How many herbs and spices in your store cupboard?

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
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Today I was checking my supplies of dried herbs and spices as some seemed to be getting low. I usually buy most of them from Asian shops as they are so much cheaper than elsewhere. But anyway, I thought I'd count how many I have. TOTAL: 53.

I suppose that's quite a lot by most people's standards! But I'm a fanatical cook and like to have them all to hand. How many dried herbs and spices do you keep in your store cupboard/spice rack?
 
Err, not sure I want to count all of mine, but I know I have a very large cupboard set aside for them. There is little that a recipe can ask for that I don't now have. :happy: I might count them later if I get bored but I think there are some photos on here somewhere of my spice cupboard. Herbs I usually prefer fresh so grow half of what I need and buy the rest.

OK, here is my spice cupboard. It has s fantastic smell when you open it!

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I'll have to count me later but what I think has to happen is that I have to throw some out. Quite recently I was looking in the cupboard and realised I have thing in there I have not used in like forever.
 
I have quite a number of spices and herbs in my cupboard too, but some of them have not been used for a while. The ones I use are usually kept outside of the cupboard where they can be seen and are readily accessible. These include powdered ginger, curry powder, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, oregano, black pepper, nutmeg, and Cajun seasoning. I believe I have some white pepper containers in the cupboard which have not been used for a while. There are also some containers in there which may need throwing out.
 
I actually just organized my spice cupboard this past weekend. I had several jars of spices that I had twos or threes of (moved in with my boyfriend two years ago so we both brought what we had and I hadn't organized them since then) and combined several of them together. We have so much more space now. When all was said and done, I am still left with around 50 different spices. Some of them I don't use very often, but every once in awhile I need them and can't do without.
 
I have probably around 50 spices as well as I have 3 full cupboard shelves of them. The thing is that some of them are duplicates. I think I need something and I buy it not realizing I already have, It. I defintely need something to organize my spices. If I had some kind of door rack, it would free up space and look organized, and I could see what I really have.
 
I have at least 30 and counting right now. I usually buy them when they are on sale at the store and keep a bulk supply. We go through a lot of dried herbs and spices on hand at all times because we use a great deal of them when making meals. My husband and I both like to play around and come up with new flavors.
 
I've got 38 jars and packs of herbs and spices in the drawer, plus another 15 jars and packs as back up for the ones which are used most often. These include whole spices rather than ground, and also some jars of home-made mixes. At the moment I also have parsley, basil and mint growing in a container by my window but in the summer the number of growing herbs can go up by about half a dozen or so.
 
My spice cupboard looks a lot like SatNavSaysStraightOn's cupboard. only I have 3 CRAMMED shelves and don't want to count all that. LOL!
 
Due to space limitations and being quite a novice in the kitchen, I currently only keep about 15 or so bottles and jars of herbs and spices in my pantry. Are there any spices that you can't cook on the fly without?
 
That is an impressive number @morning glory . I have about 20 different spices in my cupboard excluding Chinese condiments/spices like soy sauce.
My space is quite small and I have small counter space so I am limited in a number of spices I could buy, I have tons of dried herbs, though. I plan to start a mini herb garden in my balcony so that will help save space.
I have salt, pepper ground, cumin, chili and dried chilis, paprika, thyme, rosemary, oregano, garlic salt, a few spice blends like chicken masala and butter chicken.
For Asian spices, I have a few beans which I do not know if they qualify as spices but I use them like seasoning in my meals.
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SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
OK, here is my spice cupboard. It has s fantastic smell when you open it!
Click to expand...

As does mine although my storage containers are nowhere near as well organised as yours. All different sizes and shapes. The remainder of the spices which the ants seem to enjoy are in the fridge (cumin seed, coriander seed, paprika, turmeric, dried sage, dried parsley and mustard powder).

spice cupboard.jpg
 
@Yorky I now have a new spice cupboard. sadly it does not smell anywhere near like the old one because of its size...

Everything on the wall on the right are spices. Everything on the top two shelves are packets of spices, tamarind pulp (can't get the dates because stones can grow (:rolleyes:)) and the white 'bags' hanging up contain my garlic and ginger. We have had to add extra shelving to accommodate my spices. There are also 6 very large containers on the 2nd shelf down that contain my ground coriander, ground cumin, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dried red chillies and dried curry leaves. Plus there is a large tub which contains opened packets of stuff yet to be repackaged into glass jars (I ran out of them). In another room, in a mouse proof wardrobe which has been commandeered for food storage, there are spares of all my dahls, rices and of course spices. Then the sun room is slightly overrun at the moment with dill, a small bay leaf bush, lemon grass, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, peppermint, normal mint, fennel, bronze fennel and that is just what I can see from here. I know there are fresh curry leaves in the freezer, along with coriander, ginger, thyme and parsley, plus grated fresh coconut. Then outside already hardened off... you get the idea!

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I love my herbs and spices. And I have been told that it is very hard to kill things in Australia. They just grow and I have to say that so far that does appear to be true. It is a shame that we a) rent this place and b) only have visas valid until 2020. Otherwise I would be planting some citrus trees (lemon and limes are my main idea) and olive trees in the garden as well.

Oh and those multi-coloured bags in the bottom right are all of my shopping bags - they are wonderful. A company called Onya Bags. I have been using them for years (one of them is over 7-8 years old and is called Kate after the logo on her and where we bought her - a Kate Rusby concert. She's a Yorkshire folk singer btw).
 
Cinisajoy said:
I think I counted 72 including herbs, spices, blends and some dried vegetables. It takes up two pantry shelves.
Click to expand...
any pictures? I would love to know what you have. Somewhere on the internet there must be a list of all herbs and spices. I would love to explore them all...
 
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