Hello everyone.

I have been meaning to write a post on how I store my spices.  Yesterday, Yummy Italy posted a photo of her under the counter spice rack on Instagram.  Her words, not mine–It is SUCH A MESS!  She asked for good organizing ideas, so I decided to take some photos and write this blog post in addition to posting the photos on Instagram.

I buy spices everywhere I go, but the bulk of my spices are bought at an Indian grocery store in Austin.  I use spices so often, that I buy them in large quantities, especially if I can get a good deal on them.  I buy my spices whole and keep the unopened bulk bags in the freezer.

The photo above is my freezer filled with fennel seeds, cardamom pods, cloves, cumin seeds and more.  Whole spices are stored in the freezer.

Chillies, salts, cinnamon sticks and powdered spices are stored in my cool air-conditioned pantry.

I mostly make my own spice mixes, but there are a few MDH brand spice mixes that I buy.

Once I open up a bag of spices, I transfer the contents into a mason jar with a rubber sealed gasket.  I keep these mason jars in a dark cabinet in my kitchen.

The mason jars have bulk spices that will last me a few months.  The spices stay fresh because they are not exposed to air, moisture, heat or light.

For my everyday use, I have two spice racks with small bottles.  The first rack has the spices I use most frequently, so this one sits on my kitchen counter.

The second spice rack has the spices that I use less frequently, so it is kept in a kitchen cabinet with doors that can be closed to protect the spices from light.

This cabinet also contains salts, peppers, and spice blends.  In the photo, you can see the canister of garam masala.  I kept the canister because I like the seal and label on it, but the masala inside I made myself.

My spice bottles are not labeled because I have had these spice racks for 30 years and I know what each spice is, but you can Of course label them.  I still have one of the boxes of bottles I bought 30 years ago.  You can see that it came with labels which I never used.

I am sure you can find these spice accessories on line.  They are many different configurations of spice racks.  These little bottles are my favorite for storing small quantities that can be used up quickly and not go stale.  When one of these bottles goes empty, I refill it from my bulk supply.

Since I cook with LOVE and SPICES, I have to have plenty of both on hand.  💖😄