This spring, make sure you add going through your spices and reorganizing them to your spring to-do list. Here are four tips that will help you get your spices in order this spring.
#1 Choose A Cool Location
The first thing you need to decide is where you want to keep your spices. Ideally, you should keep your spices somewhere that is both cool and dark. You don't want your spices in the line of direct sunlight nor do you want them exposed to high heat. That means you shouldn't store your spices right next to your stove or oven.
Instead, find an area on your wall or inside of a cabinet drawer where you can hang up your spice rack.
#2 Transfer Your Spices To Clear Containers
Transfer all of your spices into clear containers. Clear containers make it easier for you to inspect the spices and see what condition they are in as well as how much of said spice that you have. Using clear containers can also help you make your spice containers more uniform in size and shape, instead of using all the different types of plastic and glass containers that your spices come in from the store. It will also make your spice rack more visually appealing.
#3 Create Labels For All Of Your Spices
Third, you need to create labels for all of your spices. You can use a label making machine for this project, or you can make the labels by hand. If you make the labels by hand, you are going to want to purchase individual label sheets, preferably small ones, and a fine point marker to write on them.
To keep things more organized, you may want to use a different color for different types of spices, such as baking spices, hot spices, ethnic spices, etc. If your spice rack shows the side of the spice container, put the label on the side of the jar. If your spice rack displays the lids of the jars, place the label on the lid instead.
#4 Choose An Organizational System
Fourth, come up with an organization system. You can organize all your spices alphabetically, or you can group them by different types of spices. Choose a system that works and make sense for your organizational and cooking style.
Finally, go through your spices and throw away any spices that don't have an aroma to them. Keep in mind that it is often better to buy smaller quantities of spices so that they are fresh than to buy large and in bulk.
