are about the size of a small time of beans - I will put them in a drawer and label the lid - I think they come in their own container too - so you can left out all the spices in one go.

And all my poncey "pioneers" chilli - go in a clipper safe box.

Pesky pioneers have not thought about the storage implications of their fancy foily things, have they.